TPWW Forums - View Single Post - The Official Smackdown vs Raw 2007 Thread

**Disturbed316** · 05-10-2006, 01:36 PM

IGN has the hands on stuff up. They got several video's up also:

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/706/706929p1.html

E3 2006: SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 Hands-on
How is it different and how is it the same? Click here and find out!
by Jeremy Dunham

May 10, 2006 - For the first time in a long time, THQ has made the next iteration of its popular wrestling franchise available for play at E3 (behind closed doors, where a legion of eager grappling fans won't overwhelm the booth). This is an important year for the franchise too, as it marks the first time in the series' history that the game will arrive on multiple platforms, and it's also the first time that it will release on multiple generations at the same time. These developments have been big news in the "wrestling gamer" community, and knowing that a vast majority of them patron IGN for their news, THQ allowed us to come in early and check out the next-generation E3 version of SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 before anyone else.

There are four major features that THQ and Yuke's Media Creations want to drive home for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. The first is the need for user-controlled grappling moves. Animations are no longer limited to whatever the canned AI says they're supposed to be as certain move types are now entirely determined by the user. Let's assume that a player grabs another user in a grapple and hoists them up on their shoulders. This position leaves a wrestler with a number of options -- they can perform a military press, an airplane spin (controlled with the analog stick), or go ahead and slam the guy outside of the ring (that's right, it's no longer a special move). There will be multiple grapple moves per character too, so it won't always be the same options for every character.

Another nice feature is that movesets are no longer based on the same arbitrarily-assigned types that the last game had. Now, a wrestler's class determines what kind of moves will be available to them in the ring. Divas, luchadors, power wrestlers each have their own types of wrestling abilities that can't be performed by other classes... so don't expect to see The Big Show pull off turnbuckle hurricanranas or Stacy Keibler powerslam some fat dude into the steel steps.

Speaking of the steel steps, they lead us into the second major feature that THQ wants to focus on, and that's the environmental hotspots. There are more than 20 different interactive areas in all (though the E3 build is still limited in what works), and it will include everything from the ring ropes, cage wall, and ring post, to both announcer tables, ladders and more. As an example, players can now pick up an opponent with the new user-controlled mechanic and drop them on a rope groin first (no kids for them) and then grab onto the ropes and move them up and down for additional damage. The good news for hapless opponents is that this affects the stamina of your character just like anything else does so it can't be abused, and any hotspot move is completely reversible. We've also been told that ladder matches will feature some rather spectacular new improvements (you can lay ladders across one another and can also run across one Shelton Benjamin style).

Perhaps the most talked-about new feature so far, though, is the third big feature -- the crowd interaction. As hinted in the target render teaser we ran last week, players can grab weapons, items, and even signs from the audience when fighting outside the ring. Subtle touches have been incorporated into the obvious too -- giving gamers the choice to rip up a sign if they're a heel, or to hold it up and shake it like a spaz if they're a face. Some animations will even allow wrestlers to pat fans on the back after a sign grab, and if they want to put some extra hurt on their opponent, they can pick up umbrellas, crutches, bottles, and other cool goodies to dish out the pain.

The bad news for most of you (it was for me), is that crowd interaction doesn't spill over into the audience as we hoped it would. While users can definitely duke it out in certain designated areas, they can't keep moving through a swarm of show-goers like they do on TV. Even so, there are some cool little options available to players while in crowd interaction mode, such as specific interactive hotspots like tables and giant speaker sets (the same one that Angle moonsaults off of in the trailer). As an added bonus, certain special finishing moves can be performed in particular situations.

The fourth and final new feature on THQ's to do list is the brand new chain reversal system. Reversals are no longer limited to a couple of transitions either -- now reversals can be infinite if users are astute enough at countering an opponent. A lot of the grapple animations were still be worked on when I played the game, however, and I wasn't very good at countering either... so I didn't get to experiment with it much.

Now for those of you who have been following our WWE coverage over the last couple of years, you may be wondering how the guy that writes about all the previous SmackDown's didn't do so well at the countering... and no, it isn't because I suck. The difficulty is the result of the brand new analog grappling system that brings a definite learning curve with it. In theory, it works similarly to the old digital system that was used in the earlier games, but for special maneuvers like the 360-degree turns mentioned earlier, the only way you can pull them off is by moving the stick in a 360-degree rotation. The same sort of technique holds true for slamming an opponent into something too; bang an opponent into the steps, and you'll have to move the stick up and down just like the animation on the screen.

The good news for veterans is that SmackDown still retails several of its old-school conventions. Strong Irish whips, regular Irish whips, grapple types, and all that other good stuff still works in the same way it always did with the same exact buttons. The same can't be said for the graphics, though, as they benefit from a number of new improvements including an all-new sweat system (think Fight Night), more realistic blood, and a fully 3D crowd with more than 1000 polygonal crowd members. Other new improvements include a streamlined interface (its less cluttered by far and can be turned off), better fatigue and pain animations when a wrestler is hurt, and more than 20 different facial reactions dependant on the situation.

So what's wrong with it (there always has to be something doesn't there?). Up to this point, the game is still pretty early so it's hard to tell what a major problem is and what isn't until we get closer to the release. But evaluating it as is, the game is definitely a little on the slow side (the walking animations look a little rehashed too). On a personal level, I did find it a little disappointing that more wasn't shown on how SmackDown is taking advantage of the next generation, but I have to be fair and mention once again that this the earliest a build in the franchise has ever been shown -- so there's still a long way to go before making judgments.

Luckily, THQ is giving us the chance to follow that progress with a number of cool articles planned in the future (it's almost that time of year again). To hold you over while you wait, we've included the official E3 screens on our media page below, as well as the first-ever direct feed videos taken from an early build of the next-generation version. Enjoy!

05-10-2006, 01:36 PM	#365
Disturbed316 Posts: 22,695	IGN has the hands on stuff up. They got several video's up also: http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/706/706929p1.html E3 2006: SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 Hands-on How is it different and how is it the same? Click here and find out! by Jeremy Dunham May 10, 2006 - For the first time in a long time, THQ has made the next iteration of its popular wrestling franchise available for play at E3 (behind closed doors, where a legion of eager grappling fans won't overwhelm the booth). This is an important year for the franchise too, as it marks the first time in the series' history that the game will arrive on multiple platforms, and it's also the first time that it will release on multiple generations at the same time. These developments have been big news in the "wrestling gamer" community, and knowing that a vast majority of them patron IGN for their news, THQ allowed us to come in early and check out the next-generation E3 version of SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 before anyone else. There are four major features that THQ and Yuke's Media Creations want to drive home for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. The first is the need for user-controlled grappling moves. Animations are no longer limited to whatever the canned AI says they're supposed to be as certain move types are now entirely determined by the user. Let's assume that a player grabs another user in a grapple and hoists them up on their shoulders. This position leaves a wrestler with a number of options -- they can perform a military press, an airplane spin (controlled with the analog stick), or go ahead and slam the guy outside of the ring (that's right, it's no longer a special move). There will be multiple grapple moves per character too, so it won't always be the same options for every character. Another nice feature is that movesets are no longer based on the same arbitrarily-assigned types that the last game had. Now, a wrestler's class determines what kind of moves will be available to them in the ring. Divas, luchadors, power wrestlers each have their own types of wrestling abilities that can't be performed by other classes... so don't expect to see The Big Show pull off turnbuckle hurricanranas or Stacy Keibler powerslam some fat dude into the steel steps. Speaking of the steel steps, they lead us into the second major feature that THQ wants to focus on, and that's the environmental hotspots. There are more than 20 different interactive areas in all (though the E3 build is still limited in what works), and it will include everything from the ring ropes, cage wall, and ring post, to both announcer tables, ladders and more. As an example, players can now pick up an opponent with the new user-controlled mechanic and drop them on a rope groin first (no kids for them) and then grab onto the ropes and move them up and down for additional damage. The good news for hapless opponents is that this affects the stamina of your character just like anything else does so it can't be abused, and any hotspot move is completely reversible. We've also been told that ladder matches will feature some rather spectacular new improvements (you can lay ladders across one another and can also run across one Shelton Benjamin style). Perhaps the most talked-about new feature so far, though, is the third big feature -- the crowd interaction. As hinted in the target render teaser we ran last week, players can grab weapons, items, and even signs from the audience when fighting outside the ring. Subtle touches have been incorporated into the obvious too -- giving gamers the choice to rip up a sign if they're a heel, or to hold it up and shake it like a spaz if they're a face. Some animations will even allow wrestlers to pat fans on the back after a sign grab, and if they want to put some extra hurt on their opponent, they can pick up umbrellas, crutches, bottles, and other cool goodies to dish out the pain. The bad news for most of you (it was for me), is that crowd interaction doesn't spill over into the audience as we hoped it would. While users can definitely duke it out in certain designated areas, they can't keep moving through a swarm of show-goers like they do on TV. Even so, there are some cool little options available to players while in crowd interaction mode, such as specific interactive hotspots like tables and giant speaker sets (the same one that Angle moonsaults off of in the trailer). As an added bonus, certain special finishing moves can be performed in particular situations. The fourth and final new feature on THQ's to do list is the brand new chain reversal system. Reversals are no longer limited to a couple of transitions either -- now reversals can be infinite if users are astute enough at countering an opponent. A lot of the grapple animations were still be worked on when I played the game, however, and I wasn't very good at countering either... so I didn't get to experiment with it much. Now for those of you who have been following our WWE coverage over the last couple of years, you may be wondering how the guy that writes about all the previous SmackDown's didn't do so well at the countering... and no, it isn't because I suck. The difficulty is the result of the brand new analog grappling system that brings a definite learning curve with it. In theory, it works similarly to the old digital system that was used in the earlier games, but for special maneuvers like the 360-degree turns mentioned earlier, the only way you can pull them off is by moving the stick in a 360-degree rotation. The same sort of technique holds true for slamming an opponent into something too; bang an opponent into the steps, and you'll have to move the stick up and down just like the animation on the screen. The good news for veterans is that SmackDown still retails several of its old-school conventions. Strong Irish whips, regular Irish whips, grapple types, and all that other good stuff still works in the same way it always did with the same exact buttons. The same can't be said for the graphics, though, as they benefit from a number of new improvements including an all-new sweat system (think Fight Night), more realistic blood, and a fully 3D crowd with more than 1000 polygonal crowd members. Other new improvements include a streamlined interface (its less cluttered by far and can be turned off), better fatigue and pain animations when a wrestler is hurt, and more than 20 different facial reactions dependant on the situation. So what's wrong with it (there always has to be something doesn't there?). Up to this point, the game is still pretty early so it's hard to tell what a major problem is and what isn't until we get closer to the release. But evaluating it as is, the game is definitely a little on the slow side (the walking animations look a little rehashed too). On a personal level, I did find it a little disappointing that more wasn't shown on how SmackDown is taking advantage of the next generation, but I have to be fair and mention once again that this the earliest a build in the franchise has ever been shown -- so there's still a long way to go before making judgments. Luckily, THQ is giving us the chance to follow that progress with a number of cool articles planned in the future (it's almost that time of year again). To hold you over while you wait, we've included the official E3 screens on our media page below, as well as the first-ever direct feed videos taken from an early build of the next-generation version. Enjoy!