WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw Hands-on

The battle between American wrestling's two biggest television brands, WWE Smackdown! and WWE Raw, has taken to the PS2 with THQ's WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw. We sat down with the latest version of the game in anticipation of its November release and were impressed to find a title that seems to be progressing toward championship gold.

Piper and Bubba Ray enjoy some backstage hors d'oeuvres.

For a couple of years now, the WWE has been attempting to create two entirely separate brands for its two big TV properties, WWE Smackdown! and WWE Raw, even going so far as to split the rosters between the two shows. WWE video games, however, haven't been nearly as stingy with their rosters, as you regularly see the most popular WWE superstars making their way into (and out of) each new release. WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw is no exception, as the very title of the game implies that the rosters will feature a nice mixture of talent from both shows. Some inclusions, particularly from the Smackdown! roster, may raise an eyebrow or two, such as Charlie Haas, Mark Jindrak, and the always frightening Rico, but the inclusion of big-name stars such as Kurt Angle, John Cena, and Eddie Guerrero more than makes up for it. Most of the beautiful WWE divas are present and accounted for as well, though notably missing is Gail Kim.

WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw's graphics, especially the player models, look great. Skin textures are especially cool and varied (a feature that really improves the create-a-wrestler mode), and there seems to be a lot of care taken in getting each wrestler's size and build down pat. In fact, during the opening movie of the game, you see brief glimpses of former entries in the Smackdown! series in action, showing just how far the franchise's player models have come on the PS2. On the whole, wrestlers' faces look great as well; in some cases, such as Tajiri and Ric Flair, the faces look extremely close to the real thing, down to the subtleties like the jawlines and hairstyles. In other cases, such as Chris Benoit and most of the WWE divas, the faces don't seem to match as well as their real-life counterparts. Long hair tends to be modeled strangely in the game, more closely resembling sections of hair rather than flowing strands. The player-model animations are on the whole very well done and specific to each WWE wrestler, especially during ring entrances.

The inclusion of such a huge roster of talent in WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw is boosted by the game's use of actual WWE voice talent. Joining the ringside commentary talents of Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross (on the Raw side) and Tazz and Michael Cole (from Smackdown!) are the voices of nearly every grappler found in the game. The use of voice is most evident in the game's season mode, which follows your favorite wrestler (or created wrestler) through his many interactions with the other cast members of WWE. The inclusion of voice talent really brings a lot of atmosphere to the game, especially in this story mode, which has traditionally depended on subtitled sequences to move the plot along. In-ring commentary is merely adequate, however, with King and Ross providing canned commentary that sometimes matches up with the in-ring action and sometimes doesn't. In short, at least in terms of commentary, it's not that different from previous Smackdown! games.

You can help drive the plot through dialogue choices made in the game's season mode.

Just as outrageous plots drive the modern-day WWE, storylines are the heart of Smackdown! vs. Raw's season mode. Bolstered by the aforementioned real WWE voice talent, the season mode pits your chosen superstar in a storyline that initially involves you battling it out with a rival for the heart (and managerial skills) of Torrie Wilson. This rivalry culminates with a match at the Backlash PPV, with Wilson's managerial contract on the line. Before that, however, you'll hone your wrestling skills and build up your created wrestler's attributes with a number of matches before the PPV. As you might expect, these beginning matches don't require a surplus of skill to win and they are simply meant to boost your confidence, attributes, and WWE cash stockpile. You can then turn in that bankroll in the game's WWE Shopzone to unlock items, such as classic wrestlers like the Legion of Doom and Andre the Giant, or new move sets for your created superstars.

If you're not into the soap opera aspect of today's wrestling scene, Smackdown! vs. Raw offers a good deal of match types that should keep you busy, including six-man tag, handicap, hardcore, royal rumble, and a variety of survival matches, including triple threat and fatal 4-way, all the way up to a six-man battle royale. But that's not all, as the main event category includes a list of events ranging from the rather pedestrian steel cage match to more exciting fare such as three stages of hell, TLC, and the ever-popular bra-and-panties match. The deep list of match types should please fans of the series looking for a variety of situations and PPV arena styles.