The official Smackdown vs Raw 2008 thread

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Just a few months ago, THQ gathered the gaming press in the shadow of Wrestlemania and let the world know that the general manager and career modes from SmackDown! vs. Raw's past was dead.

Fans didn't take it well.

It wasn't so much the elimination by combination -- you can now play as a GM or a Superstar in one mode called 24/7 -- that raised their ire; it was the overall ambiguity of this new super-mode. Would it retain the story-driven single-player mode? Would it retain the cutthroat GM business of trying to keep your show on top while keeping your superstars healthy? How would the modes bleed into one another?

We've been able to spend an extended amount of time with 24/7 Mode -- an early build of the game that is subject to change -- and have come away with a number of impressions both good and bad.


Home sweet home.

Let's start where the changes are the most noticeable -- 24/7 Mode as a Superstar. When you select the option you'll be able to start a career as a Superstar or created character. If you choose your created brawler, you'll start with your minimum attributes and begin working your way up the ladder through skill training. Choose to be an established character, and you'll be able to start with the steam the wrestler already has or from scratch to build your own dynasty.

Now, readers, brace yourself; I have bad news … possibly terrible news. You can't take an ECW Superstar (CM Punk, Elijah Burke, etc.) through 24/7 mode. Worse? You can't take an ECW Superstar who swapped shows (i.e. Sandman, Bobby Lashley, etc.) through the new career mode either. Go ahead and let out a frustrated cry, ECW fans -- we did. There's a fair amount of voice acting and show-specific storylines for Raw and SmackDown, and it would appear that just couldn't be done for poor ol'ECW.

Once you get over the grief of not being able to play as any ECW dude -- with the exception of Johnny Nitro on Raw -- you can begin your dream of becoming a WWE Legend with one of 19 available wrestlers. The mode kicks off with your Superstar meeting Vince in the middle of an empty arena and him challenging you to become a legend and make it to the squared-circle for that awe-inspiring event known as Wrestlemania. From there, you adjourn to your new home away from home -- the WWE Locker Room.


Invading will get you over, but it'll cost you, too.

Rather than last year's first-person/glide-around-the-locker room view, this year has you anchored in one spot staring at your shirt on a hanger, Diva posters on the wall and four interactive objects -- as well as a percentage meter in the corner of the screen that tracks your progress on becoming a legend. On a bench is the latest issue of WWE Magazine (where you can check out what the other Superstars are saying about your feud), your cell phone contains e-mails -- some packing voice work -- that keep you up-to-date on backstage opportunities as well as who hates you, the calendar is where you manage your daily schedule, and your laptop keeps track of the WWE Shop, the Power 25 and your health.

Yes -- your health. New to the single-player career this year are the health woes that made up the GM mode of SmackDown's past.

For our first jaunt through the life of a WWE Superstar in SVR '08, we chose Matt Hardy and set out to make our mark on SmackDown. Theodore Long prepped us with some lengthy voicemails about becoming the number one contender, Rey Mysterio kept sending us emails saying that we hadn't earned anyone's respect, and Booker T got pretty pissed when Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley started looking at us for a starring role in an upcoming WWE film.

To make this kind of impact, we needed to push Matt pretty hard.

See, there are four days of activities outside of your respective program -- if there isn't a PPV, you get the weekends off -- and from the calendar you can choose what you want to do on these non-wrestling days, but each choice will come with its own set of positive and negative elements.


Sandman = ladies man.

Matt's on SmackDown, so his week is free and clear up until Friday. On Monday I might invade Raw and get a popularity boost with the fans but risk getting more fatigued. Tuesday, I can select a day of R&R to counteract the fatigue but lose the ground I gained with the fans. Wednesday, I can star in a movie to get over with the fans and grab some cash, but I'm going to be fatigued coming into Friday's show.

This give-and-take is spread out over training exercises -- nifty mini-matches where you're given a goal such as completing a set number of taunts or Ultimate Control Grapples to better your stats -- skill improvement training that costs money but will teach you mic moves and heat-gathering abilities that will lead to bonuses in your daily events, and the events -- autograph signings, trophy dates, etc. -- themselves.

Now, other than the training exercises, this is all strictly handled on the stat sheet. If you choose to put your wrestler through the $5,000 pain management session, which improves your recovery rate, you're only going to see the number you've added to your skill and the money you've lost. The same thing can be said for any press conference or photo shoot you hold.


Hurt your back? Keep on wrestling, Matt.

So, you can see all the options we had for young Mr. Hardy. We wanted to crack the Top 25, so we started doing movies to get over. We wanted to make a name for ourselves, so we started invading other shows. We wanted the ladies, so we started going out on dates. Our fatigue went up -- you can monitor the stat on your computerized health report -- and as that happened, so did our injury probability.

A few weeks into his run to become the number one contender, Matt suffered a herniated disc in his back. The WWE medical staff suggested he take seven weeks off to rehab the injury.

Here's where it gets weird -- and keep in mind that this isn't the final build of the game -- there was no time-off option. The WWE was telling Matt to stop wrestling, but we couldn't make Matt stop wrestling. With the herniated disc tearing apart his life, Matt began entering matches with his torso already showing damage on the HUD.

Although not being able to take time off stunk, the fact that the game made us carry injuries into our matches was a cool feature, one made better by the AI's ability to pick up on our hurtin' back. When Matt faced off against his former tag team partner Mark Henry (don't ask), the World's Strongest Man repeatedly strong Irish whipped Hardy into the corners. Matt would slam into the turnbuckles and his back would get worse and worse. In a few exchanges, Mark had Matt down for the count.

A lot of fans on the IGN SmackDown message board have asked how the backstage environment works. No, you won't be able to roam the halls at your leisure, but there are a handful of cutscenes that have your superstar walking into the ladies locker room, cutting promos -- occasionally, you get to choose your response -- and dealing with your fellow Superstars.


You can manage ECW Superstars in 24/7, but you can't play as them.

Hopefully, THQ and Yuke's will shake things up in the final build. In our few months as Hardy, we walked in on the ladies changing more than once and saw the same walk down an opponent-filled hallway two or three times. Worse, the walk didn't make any sense. One moment we were getting a rambling, pissed-off message from Rey Mysterio, and the next we were shaking his hand in the hallway.

Whether you love or hate the changes to the individual side of 24/7, you should find GM Mode familiar and suped-up. The mode'll start and you'll have to choose if you want to be Theodore Long on SmackDown, the Coach on Raw or Tommy Dreamer on ECW -- yeah, even though you can't wrestle as any of the ECW guys in 24/7, you can book them and use them in the GM part. From there, you'll have a private meeting with Mr. McMahon on his jet, and he'll basically tell you to take your brand to the top or look for another job. Of course, Vince says all of this in that gravely growl of his so it sounds more intimidating.

You draft a roster (or pick the preset one) while managing your budget, set folks as clean or dirty, choose champions, get to hiring writers and set up feuds, which can be tracked in WWE Magazine along with trades and the health of your crew. Basically, it's a slick version of last year's model -- except that you can now put your boys through the paces on their off days.


Hone your skills, or job forever.

Just like in the Superstar portion of 24/7, GM allows you to put your performers through training exercises, skill improvement and events. It's a good way to make your roster more durable, popular and better wrestlers while making you an extra buck or too.
Obviously, there's a lot to 24/7 mode. On the single-player side, you'll be able to track your skill progression, morale and progress to Legend status while being a GM will have you balancing the books and trying to push your faces and heels in the most appropriate way. Succeed, and you can take your earnings to the WWE Shop and unlock Legends, belts, move sets and more. Fail, and Vince will make sure you never work in this business again, chump.

[The Fugitive]

Craaaap.

Maybe next year, Punk, maybe next year.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

I will no long post attribute as most of my settings for them are wrong. For example, these are what I put for Matt Hardy

STR 7.5
SUB 8
DUR 8
TEC 8.5
SPD 8
CHA 8.5
HRD 8.5
STA 8.5

these are what they really are

STR 75
SUB 80
DUR 80
TEC 86
SPD 82
CHA 85
HRD 87
STA 84

credit - http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/8...g_4942972.html

[KingofOldSchool]

That's fucking pathetic. 19 fucking guys in story mode?

[The Genius]

just picked up my demo right now.

[KingofOldSchool]

Oh and if MVP isn't one of those 19 guys, I riot.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

The gameplay and everything looks great. I'm looking forward to it. I can't say I'm not just a little worried to the drastic change in the story mode. But I won't attack it until I've tried it

[Evil Vito]

Yeah seriously...no playable ECW people? So much for that so called "major impact"

The mode sounds decent....but I dunno. Everytime they announce a positive, and negative comes right along with it. Unless they do something like announce DLCs, this is gonna be playing second fiddle to GH3 and Rock Band on my "to buy" list for some time

[Tommy Gunn]

Originally Posted by KingofOldSchool Oh and if MVP isn't one of those 19 guys, I riot.

QFT.

[Kalyx triaD]

How'd Burke end up with such badass theme music? Its like when Lita came out with "It Just Feels Right" and I was thinking that should have been reserved for a badass.

[KingofOldSchool]

Originally Posted by Big Vito 22 Yeah seriously...no playable ECW people? So much for that so called "major impact" The mode sounds decent....but I dunno. Everytime they announce a positive, and negative comes right along with it. Unless they do something like announce DLCs, this is gonna be playing second fiddle to GH3 and Rock Band on my "to buy" list for some time

Yeah. It's a good thing I'll probably be getting Smackdown vs. Raw for free.

[Disturbed316]

Wow, only 19 guys in and no ECW? That is very shitty.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by KingofOldSchool That's fucking pathetic. 19 fucking guys in story mode?

I didn't read it. Are you kidding me?

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Its very rare I take a preset superstar through season anyway. Like I might do it with Taker, Kane, or HBK or someone. But I find a) the voiceovers suck. and b) the stories are never character relative. Everyone acts like they don't know the guy you're playing as. So I normally do it with a CAW to build the stats up etc and I enjoy it more.

So 19 playable in season isn't a big hit to me.

[Disturbed316]

Yeah, I only ever take my CAW through season mode, but 19 other wrestlers is a joke.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness Its very rare I take a preset superstar through season anyway. Like I might do it with Taker, Kane, or HBK or someone. But I find a) the voiceovers suck. and b) the stories are never character relative. Everyone acts like they don't know the guy you're playing as. So I normally do it with a CAW to build the stats up etc and I enjoy it more. So 19 playable in season isn't a big hit to me.

"Say, what was your name again?"

"Triple H."

"Triple H? You new?"

"Nope. Tenure. Banging the boss' daughter. Part of DX, one of the biggest angles in WWF."

"Really? You'd think I'd have heard something."

"I get that a lot."

I usually play story/season with CAWS too, but that's fucking ridiculous.

[Tommy Gunn]

I normally do Season mode with a CAW, but also did one last year with Mr Kennedy just to make him champion. I want to do the same with MVP in SVR'08.

[KingofOldSchool]

I usually play with the actual roster cause I'm too lazy to use CAW.

[Evil Vito]

Let's see, so you only have 19 real-character options for 24/7 mode.

Let's see, the roster, excluding pre-draft ECW guys: Batista, Booker T, Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Masters, Edge, Finlay, Gregory Helms, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Johnny Nitro, JTG, Kane, Ken Kennedy, Kenny Dykstra, Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, MVP, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ric Flair, Shad, Shawn Michaels, The Great Khali, Triple H, Umaga, Undertaker, William Regal

.....so even among those, 9 of them can't be used. Going on a totally random guess, I'd say those 9 un-usables are Khali, Umaga, JTG, Shad, Dykstra, Helms, Finlay, Chavo, and.......MVP (Came down between him and Henry but since they seem to like pissing us off, I'll eliminate MVP)

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Finishers - Shining Wizard 8, Knee Facebuster
Fighting Styles - Technical, High Flyer

STR 75
SUB 81
DUR 79
TEC 79
SPD 75
CHA 71
HRD 73
STA 82

Gregory Helms Entrance
Shining Wizard

[batistafan1wwe]

Originally Posted by Disturbed316 With the first real bits of information coming out, thought I might as well start this bad boy up. Below is the first interview from THQ from IGN.com US, March 29, 2007 - With today's announcement that SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is hitting just about every platform known to man, we wanted to know more about it. To find out, we sat down to speak with THQ Creative Manager Cory Ledesma just before he headed out on a plane to Detroit for WrestleMania 23. Here's how it went down... IGN: Last year was the first season where you were developing SmackDown for a platform other than a PlayStation system. What did you take from that experience and how are you going to apply that to 2008? Cory Ledesma: We learned a whole lot about our fan base on the Xbox 360, for one, and we also learned that we want to utilize a lot of a console's specific features. So going forward, that's going to be our emphasis from now on -- getting to know our base on each platform, understanding what they want to see in the game, and fully utilizing that console's strengths to the best of our ability. IGN: SmackDown '07 scored pretty well with reviewers but it also received a lot more criticism than the previous version did. Going into this year's game, how serious were you about addressing a lot of the concerns from the press and consumers? Ledesma: Whenever we get criticism we take it in stride. If there's a collective voice out there, we're going to put the things that the fans and the media have been vocal about at the top of our priority list. We pride ourselves on that -- listening to the people who show concern so we can give them the best game. This year, just like every year, we researched the reviews of the game, listened to what the fans were saying on the boards, and went ahead and created our giant "wish list" based on that. Things that were hit on last year were examples like the AI for tag team matches -- that's something we really wanted to improve upon this year; the animation quality was talked about a lot; collision and clipping came up... we went ahead and listened to those things, put them as our top priorities and, right now, feel confident that we're going to address them well this year. IGN: Personally, my biggest issue with the game was how dated it felt. Though I still liked it quite a bit, the animations and AI, like you said, felt old. Since you're specifically tackling those problems this year, what are you doing in those areas? Ledesma: Well you're definitely going to see a big improvement with the AI. There was a partial problem with the match types since most of them were untouched compared to previous years, and therefore, the AI found in those match types was pretty much the same. Improving the AI that goes along with our existing match types (especially the tag match) is something we're really working on. We want to make a smarter AI, a more supportive AI, and an AI that's aware of what's happening in the ring -- we want it to know what you're doing and what's going on besides the player's actions. We stressed very heavily to Yuke's that this is something we had to work on for this year. As far as animation goes, it's our overall franchise objective to significantly improve our system. What it means when we put something down as our "franchise objective," is that there is no higher priority. Of course, it doesn't mean that we're going to be able to fix everything in the first year -- because it could take a couple of years to get everything in there -- but we are putting a lot of resources behind getting this done as soon as possible. What does that mean we'll be fixing? The blending you see between the moves... that will be better. The general movement in and outside the ring -- the walking, the running, the climbing -- you'll see an improvement in those areas' quality as well. Collision problems that happen during certain "up close" moves, we're focusing on those too and a bunch of other things. In other words, we want to get rid of the older, robotic-looking things. We want to improve our visual quality. Also, there's a second side to our big franchise objective and that's differentiating the game's characters. So, for example, when you play as Kane and you're walking around the ring, we want you to feel like you're moving a little bit slower and more lumbering than you would as Rey Mysterio. Rey should be able to hop around the ring, be very quick, and have all his animations tie into that kind of style and into the gameplay. We want these guys to feel like they would in real life. IGN: Just so that we're clear: are your "improved" animations just enhanced versions of your older animation sets or are you actually going back and redoing them? Ledesma: We're completely redoing animations. The problem with trying to rework and improve an older animation set is that you'll never be able to get a better quality than you already have even if you add more frames to it. Adding those extra frames is really just making the move take longer to perform and that slows down gameplay. We're recapturing animations for all the improvements I just talked about. We'll have new animations for the base navigational stuff, for instance, and that's actually important. It's important because those are the animations that players are going to see 80-90% of the time. Running around, getting in and out of the ring, picking up weapons, these are the things you see the most of. Expect brand new animations for all of those. We also want a more realistic approach to our animation in general with smart blending. If you're going from a walk to a run, it should be a gradual transition between the two; if you go from picking up a weapon to standing up, there shouldn't be a pop -- it should look real. Those are just some of the subtleties you'll notice that give the game a smoother look overall. IGN: You talked a bit about the wrestlers having different fighting styles. How will these styles affect gameplay and the typical flow of a match? Ledesma: Jeremy, let me tell you: this is by far our favorite new feature this year. Personally, I'm really excited about it. The reason being is that it changes the landscape of how everyone is going to play the game. When you pick up SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, you're just trying to learn how to win the match. "How am I going to pin my opponent, submit him, knock him out... whatever." Because of 2008's new fighting styles, though, you'll actually be learning how to play that particular wrestler and his technique. Each one offers specific strategies and abilities that other wrestlers won't have. It's almost like a fighting game in a way; if you play Soulcalibur, they have different weapons, different animations and different moves. We're taking that approach. We want players to have exclusive abilities and tactics that let them play differently based on personal preference and the wrestler they choose. You will have to learn how each fighting style works and, depending on the match type you're playing, you'll have to discover which ones are advantageous in certain matches and which ones aren't. Superstars aren't going to have the exact same abilities, moves, or animations in SmackDown vs. Raw 2008. IGN: What are some examples of the fighting styles and how they work? Ledesma: We're going to have eight fighting styles overall. We're going to have a hardcore and a high-flyer fighting style. The hardcore guys, obviously, are going to play well with weapons and hardcore match types that involve props or the bending of rules (no DQ and stuff like that). The high-flyer is going to have more aerial maneuvers than anybody. They'll be able to use the ring in new ways by launching themselves off the ropes or other areas around the ring that competing styles can't. We're also going to have submission artists. They'll be proficient in the holds and have special abilities relating to that. We've got powerhouse guys who are essentially brutes. Think Batista or Triple H and you know that type -- they'll have some really forceful abilities. Our fifth fighting style is a brawler and he'll be proficient in striking, and you can expect special moves for that style related to those strikes. There's also the showman. He's a cocky, arrogant wrestler who taunts his opponents and plays to the crowd. His whole goal is to lower his foe's momentum and morale in different ways -- a Shawn Michaels type, a Randy Orton type... even the Undertaker is a showman in his own way.

[batistafan1wwe]

Wasup

[CSL]

Did they censor the word 'deadman' in Burke's music?

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Continuing an IGN tradition we are once again proud to present a simulation of the WWE's No Mercy Pay-per-view event using THQ's latest version of Smackdown! vs. Raw. IGN Insider's Nate Ahearn and IGN Editor Meghan Sullivan bring you commentary on the matches as they happen.
This year our simulation is a bit more important considering WWE superstar John Cena will no longer defending the belt against Randy Orton due to an injury. Now you can see what would have happened had he entered the match. Look for the download right here on the evening of 10/05/07.

There you go Disturbed and any other Insiders we have on this board.

[Disturbed316]

About freakin time.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Helms, what a legend.

Yes, Helms mark here. Although I have to say I hated being him in the last game, because anytime you try to do a move he goes all retarded and tries to lift Mark Henry or something. Its like you had to know what every single button command did.

[Lux]

Helm's NEW Shining Wizard (finally) makes me drool

[Lux]

btw anyone have Helms theme anyway??? just curious, if do downloadable please

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Just send the link to your hotmail e-mail 4.0.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Finishers - Rated RKO, RKO
Fighting Styles - Dirty, Showman

STR 80
SUB 87
DUR 87
TEC 90
SPD 80
CHA 88
HRD 80
STA 85

Randy Orton Entrance
Rated RKO
The Champion

[Gerard]

Orton looks like he's made of plastic in that pic ^

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

I definitely like the new RKO's. Strange how Orton has pyro, but hasn't had it for about 18 months.... Still, I guess it looks better than without

[Gerard]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness I definitely like the new RKO's. Strange how Orton has pyro, but hasn't had it for about 18 months.... Still, I guess it looks better than without

Yup the whole posing at the top of the ramp just looks wrong without the "golden shower" pyro behind him.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Well if you're going to crap in peoples bags the least you deserve is a golden shower on the way to the ring....

[Xero]

I really don't like the idea of the RKO reversal being an actual move and being able to hit it multiple times in a match. If anything, it should be a fairly low random occurrence when going for a Super RKO.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

To be fair, the actual super RKO was done when the opponent was on the top rope already, its just the game that had Randy lift them up, which doesn't look right IMO. So the same argument could be made there

[Xero]

What? It was a corner move in the last game, and wasn't (technically) a reversal. Having the "Rated RKO" is just way too unrealistic.

[Kalyx triaD]

Its a cinematic move, just like alot of the corner tag moves. Made to recreate moments in wrestling that would never happen manually.

[Xero]

I get that, but making a reversal a normal move is retarded.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Originally Posted by Lord-Of-Darkness To be fair, the actual super RKO was done when the opponent was on the top rope already, its just the game that had Randy lift them up, which doesn't look right IMO. So the same argument could be made there

Yeah, they messed it up in ’07 to an extent, but it just looks so fucked in ’08 that it’s not funny. Basically to anyone unaware, like L-O-D has said, the real Super RKO was an opponent dazed, on the top rope and Orton would just grab them by the neck and drop them face first to the canvas, basically, if I had to try to describe it...