Yes, Smackdown Vs. Raw has new superstar voice overs. Yes, Smackdown Vs. Raw also has an online mode. The two parts of the game that are being advertised the most really arn't the shining aspects of the game. The online mode only features singles competition or bra and panties, and the voiceovers are very limited. Yes, most of the voiceovers are done well and they add to the feeling of the story mode, but in the end, these two new features arn't really enough to make Smackdown Vs. Raw any better then HCTP. Smackdown Vs. Raw still has most of the features of its predecessor, sporting numerous well designed wrestlers from todays roster and legends of the past. However, much of the roster that could have made it into the game is mysteriously missing, and many other wrestlers have been dropped from the WWE completely, which means their counterparts were also removed. Gameplay remains largely unchanged, only slightly tweaked. Now, more moves go into the tap this button furiously meter, and instead of having a maximum of 5 smackdown icons, you only have 3. (And i guess now they're smackdown vs raw icons) The new match type isn't anything to get excited over, but it is at least fun to play now and then. The story mode is a lot more streamlined than the last few itterations of the game, which can be somewhat of a dissapointment to many players. Yuke's also decided to add a slew of "Create-a" options. These include the original Create-A-Wreslter, the once a long time ago now returning Create-A-PPV, and the all new Create-A-Belt. Create-A-Move is absent in this version, but considering it didn't have a lot of functionality anyway, it isn't missed too much. A few other features that were cut from last years version are the ability to switch the rosters of each brand, and the over the top record keeping. Seems to me there is no real reason for them to get rid of either of these features, so i must say im a bit dissapointed. All in all, the game is still excellent. The new licensed music almost makes up for the fact that the PS2 doesnt have the ability to read songs from its hard drive - almost. The gameplay is classic loveable smackdown action, and the create a wrestler is still mostly gold. If you liked HCTP, you might want to wait this one out untill the price drops, because its basically the same game stripped down with a few silly features thrown in. If you don't have any games in the series, this would be a great one to start with, because you wont miss any of the tiny features they took out from previous years.
Thats the bottom line......Do you smell what the Rock is cooking? Dude this game rocks out. Having the voice over is a really neat added benefit as well. Ok so the the voice over wasn't perfect. The one draw back to ... Read Full Review
Smackdown vs. Raw is the best wrestling game that I have ever played. The gameplay is very good. The ability of being able to do 16 different facing grapple moves is great. There are four different grapples which are pow... Read Full Review
