Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 A GOOD ADDITION. January 2, 2009
William Smith (Bradford, England)
I am a mediocre wrestling fan. However when i played this i was immediatly hooked. With the up to date graphics i wasn't disappointed. However, it did become very repetitive after a week of having it so i lost interest in it a bit.
Overall - Worth buying for a laugh with mates. I hope 2009 has more game types!
 superB April 24, 2008
Mr. J. Evans
there is something enjoyable about smashing a small guys head in with a barbed wire stick that is set on fire.that is why I love this game. there is so many things that I could say but one thing sums it up rated R for rejoice
 Disappointing April 7, 2008
M. Pougher (Manchester, England)
I have been really enjoying the WWE games and was thrilled that Smackdown Vs Raw was being brought to 360. However unlike 2007's version this has been ruined. Its still good fun making your opponent bleed and using is weapons is ok BUT the new controls are rubbish, it takes forever to get off the mat, your opponent can make an incredible comeback and destroy you when you have them red all over and the new wrestling "styles" like choosing showman or hardcore are absolutely pointless. Time to go back to playing the still flawed but infinitely more fun 2007 version.
 What a load of absolute rubbish March 28, 2008
R. A. Watson (Northampton UK)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
My first purchase of Smackdown since the very first one (playing on 2 and 3 on a mates machine).
All i can say is that this game is the biggest load of rubbish i have ever played. You are far better getting the first one, as it is a load more enjoyable than this piece of cack.
The pros to this game:
Well that was easy, now to the cons:
Moves to do are not listed in the manual
Moves to do not listed in the tutorial
The moves that you are supposed to do in the tutorial are as a video. (WHAT?)
The training makes no sense, in that to do the moves, you have to guess as to what the )(*&^ you are supposed to be doing.
Your fighter kicks the preverbrial out of the other guy, and then 3 moves later form the opponent and then you lose. Weighted is a massive understatement. You have more chance of living on the sun as a snowball than you have of beating your opponent after 3 moves.
This is not even talking about 'the superstars'. This is the nobodies.
There is no support for this game to figure out how you are supposed to play it, and after 30 mins of trying to figure out the game, i have nearly thrown my controller at the screen, it is that infuriating.
As for your AI allies... Well this was just great, my tag team partner decided to put the ref in a submission hold, and once he let go... he put him right back into it... and once he let go... yep, he put him right back into it meaning a DQ for us. And WE were the good guys.
This is a really pathetic attempt at a game. The manual is about as much help as a donkey with a spinning wheel, unfortunately not as entertaining.
If i could use the language i wanted to, it would not even come close.
how anyone can rate this game above 1 star is really amazing. This is the worst game i have ever bought.
My advice, buy it, as it will make great kinder for any fire.
How Will You Play? December 27, 2007
A. Russ (Derbyshire)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Well first off, I need to say I am a hardcore wrestling fan, and so this review is from a fan's point of view.
SmackDown 2008 is the most recent installment of the highly successful franchise, and it's second visit to the Xbox 360 easily surpasses last years' game. The most notable differences are the graphics, which have been improved ten-fold. The animations have also been modified - something that has needed to be done for the last few years - and whilst some moves still look insanely unrealistic (West Coast Pop on the Great Khali, anyone?) you can appreciate the changes that have been done.
As is the standard for each years' installment, a selection of good - and not-so-good - songs by low-profile and well known artists have been included within the game. The modes of last year have also seen some alterations, such as the combinations of the GM and Season modes into the new 24/7 mode; oddly enough, despite the new label, you have to choose whether to play as a superstar or a GM when you begin, and so in actuality you are still playing Season and GM Modes.
The latest grappler also includes the use of fighting styles, such as Powerhouse, Brawler, High-Flyer and Showman. This is perhaps the best feature of the new game, as it adds the need for tactics when playing. No longer can you play as Rey Mysterio and defeat the Great Khali, because you will get flattened if you try and just beat your way to the victory. For me its a good feature, but for others it may cause disapointment. Also, there are no different styles depending on the console; the 360 has the same styles as all SVR08 on the other platforms.
On the topic of the 360, THQ have finally answered one of the much-requested features in the game: the use of your own music as entrance themes for pre-existing and created superstars. This is incredibly useful for when you want to update a superstars entrance theme, i.e. Johnny Nitro's MNM theme to the now-used John Morrison theme, and whilst it is a little tricky to work it allows extra customisation within the game.
By now you probably have either heard or read about the ECW presence within the game, and so I won't go too far into this except to say that the use of ECW and the new Extreme Rules match is both good and bad. The good side of the ECW superstars is that THQ have now included some ECW legends, such as Sabu and Terry Funk. What's bad is that the roster for the new brand is unbelievably limited. In the Extreme Rules match we can now set-alight tables and 2X4 'Barbies', and also choose from a much wider selection of weapons to deal the damage. The bad side is that you can only have this match in the ECW arena, not on a PPV, and also the new weapon-wheel often slows down the action in the ring, as all other action stops whilst the player or CPU decides.
The roster is slightly smaller than last year, and is also outdated, but since there is the possibility of downloading new content (superstars, arenas and match-types) via Xbox Live, I'll leave this section alone until more info is revealed by THQ.
Xbox Live remains active for SVR08, however the same lagging and quiting issues remain from the last game. Players often still quit in the middle of a match, ending your session, and don't get punished for it. THQ needs to introduce a method of demotion in rank for frequent quiters.
What I find the most frustrating about this game is the fact that, for the third year, THQ has used the same commentary. I got this game for X-Mas and from the first match I could almost talk along word-by-word what the commentators were saying. It just suggests that THQ are lazy and don't consider their buyers worthy of more quality.
Overall, I think that most WWE/ wrestling fans will find this game to be enjoyable, particularly for those who have player SVR2007 to death over the last year. However, for players who just want to have some fun and don't have any of the other installments, I would have to recommend either renting this and then deciding, or just buying either the 2006 or 2007 edition to be on the safe side.
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