Graphically sublime - sweat and everything!
While it’s true that Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 is far more exciting against a human opponent over Xbox live, the AI works well in most situations and your opponent will use a wide variety of manoeuvres and use their own signature moves at the appropriate times, in tag team the AI is pretty shoddy. They’re suppose to work as a team, but most the time your partner just seems to wander around or get in the way at inappropriate times.
Graphically, SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 looks stunning. The character models are extremely realistic and as you pummel their faces the signs of pain appear on their bodies in the form of scars and blood. Sweat drips down the wrestlers’ backs and muscles and six-packs ripple and with every movement. The crowd in the stadium are well animated and don’t appear clone like, unlike many sport’s game, as they wave banners for their favourite stars, jump up and down with excitement, clap, cheer and egg-on the wrestlers. Each wrestler has their own unique cut-scene that is directed with the same showbiz gloss that you witness on TV. Animations of the smooth athletic movements of the wrestlers are as good as any I’ve seen in a sport’s title; grappling manoeuvres, submission moves, leg drops, super kicks and backbreakers all animate well and feel so realistic that I was often cringing with the mere thought of having such painful techniques performed on me.
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Click for larger imageThe online live mode of SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 is where you’ll find people from across the world competing on the leaderboards (there are currently 3 people from the UK in the top ten...get in there!). You can trade superstars with friends, customise your options so that you play only against people of a similar rank to yourself and choose from an extensive list of game modes as you battle to rise to the top of the ranks. I’ve played around a dozen games online and each has been an entertaining, smooth experience, full of good banter, plenty of laughs and the occasional bit of verbal abuse, hey it’s wrestling after all…Hell Yeah!
