TGS 06: SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007 Updated Hands-On

TOKYO--SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007 is heading to a number of different platforms later this year, and we got a chance to play an updated demo build of the game today at the Tokyo Game Show. The game was being shown at the Microsoft booth and featured two selectable WWE superstars: Triple H and Kane.

While many of the features we have discussed in earlier previews of the game--such as the interactive grapple system--were well intact in the TGS build of the game, we did notice a few cool touches that we hadn't seen before. First of all, it looks like the Yuke's folks have been working even more on the faces of the WWE wrestlers themselves, as they look even more lifelike and possess a greater range of facial features than ever before. Wrestling as Kane, for example, we got Triple H down on the mat for a pin, only to have The Game kick out at the last moment. Kane's face told the story: a look of utter despair at missing the pinfall. Similarly, later in the match, when Triple H slammed Kane down on the top rope, crotch-first, Kane's face accurately spoke of the agony he and his "little Kanes" were feeling at that moment.

Last year's SmackDown! vs. Raw game featured lots of different camera angles during key parts of a match, and there are even more of those brief cuts in SmackDown! 07. During certain throws or big finishers, the camera will switch to another perspective to give you a different view of the action. The cuts are more plentiful this time around, but they don't get in the way of the action in the ring.

Because only Kane and Triple H were playable in the TGS build, we don't have any more clues about the roster of SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007 except one: The loading screens featuring Shawn Michaels and Triple H featured the neon-green spray paint "Degeneration X" logo, so it's fair to assume that those two will be appearing in the game as DX. Perhaps they will even make it into the storyline of the game's career mode as well, but that's just speculation at this point. We'll have more on the next SmackDown! game in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.