BIG improvement over the last couple of years
I will go into this review saying I am a big wrestling fan, so my review is biased in that way. If you don't know a back breaker from a spine buster, your take on this game will be much different.
If you've played the previous Smackdown vs Raw games, you know generally what to expect. The action in this game is very comparable to last years installment, but it's all the little things they've added in that make 2010 shine.
The modes are pretty much the same as last year: Exhibition, Road to Wrestlemania, Career Mode, Create a Wrestler, Online. The CAW has been improved, there are TONS more moves this year. The clothing choices seem to be reduced, but they have made the actual pieces of clothing more detailed. Shirts will flow a bit as you move, things don't seem as "painted on" as they have in the past.
Once you get into a match, the controls are the usual fare. Right stick for grapples, Left stick for movement. There is only one reversal button now, like in the original Smackdown games. I like this a lot more, I found having one button to reverse grapples and one to reverse strikes a bit pointless. The timing for reversals seems more precise now though, so you can't just hammer on the reverse button and get results.
One area that has really been improved on is the audio. The announcing has been stripped back a bit, so that you don't get constant yammering and repeated phrases. The crowd chants are really great, as well. You'll get some dueling chants, like "LETS GO CENA / R K O".
Online, they have added in the ability to download other people's CAWs. The only downside to this is that you can NOT change the downloaded wrestler's moves or music. That means that all the downloaded character will come out to the Raw theme music. I'm hoping they will patch this later.
You can also download other people's created storylines. I haven't really dove into this mode yet, but it seems like you have a pretty versitile tool for creating Road to Wrestlemania style stories. I am hoping the community will really get into this, and make a Little Big Planet-esque experience.
All in all I am really impressed with this years game. I have been disappointed in the series since the jump to the Xbox 360, but I finally feel like with this one THQ & Yukes have gotten a Next Gen experience.
