It tries to make some drastic changes, but it fails in some of them.
User Rating: 8.2 | WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw PS2
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW is the sixth game in the long running WWE SmackDown! franchise and the first in the SmackDown! vs. RAW franchise. It has made some new changes, but some of those aren't as good as you expect them to be. The first change are the addition of pre-match mini games. There's Test of Strength and Stare Down, two timing based mini games and the Shoving Contest, which gives you a little meter to shove your opponent. The other big new gameplay upgrade is a "Clean/Dirty" system. You can pick how you want to fight at the roster selection screen. If you fight clean, you increase your meter by kicking out of pins, performing signature and high risk maneuvers and such. If you fight dirty, you fill up the meter by doing dirty moves (low blows, eye pokes, eye rakes and so on), removing the turnbuckle pad and complaining with the Ref and so on and so forth. One of the game's weaker points is the season mode, mainly because it's so linear compared to other game's season modes. Online play is also dissapointing because you only can play two match types.
The graphics are an inpromant over Here Comes the Pain. The models for the superstars are fantastic looking. The sound is rather a big dissapointment. While some is good, the voicework from the superstars is plain terrible.
This game may not be as good as other WWE games, but it's still fun and worth checking out. The good: Clean/Dirty system is quite interesting, pre match mini-games are nice touches, superb superstar models.
The bad: Bad voice acting, smaller roster, online mode is almost useless.
