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.
