Redesign saves the franchise from a three count. Play as your favorite superstar instead of watching them.
Story mode has been condensed into Road to WrestleMania, a three part quest where you play as three different superstars, villain Sheamus, hero Triple H and the outsider original superstar. Road to WrestleMania plays similar to a rail shooter; you win a match; a cut scene triggers to advance the story, press the prompt button and then back to another match or occasional backstage brawl. Road is hard to sell as a main point due to shallow replay value, luckily WWE Universe is back. Universe holds month after month of all WWE broadcasts, where one can decide what type of match to play and the stars involved, letting the Universe create feuds. Universe will take much of your time. A vast, deep creation mode will also take you away, arenas, rings, stars, videos, everything but the match type and crowd participation can be tweaked to one's liking. Online play is present, but only showcases forty man Royal Rumble, a rich Create a Wrestler community and horrible server connections.
Controls aren't pick up and play but can be easily learned after a few single matches. New this year is a limb targeting system, replacing the strong/weak grapple of game's past. Once the opponent is weak the arm, chest, head or legs can be dealt specific damage for a submission, brought to the eye via the "Breaking Point" system. Locking in a submission has the words "Breaking Point" appear as a meter, fill them in and the win's yours. Exhibition holds your basic match types alongside all the specialty contests; TLC, Battle Royal, Extreme Rules and the rare Inferno match. The roaster is huge, including some surprise legends and sweet DLC for online and offline play; everyone has their entrance, regular move set, signature & finishers intact, executing them efficiently without warping to the ring center or interrupting the fight. Moves can be stopped by a third person or outside interference. Graphics are good but could've been slightly more polished & brighter, the presentation of the entire game is flawless; A.I. puts up a fight and the visual & play performance come second only to the real life product.
Another wrestling game for another year just by looking is easy to say; looks are deceiving. Fans of the past SmackDown games will easily tell this game is different, some will bask in the new design and others will hate it. The few drawbacks could be considered Road to WrestleMania and the little it offers, shaky online play and occasional glitches. The faults aside, the developer (maker of the UFC titles) has made this game the most fluid, dynamic, fast paced action simulator of sports entertainment ever. Better then a beer truck full of Steve Weisers.
Last Words: B+, if you've seen it on Raw or SmackDown, it will be here and that's the bottom line.