Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth

Written by Adam Woolcott on August 14, 2002

First Impressions: Whatcha gonna do when Old Geezermania runs wild on you? ::wheeze::

It seems that the WWF (now known as WWE, with E standing for Entertainment, of course) has become the Teflon Don of the wrestling industry. Despite a silly name change, sagging ratings, and the departure of their biggest star (Stone Cold Steve Austin), WWE has managed to still maintain a rabid fanbaseЕespecially in the video game arena. The anticipation for WWE games on Xbox, GameCube, and of course PS2 have been exceptionally high, despite the games being much less than expected. Once again, the PlayStation 2 is home to yet another anticipated wrestling game that hopes to fulfill all the promises Ц WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth.

The previous Smackdown game, Know Your Role, was pretty fun Ц but a lacking Career mode hurt replay, even with the Smackdown Cards that were used to unlock new stuff. On the positive side, it had tons of wrestlers to choose from, a great Create-A-Wrestler mode, and every single possible WWF match type. Still, things needed to be improved from the previous game Ц something Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth hopes to accomplish. And from the looks of things, it just might finally pull it off. Maybe.

Smackdown will feature a loaded roster with names from both the Raw and Smackdown brands, complete with stars like Hollywood Hogan (in both NWO and Hulkamania flavors), The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and possibly Austin (he's in early builds of the game and still under WWE contract). Of course, many lesser names will be included, and the WWE Divas will be there too (Stacy, Steph, Trish, Torrie, LitaЕyummy).

Of course, if you don't like any of the current stars, you can create your own with the improved CAW mode. The biggest improvement is also the biggest headache reliever. One of the big things about CAW is sharing your created wrestlers with your friends, or maybe a Smackdown-related website (such as GameFAQ's). Of course, this used to be a major pain in the People's Ass to copy down all the attributes of your creation, plus all the time it took to input it. Notice I say УusedФ Ц because Yukes has changed it all around. A brand new password system has been implemented to make both explaining and copying a created wrestler 100x easier. Basically, when you create a wrestler, the game will calculate all the things you've done (move lists, look, etc) and spit out a corresponding password. It probably will be a very lengthy password, given how many possibilities are there for CAW's, but it's certainly better than having to spend an hour inputting everything into the game, when this password will automatically create the wrestler for you. Also, just playing with numbers will be fun just to see what pops up. It's even possible of finding secret wrestlers through this mode, if Yukes is sneaky enough.

Smackdown: SYM will still feature all the biggest WWE matches, from Hell in a Cell, to Triple Threat matches, Royal Rumbles, Fatal 4-Ways, Iron Man matches, and the plain old steel cage matches too. Up to 4 players can divulge into the vast array of match types, which can lead to creating your very own pay-per-view event. Sadly, there's no online options, so no playing against people online, or even sharing CAW's online through the memory cards.

The Career mode has been given a large overhaul, continuing what was done in the previous game. The actual storylines have been drawn out more, with more options, and more action. Brawls break out during interviews, bizarre happenings occur in the ring, and other wacky things that the WWE represents. Smackdown: JBI only started this move toward a more in-depth Career, and this one hopes to make it a full-out simulation of what a WWE TV show is like. Some wrestlers don't appear until later in the career Ц very similar to the excellent Career mode in Smackdown 2: Know Your Role. Hopefully, the Career lasts longer than about 5 matches before winning the Undisputed Championship like last time.

The graphics hope to be improved as well Ц and for sure they have. Given that Smackdown: JBI was just the PSX versions with a little smoother graphics, it's not surprising to see that Shut Your Mouth looks a lot better. The wrestlers look more like their real counterparts, right down to old man Hogan's leatherface. The crowd looks a little more improved as well, and the animations look to be jumped up a little more. Since you can fight in the crowd once again, it won't look so tacky to fight around a bunch of cardboard cutouts, hopefully.

The audio will be revamped as well. Given how crappy the last games' play-by-play was, anything could be an improvement, but it's being changed. Raw announcers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler take over, and will be speaking much less Ц instead of calling out things every second, they're more reserved, only speaking after a particularly big thing. They also will be talking in describing events in the Career mode, something lacking in previous games.