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Being a huge fan of the WWE and
the Smackdown wrestling game series, I knew before I picked
up WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth that I was going to be left
with a choice. I could either go to the French Quarter here in New
Orleans and party my work-free weekend away, or I could sit here on
my beanbag chair and overindulge in this game until my brain leaked
out of my ears.
Well, Ol’ Dukes didn’t see daylight for three days, and I stained my
good shirt.
WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
by THQ is without a doubt the best wrestling in its series. One may
go so far as to say it’s better than No Mercy, and that is a bold
statement. Anyone who has played or owned the previous Smackdown,
WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It, noticed how incomplete the story
mode was. That’s not the case in SYM, for this time, the season mode
is somewhat similar to the second Smackdown, Know Your Role.
Along with the new changes, a few aspects of Gamecube’s
Wrestlemania X8 were stuffed into this title. So to sum it all
up: this new installment is Know Your Role, Just Bring It,
and a pinch of Wrestlemania X8 thrown in a blender.
Shut Your Mouth
provides the player with a really thick roster of about sixty-five
superstars. However, THQ has this habit of adding people who simply
do not belong in the game. Why is Diamond Dallas Page in this game?
He retired a long, long time ago. And Shawn Stasiak? He was so
underused in the business, it seemed like he never even existed, not
to mention WWE gave him the pink slip a while back. They were better
off just putting in their unlockable move sets and not wasting
valuable roster space--space that could have been taken by wrestlers
like…I don’t know…John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Batista. But, no…you
have to create those guys. Well, at least you’re now able to create
even more characters; thirty-two as opposed to Just Bring It,
which only allowed twelve.
Another aspect that took me by surprise was the load times and
memory card space. Just Bring It ate a little over half of an
8-meg memory card. That’s more than a season of Madden 2003, and
that says a lot. For a game that is far more complex then JBI,
Shut Your Mouth only uses a little under 300K of space, so you
don’t actually have to buy a whole new card just to enjoy your
progress. And the saving and loading times are much faster than JBI.
I used to have time to knit a sweater and bake a wedding cake in
between saves, but those days are gone.
Season Mode
When SYM was still in development, the public made it known that the
season/story mode will make or break the game. In Know Your Role, it
made the game because it had a never-ending season mode that
occasionally twisted. In Just Bring It, the story mode broke
the game because everyone’s story was the same thing over and over,
just involving different wrestlers. Well, THQ has answered the call
and now gives the fans exactly what they read in the ads: “The best
storylines ever. Period. End of story.” And that’s no lie,
especially when you determine your own storyline. Your actions and
abilities establish your role in the WWE. The choices you make can
make you a strong champion. Or maybe a butt-kissing stooge for Vince
McMahon. Or maybe help you gain powerful allies or enemies. Here,
you must work your way up to reach superstar status—no more of this
“win a match and get a title shot” crap that JBI spilled out.
Season mode kicks off with the WWE brand extension draft, where
Vince McMahon and Ric Flair choose who participates on Raw or
Smackdown. You make the top ten selections for the owner of your
choice. Once the top twenty superstars are selected, the computer
randomly selects the rest of the roster. The rule of the champions
still stand: The Undisputed Champion and the Women’s Champion are
not in the draft, so they can appear on both shows. Oh, and just
like the original storyline from the past, Stone Cold Steve Austin
cannot be selected since he’s a “free agent.”
SYM gives us a season/story mode combination that plays somewhat
like a role-playing game. Your wrestler can roam Smackdown Arena
(that carries a striking resemblance to New York City’s Madison
Square Garden) from a first-person viewpoint similar to JBI. You
have access to many backstage areas of the arena, such as the boiler
room, parking lot, and locker room. Outside the arena, there is an
underground subway station, where you can take the subway to The
World at Times Square.
Every now and then, you may run into another wrestler. If you decide
to interact with him or her, what you choose to say may alter your
path depending on the situation. Say the right thing, and they may
praise you or maybe even help you out in your next match. Say the
wrong thing, and it could mean trouble—either an “impromptu” match
or you just get decked. The cool thing about these interactions is
the fact that every wrestler maintains their television persona. For
example, if you run into Chris Jericho, you’re dealing with the same
pompous jerk portrayed in TV. Talk to Booker T, and you’re a “sucka”
ten times over. The emphasis of character portrayal is heavier for
some than others, for some wrestlers will even say their catch
phrases. Meet The Rock, and after he cuts his witty promo (while the
crowd chants his name)…”If ya smell-la-la-la-la-la-la…what The
Rock…is cookin’!” It’s a really sweet touch, especially for a
die-hard fan.
Unlike the previous Smackdown games, you are not confined to wrestle
only the matches scheduled for your character. You have a few
options to choose from: watch the match, skip it, play as one of the
wrestlers in action, or perform a “run-in.” If you want a certain
match to end in favor of a certain wrestler, you can play or
interfere. Personally, I’d much rather run in myself and go
ballistic with a chair, but that’s just me.
Despite the fact that the season
mode pretty much makes this game great, there are a few things about
it the bugged me. Now, depending on the player it can be a good
thing or a bad thing, but the season for each wrestler is only two
years long. When you get through with one and choose another
wrestler to kick off a new season, you start from the gate
again…with all titles returning back to their original holders. If
you finish a season with the Undisputed title, your wrestler won’t
have it in the next season, and I think that sucks. Another aspect
that bothered me was the fact that you can’t run a season with the
female wrestlers. They can interact with you during season mode,
but you can’t take a female and go for the Womens’ Title. So
basically, they are all eye candy as far as seasons go. Boy, THQ,
that’s a little sexist. Wouldn’t you agree?
With all that can go down in season mode, the replay value of this
is through the roof. Don’t plan on taking the same path over and
over in this game, folks, because it can twist anyway you take it.
Create-a-Wrestler
Just when you thought Smackdown couldn’t possible have a better
create-a-wrestler option than that of JBI, this title gives the
player more freedom than ever in building a brawler. SYM introduces
a brand new layout, providing the player greater ease and
convenience. Instead of just having the many different body features
and accessories listed numerically, each choice is displayed with a
detailed thumbnail picture, saving you the frustration of fishing.
The biggest enhancement to this option, compared to the previous
titles, is the ability to completely fine-tune the look of your
character. Now, with the use of the analog sticks, you can tweak
your character to literally look any way you want—tall or short,
skinny or fat, young or old, etc. There is even a face morphing tool
at your disposal, giving you more liberty in creating your
character’s look. You can stretch his or her facial features in and
out; up and down…you can even adjust how far the character's
eyeballs sink into or bulge from their head!
But here’s my gripe with the body creation—the mouths. What happened
here? You can’t pick different mouths for your creation; just
different “cheek” features. And it doesn’t matter which cheek you
pick—your creation will have nothing more than a toothless pink
opening when he speaks or expresses pain. It’s an annoying and
unavoidable mistake to see, but other than that, the
create-a-wrestler option is still the best ever. If you find
yourself fine-tuning your creation for an hour or so, do not be
surprised.
About the clothing line. The Smackdown series has always provided an
extensive selection to wrestling attire, and SYM holds true in that
department. And of course, with it being a sequel and all, you have
even more to choose from. All articles of clothing are now split
into five different design categories, and these subdivisions make
for an easier creating experience. Like mentioned before, the analog
sticks allow you to tweak your color blends. Remember in JBI when
you’d come across a few clothing items that you couldn’t recolor? It
would look heavily spotted with different colors. Not the case here,
as every article can be re-colored to your liking, maybe with the
exception of those which have multiple colors. Want a blue overcoat
instead of the default color? Go for it.
Now on to my favorite area of wrestler creation…the moves. This is
another area of the game that THQ has totally revamped for the
better. The moves section has an entirely new and easy-to-use
layout. The moves are now categorized by their type: speed, rough,
technical, power, suplexes, submission holds, aerial moves, “et
cetera”, and an alphabetical listing of all the unlocked moves you
may choose from.
There are many new custom entrances to choose from, however, most of
them are just flat-out ridiculous. Apparently, a lot of emphasis was
put on humor rather than realism, so choosing a suitable entrance
for your created superstar can be a little troublesome depending on
the attitude you want him or her or carry. You can still select a
certain superstar’s entrance if you can’t give them a custom one.
Entrance music is nothing new, but we’ll talk about that later in
the review.
A few extra choices have been added to the move lists. Now you
choose from three different weapon moves: the DDT, Undertaker’s
guillotine (which looks awesome), and, of course, Rob Van Dam’s
Vandaminator! Also, the player can select from two different “from
the ceiling” moves. Four words: Hell in a Cell…you do the math.
Many of these maneuvers are locked away, and it’s up to you to
unlock the various moves sets in season mode. Just like the other
Smackdowns, you will still have to unlock many create-a-wrestler
features and move sets. To do so, you’ll have to win a match at the
monthly pay-per-view spectaculars. You have a choice of other items
to unlock, such as wrestlers and their attire, arenas, and special
cinematics. However, you only get to select one prize at a time, so
you’ll find yourself playing through the season mode a lot in order
to unlock everything
There is a brand new create-an-animation mode added in the “create”
section. Not only can you create your own taunt, but a player can
create their own fighting stance, winning poses, and running
animations! This time, THQ went all out is the character creation
department. What a blessing.
Gameplay
Anyone who’s played Smackdown knows about the gameplay. Fast. In
Shut Your Mouth, it’s still fast, but it’s not as simple as the
previous games, especially when it comes to defense. Here’s where a
few of Wrestlemania X8’s likenesses come into play.
In the past, the player with good timing could simply press the
square button and counter an attack. Not here. Finally, THQ has made
defense a chore by incorporating the directional pad in conjunction
with the square button, meaning you’ll also have to press the d-pad
button that corresponds with the attack being countered. Hands-down,
the best defensive touch in the game is the ability to counter
finishing moves. What a godsend. If you’re about to get popped by,
say, a Stone Cold Stunner, you can shove him away when he turns his
back to you, but it will cost you a Smackdown icon from your meter.
So if you don’t have one built up, it’s lights out.
Speaking about finishing moves, now with the touch of the L2 button,
the player can activate a swinging 360-degree still camera shot of a
finisher. It gives your finisher a cool Matrix-esque look. If a
player has two Smackdown icons on their meter, he or she can use
their opponent’s finisher against him by pressing both L1 and L2.
It’s the ultimate insult when you’re playing against friends.
Many new elements have been thrown into the game, such as new weapon
attacks and animations. The ability to lean a ladder or table into
the corner of the ring has been carried over from Wrestlemania X8
to SYM, and is a very handy tool to use for table matches. Speaking
of table, Just Bring It made putting people through tables a
real hassle. All that has been changed; most slams can drill your
opponent through the wood, but the “slide-off” glitch still happens
frequently. Hey, the table is only so long. Wrestlers can pull
weapons out from under the ring. You can grab either a chair from
the sides, a sledgehammer from the bottom, or a table from the top
(with the exception of RVD, who can pull out a ladder). The ring
steps can still come into play, and this time a player can be
whipped into the steel posts. Brand new weapon attack animations
have been thrown in. Along with the vintage overhead bash, wrestlers
can perform the gut shot and a “home run swing.” It’s cool to bash
somebody in the face with a foreign object…just don’t do it while
the ref is watching. Yes, you can lose by disqualification, but the
rule goes the same way for the computer opponents, too—somewhat. For
some godforsaken reason, the computer is allowed to get in a few
more whacks than you are. If you so much as poke him in the gut with
a chair, the ref will call the match. Can you tell I like weapons?
THQ has done an awesome job in capturing each wrestler’s likeness,
and they’ve taken this element even father by merging it with the
gameplay. When you are controlling a wrestler, it feels like you’re
actually controlling that wrestler (did that make sense?). A prime
example is Brock Lesnar. Everything from his stationary fighting
stance to his in-ring actions are so precise, you’d swear it was
really him and not a computerized image. He’ll do his trademark
shoulder roll after he drops an opponent with one of his
overaggressive attacks. Rob Van Dam is another near-perfect
translation. He will execute every single flip and roll in his
arsenal. He’ll even grimace in pain after he hits his patented
Five-star Frog Splash. Those are just a couple, but just about
everyone in this game is recreated almost flawlessly.
A few new touches in gameplay have been thrown into the pot, such as
tossing opponents into garbage dumpsters and lockers. In some rooms,
there are stacked items, such as boxes and barrels that crumble when
someone flies into it, and it gives quite a realistic feel to the
game. Yeah, a lot of what goes on in this game is pretty realistic,
that is, until you get in the parking lot area of the arena. Go
ahead…duke it out with another wrestler in the parking lot, whip him
into the same car a few times, and just watch what happens. I swear
to you all, this is the dumbest addition to this game—almost to
point where a real fan can call it a bruise on the gameplay. Whip
your opponent into a parked car about three times, and the car will
explode, propelling your opponent about twenty feet into the air!
They did the same thing in the boiler room area with the steam pipe.
Only this time, you can’t get anywhere near the busted pipe, or
you’ll be flying. Sorry if I sound a little passionate, but it drove
me up the wall.
The idea of fighting in the crowd has been removed, but it has been
replaced with even better features and abilities. A great addition
to gameplay is being able to remove the top turnbuckles. When
someone is whipped into “that exposed turnbuckle,” it adds damage
and stuns whoever flew into it. That’s a valuable little tool, and
can turn a match in an instant. Outside the ring, wrestlers can use
the black barricade that surrounds the ring in their offense. A
player can whip an opponent into it or perform aerial maneuvers from
the top. Every now and then, the “table glitch” happens when you
slam your opponent anywhere near the barricade, but it’s not a big
enough deal the think differently about SYM’s gameplay.
Despite its minor flaws in gameplay, SYM is still the best of any
wrestling game for any system.
Sound
Okay, here’s the major flaw of Shut Your Mouth. THQ nailed
just about everything in this game except for the sound department,
more specifically the entrance music for some of the wrestlers.
Characters such as Matt and Jeff Hardy, Lita, Rhyno, and Randy Orton
all have music that sounds like poorly remixed versions of the
originals. To a true fan of the sport, it takes away from the feel
that JBI’s entrances had. What I really don’t understand is, if
Hollywood Hulk Hogan can still come to the ring with Jimi Hendrix’s
Voodoo Chile, then why have these themes been modified? Entrance
music was a heavy issue in Wrestlemania X8, and it was said
to be resolved here. For the aforementioned competitors, that’s not
entirely the case.
Another issue is the fact that there are no new custom entrance
songs. The same themes from JBI have been brought over to SYM with
no new ones added. However, there are a few wrestlers who have two
theme songs or another variation of their original theme, so if all
else fails, go with one of those. Heck, if you want, grab Hulk
Hogan’s “Real American” music. There are also two variations of Kurt
Angle’s music, the original music and the “you suck” chant music.
Now, entrance music is one category. In-ring sounds and commentary
are another. The in-ring bangs and thuds sound far more aggressive
than any of the previous games. In this category, THQ didn’t miss a
beat…no delayed or incompatible sounds.
Another major complaint from JBI was the annoyingly lame commentary
from Tazz and Michael Cole. This time, “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross and
Jerry “The King” Lawler has taken over, and it is a definite
improvement. Not a great improvement, but a noticeable one. No more
poorly spliced audio and idiotic babbling; J.R. and King keep it
simple and realistic. You’ll hear J.R.’s classic country
catch-phrases (“This one’s gonna be a slobberknocker, folks!”) and
The Kings sexist comments (“Puppies!”). However, THQ tried to model
entire skits around certain wrestlers, and whenever that particular
superstar is in the ring, you’ll hear the same skit at least once in
that match. It gets dry and repetitive, but you can’t blame them for
trying something new.
All in all, the sound would have received a higher mark if THQ would
have stuck with the original themes for all wrestlers instead of
just most of them. That’s a major hit.
Graphics
Graphically, THQ has once again raised the bar. Almost everyone in
the game looks sharp, and again, it appears that more emphasis was
put on the heavy hitters of the WWE. The looks of some mid-carders
such as Randy Orton and Billy Kidman are a little bit…you
know…”off”. That’s close-up, though. When they’re in the ring, you
can barely tell the difference.
Walking around in first person, the graphics of your surroundings
are just as great as they were in JBI. This time around a brief and
well-detailed cinematic plays each time you pass through doorways.
Remember the cardboard cut-outs for an audience in JBI? Well, they
haven’t totally disappeared from the game, but they are no longer in
the audience. The fans now have their own dimensions and animations,
which adds to the look and feel of WWE action. Now, the poster
people are in the lobby and outside the arena, and no animation was
wasted on them. In certain areas, they simply slide around in one
still pose, but that’s a good thing because THQ put the emphasis of
animation where it was needed most—in the ring area. For example,
outside the arena, you can see the “walk” along the sidewalk across
the street. It’s not a bad thing because this time they put the
important touches where they needed to be. And they look a lot more
detailed than before. The cut-outs in Just Bring It were
terribly jagged, but they are much smoother here in Shut Your
Mouth.
All the pay-per-view arenas are included and have been flawlessly
rendered. This was another mishap from Just Bring It, because
many of the stages were just the same arena with a different name
footer that popped out when your wrestler entered the ring. As a
matter of fact, some PPV arenas have a two layout that can be
unlocked.
Overall, Shut Your Mouth is a beautiful piece of work. THQ
threw in many subtleties that make this game stand out from any
other wrestling title to date.
Conclusion
Well, that’s my story, kiddies. I couldn’t say enough about WWE
Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth—it was far better than what I
expected. The gameplay is indeed outstanding, but it doesn’t quite
overshadow all of its minor flaws, and that may annoy any true
wrestling enthusiast. However, the bottom line is this: If you love
the WWE and wrestling games, grab a hold of this title...you’ll be
amazed. Forget what the magazines say about Smackdown, because I can
guarantee you not one of those brainwashers dissected this game the
way I did just now. But, if you still can’t take my word for it, go
ahead, blow six bucks and rent it.
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