Mini Review – Smackdown vs. Raw 2011
Rassling
Whatever.
Danny
The latest version of Smackdown vs. Raw wins by default. It being the only yearly released wrestling game with a well known wrestling promotion licence means that there is little alternative if you want wrestling action. Although there will be some alternatives available here in the UK for the Xbox 360 at some point next year, if you want a new, fully featured wrestling game then the WWE Smackdown games will have to do.
Electric Boogaloo.
This year’s instalment of the long running series does make some changes, making the action even easier to get into control-wise and adding more options for players to create their own content. You can now create your own stories and the new WWE Universe mode means that as many players as you like can now compete and play a career at the same time just like the first two Smackdown games on the Playstation One. You can also buy all the DLC the game has to offer, both current and future DLC for 800 points which is a great idea (isn’t – Ed), I wish that more games (especially FPS titles) would do this.
While the core game is still pretty fun, especially with a bunch of friends sitting around the television, SvR’11 has a few deal-breaking problems. Most notably the horrid AI, lame ‘Story’ modes and the severely laggy online mode. Which is a shame because this year’s game also has an awesome-sounding twelve-player thirty-man ‘Royal Rumble’ mode which would be great if it was not for the game’s sub-par online code which has problems dealing with more than two people playing at the same time from what I have played.
What enjoyment you will get out of this unambitious game will stem from two things. If you know people locally who like playing wrestling games, and if you are the kind of person who likes to create a crap load of wrestling related content, then this game is for you. If you have brought a wrestling game within the past couple of years then this game will not add that much new to your already existing experience other than a more modern wrestler roster and some new wooden voice acting from the WWE wrestlers.
5/10