WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 – Review

Let’s get this out of the way right at the start. If you don’t like WWE wrestling, then this game is absolutely not for you. It’s not like FIFA, which plenty of non-footy people play, or Tiger Woods’ PGA Golf, which can be enjoyed by people who know absolutely nothing of golf. This is first and foremost a wrestling game for wresting fans; and in that regard, it’s a resounding success.

Like its predecessor, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 starts you off without a menu or title screen and instead plonks you straight into the ring for practice or tutorial with a dummy wrestler for you to try out your moves on. You can play around here, learning the basics and getting to grips with some moves or you can press start which brings up a pretty detailed menu of options and game modes, including the “Road to Wrestlemania” and, new to the series, the WWE Universe mode.

The Universe mode is a bit like a Smackdown vs Raw blended with Championship Manager. Instead of a straightforward career mode where you climb the ladder to the top, the new Universe mode lets you oversee the whole process and manage a series of different wrestlers, setting up their matches on the way to the World Championship. Although not quite the WWE RPG experience that many were expecting, this new play mode adds considerably to the standard career mode fare and rather than cut you off when you get to the top, it lets you continue playing to your heart’s content. The Universe mode is clearly the big selling point of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 and fans will be glad to hear that it more or less works out surprisingly well.

In addition to the Universe mode there is the Road to Wrestlemania mode provides four stories based on Cena, Christian, Mysterio and Jericho as well as a ‘Vs Undertaker’ story that centres around ending the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania winning streak. The Road to Wrestlemania mode has been updated from previous years and instead of menus and loading screens you are presented with full on backstage third person gameplay, allowing you run around the various halls interacting with other wrestlers. Although it’s a little big clunky, it really adds to the sense of immersion and allows you to unlock new challenge matches should you wish; you can also simply ignore the sidelines and go straight from match to match.

There is also a series of online play modes, including a new 12 player Royal Rumble which, although suffering from a few minor lag issues, is generally pulled off very well and adds some real excitement to the multiplayer. With around 70 well known WWE Superstars and Divas to choose from, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 must contain one of the largest rosters of any wrestling game on a home console. Not all of them are available from the start however, so you’ll need to work your way through the game unlocking them if you want to the full roster. Far from taking away from the game, this positively bucks the recent trend set by some modern fighting games that provide almost all the characters from the start.

Graphically, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is a mixed bag. It is a definite improvement on the previous game and the framerate is generally pretty smooth, but overall it doesn’t look as polished as many current generation games. The third person backstage environments are reasonable detailed but look more like an HD remix of a PlayStation 2 game rather than a current edge PlayStation 3 game. That said, the character movements are generally quite fluid (apart from when they’re in conversation) and the physics has had a major overhaul and feels much more realistic, especially with the weapons which you can chuck about to your heart’s content.

Overall, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 makes more than enough improvements to the series to warrant make it stand out on its own, though not to the extent that WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 did. The new Universe mode alone makes it worth the purchase, on top of the improved graphics and physics as well as the increased character roster and backstage roaming. And if that’s not enough to get your teeth into, there’s plenty of DLC on the way.