SmackDown vs. RAW 2010

[buzzy]

First infos have been leaked on GameStop, more to come on Sunday.

Check the Blog here.

Highlights are the Story designer and the feature to edit wrestlers' attires.

A trailer can be found here, and some more screenshots here.

Release date will be around a month earlier this year, on October 20th.

[Lean]

Seen it. I can't believe how they still haven't fixed the belts. As with the trailer, Orton is "holding" the belt although he's not really holding the belt, and the title seems to just hang on his wrist.

Seems like the CAW options have been expanded.

[buzzy]

Yep, from all the little things, the belts upset me the most. The WWE Title is nor only hanging from Orton's wrist but it's also way too small.

[Lean]

But it spins.

And besides I also notice that the texturing on is still as bad as the first next-gen SvR.

[buzzy]

phpBB [video]

".. this represents everything. Look it spins!"

[Andrew]

I noticed that too in the trailer, a bit of a letdown that they haven't got that right. Other than that it looks alright. I thought SDvRAW 2009 was a fun enough game, the biggest letdown for me was the way they handled the DLC (abysmal), attributes for created wrestlers (frustrating) and the Undertaker's Road to Wrestlemania story (a little out there, even for the character). I tend to find the overall experience of the games fairly satisfactory though so 2010 will probably be another wrestling game that's good enough for what it needs to be.

[BigKaboom2]

They condensed the reversals down to one button instead of two, and brought back the four grapple positions from '08 and before. I assume the ultimate control moves will go back on the analog stick buttons. They say reversals aren't so stupidly easy anymore but I'll believe it when I see it. There's nothing worse than going back and forth with the CPU reversing each other's tie-ups for minutes on end.

[buzzy]

^Agreed. I do hope though they didn't take out the UCM entirely, since it does give you some freedom and moves you would't be able to do with any strong grapple. Like throwing somebody out of the ring.

On another note, I personally love that legends make a comeback. The gamplay in LOW was too weird for me and I couldn't be arsed to get a copy so I'm happy to get some legends in 2010.

[Andrew]

I'd rather have reversals on one button. It worked alright for No Mercy, after all. We should have sliders again so we can always make reversals more difficult if need be.

It's definitely good to see legends back in the game. I thought Legends of Wrestlemania was a decent enough game and it was an amibitious attempt at going completely retro with the control scheme, but at the same time I found myself wishing they'd just used SDvRAW's controls with all the old school wrestlers and arenas...or just included them in SDvRAW 2009. I don't think they need to make a sequel though, just include the legends in SDvRAW.

[JaoSming]

I thought No Mercy had two.

L to reverse grapples
R to reverse strikes

[Andrew]

Quite right, I forgot about Back Away/Avoid Grapple being assigned to L while Block/Reverse Strike was assigned to R. All the same, I don't mind having all reversals on one button.

[JaoSming]

The create a story seems like it could be cool. Especially if people recreate classic attitude stories and CAWs.

[buzzy]

The create a story seems like it could be cool. Especially if people recreate classic attitude stories and CAWs.

Indeed, but it's going to be all reading though. Which takes away enormously from the mode IMO. Sure it would be extremely limited if they had done voice overs, but I don't think reading promos while seeing people talking silently is going to be that much fun. But I'm sure gonna check out what people come up with.

[Andrew]

I don't know about that, I've seen posts here in the past stating a preference towards cutscenes with text in general, owing to the favourable reception of Here Comes The Pain. Good text-to-speech is easier said than done after all, so if Road to Wrestlemania has cutscenes with voiceovers and custom storylines have text then that's not too bad.

[Lean]

Reminds me of Here Comes the Pain.

[buzzy]

Believe it or not, but they added some nice things to the gameplay this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPSHbL9Ffs0

The blood is freaking awesome. Really going to be fun when everything and everybody is full of blood in a brutal match.
The strong grapples and the leg sweep from the apron look very nice as well.
Also, they kind of improved the physics. In the clip Jericho bounces off the ropes from a normal move.

I'm liking the new HUD, looks very clean.

The only problem I'm seeing so far is the new kick-out system. It looked as if it's way too easy to kick out, look how easily Jericho kicked out after the 619.

[Lean]

There's blood? Wow good they maintained that after the WWE went PG.

[JaoSming]

yea, and not only blodd, but if you punch the guy after, blood on your hands and chest and shit too.....awesome blood

[Lean]

Just seen the video buzzy posted. There IS blood. but the blood splattered on the floor still fades after a few seconds. And there's a kick-out meter.

And good news for Morrisson fans: the Shaman of Sexy's kewl coat and funk-ass shades are in the game.

phpBB [video]

EDIT: The WHC seems to be small here (as with all of the titles) but it looks more solid than that of the WWE title.

[Andrew]

Looks pretty impressive. I actually like the idea of a kickout meter, giving us a bit of feedback as to how we're doing with the whole "tap buttons" approach when kicking out. The apron interactions are nice as well.

According to a news post over at WNW:

Steve Austin has been announced as a special pre-ordered downloadable character bonus for the SmackDown vs Raw 2010 at GameStop as well as The Rock for the UK Version

[jettdaking!]

hmmm '10 gameplay still looks the same from 09.... *sighs*

[Andrew]

You were expecting it to be vastly different?

[deihatein]

What's the circle thing that is below the wrestler's based from the video that buzzy posted. Waiting for this on the PS2. Hope the only thing that I miss is the DLC.

I wonder if Here Comes The Pain is worth buying again? Since my copy of 09 is crap and thinking of playing another wrestling game.

[Andrew]

Looks like a control/status indicator to me.

I wonder if Here Comes The Pain is worth buying again? Since my copy of 09 is crap and thinking of playing another wrestling game.

HCTP is a quality release, if you've got the spare cash and you can pick it up cheaply, why not? I tend to keep my games for years but I've also picked up games again after trading them in when I've felt like a bit of nostalgia and found a cheap copy, HCTP was one such game.

[deihatein]

I been thinking of getting HCTP after playing it via a friend like 3 or 4 years ago and having my own PS2 now. Such a good game and would like to play the good old wrestlers that is not on the current game like Eddie, Goldberg, Benoit, RVD that has been my favorite since starting to watch WWE