Smackdown vs Raw 2008 (Roster Announced!)

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns has 500 caw slots to make pretty much anyone you want, with almost every move you could want in it aswell. I plan to make a bunch of late 80's early 90's WWF wrestlers, along with anyone else i used to like.

So I played the demo last night...

....eh, I had some stupid fun but not enough for me to drop 60 bucks on it. I loved the blood and the interactive moves with the right analog stick...but ya it just kinda felt awkward to me. But the commentary is a hell of a lot better than the last time I heard it.

A few impressions from the demo:

The new submission system is alright, it takes a bit of getting used to since I'm used to button mashing. I like the idea there's a bit of a learning curve there and that there's more control for the wrestler on both ends of the submission. Fighting styles aren't done too badly either, adding a few more "in control" moments with the right analog stick similar to the UCMs. The animations look pretty good, no real complaints there.

The new run system will take a bit of getting used to; frankly, it feels a bit awkward to have to hold down the run button, especially when you're running the ropes. I guess they're going for the realistic motion with the left stick but it's annoying when you run against the ropes and suddenly stop because you release the run button out of habit or don't change direction on the left analog. I do like that they've simplified moves such as running elbow drops though, since it was silly to have to press three buttons to execute one in previous games (even though I got used to it).

All in all, it's about what I expected it to be. I'll be picking it up but I'm still a bit wary of 24/7 Mode. I would have preferred two seperate modes, with a less linear story mode (or at least one that had several possible story arcs).

Yeah when i played it i didnt like the controls at all. Whatever happened to just tapping triangle to run against the ropes? That was too simple i guess, now you have to hold in a button, steer your man with the analog, and if you want to do a move you have to press a 3rd button/analog stick. Wow talk about bad moves. Like Andrew said, it just feels bad when running against the ropes, and you also have to keep your analog straight to head towards an opponent, one slight move to the right and you will miss the attack. Another bad move was keeping the stanima in the game, sorry but i loved smackdown when it was an arcade game. Now its a sim/arcade game, they really cant make up their mind. You can run from the ramp down to the ring and be out of breath. WTF? I thought these were athletes in top physical condition? At least they took out having to press a button to regain health, but you still have to stand around not moving. The Ultimate Control Moves are cool, but it feels like there are very few moves to do now. I mean just standing you do the same 6 or so moves, then you have the UCM thing. Getting a finisher takes no time at all, when you should have to wrestle at least 3-5 minutes before being able to reach a finisher, come on! I dunno, i was going to buy this game, but it just feels like a roster update, and someone fucked up the controls. Sure the game looks graphicly awesome, and it has that wwe license, but that isnt enough for me to buy this game. Unfortunately that IS enough for some people to buy it.

I would have also preferred the ability to store a finisher rather than a fighting style move (unless I'm missing something). My only real gripe with the controls is the way running is handled but I do find it very annoying. As I said, I do like that they simplified doing running elbow drops though, it was silly to have to push an extra button in between running and hitting the attack button to execute running ground attacks, though I had gotten used to doing that.

I've played a few more games of the demo and I have to say the commentary seems particularly flat and buggy this year, with JR/Cole/Styles responding to their own comments at times where King/JBL/Tazz should have had a line in between. JBL's commentary in particular is pretty woeful as he's basically recorded Tazz's lines from previous games and delivering them in a very uninspired manner.

Another bad move was keeping the stanima in the game, sorry but i loved smackdown when it was an arcade game. Now its a sim/arcade game, they really cant make up their mind. You can run from the ramp down to the ring and be out of breath. WTF? I thought these were athletes in top physical condition? At least they took out having to press a button to regain health, but you still have to stand around not moving.

I've found that stamina gets in the way at times, too. In a way I like it, but I too don't mind that the Smackdown series has been less of a sim because while a brilliantly worked pro wrestling match might run 20 or 30 minutes in real life, that's not necessarily what I want in a video game. You could disable stamina last year though, I'd say we'll have that option again this year as well. We can probably change the speed at which the meter fills to execute finishers as well.

Smackdown vs Raw 2008 Reviews!:

XBox 360

PSP

Wii

DS

Fair and honest, great review this year.

After playing the demo and reading the review I'm still a little mixed. I'm picking up the game but I have to admit I'm not big on the fighting styles (I'd prefer to be able to steal finishers with anyone and store finishers rather than fighting styles) and the new run controls are a bit awkward but it still sounds pretty good. The reviewer makes a good point about people staying in character but I still think it's a bit restricting. Anyway, thanks for posting the links.

SVR 08 was released in some areas, lucky for them.

Anyone got the game? Is it good?

The Australian release date is still listed as being the 15th so I'll probably be picking it up this weekend.

My dad just pre-ordered it last friday for my birthday. Also there is a chance that I can get SVR 08 before the day it will be released! YAY!

Just played SvR2008 at my cousin's house... and I have to admit, although the game is evidently an improvement from SvR2007, it's still crap. Not even 3 months in the 24/7 season mode and I saw a repeat cutscene. The CAW mode has a few changes that just makes it even more irritating to create a great CAW. The announcer names and locations haven't changed. The only noticeable improvement is the new animations in the moveset, and even then they've removed a lot of animations to counterbalance their improvement.

On to gameplay... slow, boring, tedious, and just not fun. THQ tries to be realistic but completely fails at it... for a 2nd straight year. The superstar fighting styles prove what the UCM was last year... overly hyped new marketing feature that just doesn't exactly revolutionalize gameplay.

SvR2008 is a 6/10 in my books.

I picked up the game last week. I haven’t given 24/7 Mode a look yet because frankly I’m not all that thrilled by it, but I’m getting used to the tweaked control system and have given creation mode a once over. Although I’m used to the new run controls, I have to admit I’m a little underwhelmed at the new restrictions when assigning moves, especially submission holds on a grounded opponent. I’m also a little disappointed with the way they implemented custom music; instead of being able to nominate a specific file, you can only select a playlist which means if you want to assign multiple songs, you need to create a bunch of playlists that only contain the one song. Easy enough I suppose, but a bit of a chore all the same.

As I said I haven’t explored 24/7 yet but my impressions so far are that for all the changes, the game isn’t really all that much better, a little too much trying to fix what isn’t broken and falling short elsewhere. I wouldn’t say it’s any worse than other games in the series but if they were hoping the 08 edition would be revolutionary and miles ahead of its predecessors, right now I’d have to say they failed.

I played 24/7 mode as a superstar, so far I noticed that the cutscenes every week is always the same. It's very repetitive.

What I really liked is the Hall of Fame mode. I cleared starting from 1995 Royal Rumble challenge to March 2001 and I got a Hall of Famer ranking. Also I already unlock all the unlockable superstar and legends.

So far, I think the game wasn't that bad.

I've been getting into 24/7 a bit with a created character and from that perspective it's not too bad. I imagine it would feel a bit weak with a real character since the wrestler's actual gimmick would as always be in the back of our mind.

I really havn't read much on it but since I got a PS3 recently, is this game worth getting ?

I don't regret buying it but all the same I'd suggest renting first.

So has anybody have news if they will let you download wrestlers for 360 yet?

It seems unlikely. They don't have any content on XBL save for the demo and a couple of trailers.