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Looks like THQ is back with Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 to take on the competition of TNA Impact!.  Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 is a game developed by Yukes and Published by THQ. Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 easily crushes the competition of TNA Impact!. The fact that Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 is more user friendly, has more moves, better online, better story and characters makes this game a total smash on TNA Impact!.

First Impressions: When I first saw the menu screen, it reminded me of more or less last years. It has this arcade type of feel to it, also when I heard undertakers theme in the beginning it was kind of a turn off for me for some reason.  The game play is fairly similar to last years game play, playing your first match will be a breeze. ( 7.0 )

Sound: The game sounds a little better than SVR08 as far as the crowd, the punching, the slamming and such. The Color Commentators now do a Play By Play comment so now you wont hear anything like " that was a text book reversal" when you are actually pinning someone although it does screw up around 5% of the time, its still nevertheless better than last years. The music in SVR09 is a little bit of a let down, they used songs by other artist and they have wrestling theme songs. Personally I don't like to hear wrestling theme songs unless I am watching the entrances of wrestlers. The ps3 version has Custom Soundtrack import for the create a entrance. I still have this same question for every smackdown vs raw  game, when I create  a wrestler and I have the wrestler be a heel with heel type moves, why does the crowd cheer like I'm a face? ( 7.0 )

Graphics: The graphics in SVR09 is a little bit better than SVR08. The game also runs in 720P and generally runs smoother than last years version. There is no graphical tearing, texture popping, or frame rate drops of any sort. As far as the crowd goes, it is are a lot better than last years, they actually cheer more and move a lot more. This is not a big bother, but as many wrestling games that has been done, you'd expect the long hair from some wrestlers to no go through their shoulders anymore, but its still there.  ( 8.0 )

Gameplay: Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 has a new Tag team feature, which causes momentum shifting when your partner is being beaten up badly. When the momentum shift is activated you enter a quicktime event where you'd have to press a button in a certain amount of time for a certain action to occur for the momentum shift. The wrestling moves look a lot more seamless and makes the game look a lot better as far as how the moves connect. They got rid of the special Icons that was in last years game such as Showman, Dirty, Technical and etc. Now, in SVR09 they basically expect you to know that certain wrestlers can do certain things, for example, Jeff hardy can do high flying off the rope moves but undertaker cant, he has to stick to more of the powerhouse-brawler type. This is a good thing, for in the last game everyone knew what type of wrestler I was, so whenever I'd play against someone else they'd pick a type of wrestler to counter what I was. They've added a new feature called the Highlight Reel where you can record certain parts of your match and save them. If you have a created character, your stats will only get higher depending on what you do during the match, you got beat up a lot of the match you'd get durability points which are contributed to your stats. Create a wrestler was a nice first try, but didn't succeed in what I'd imagine it to be, you more or less go through steps of moves instead of actually making a finisher. ( 8.0 )

Replay Value: The game does have its replay value points. The game has an exhibition mode which has a ton of matches, the newest match being the Inferno match. You have a Career mode where you can go for literally any title you want with no real story for it. The real story's in the Road To Wrestlemania, where you can choose one of the six characters of HHH, CM Punk, Undertaker, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Rey Mysterio & Batista for tag team. The most replay value will come from the online obviously. The online is good and has no lag and tons of matches to choose from for you and your friends to play. Also there is mic chat in the SVR09 version of PS3 (Thank God) which was heavily missed in the 2008 version. ( 8.5 )

Last Impressions: In conclusion, wrestling fans would be satisfied with this game. With the Highlight Reel feature and Road To Wrestlemania to look forward to, this game will have wrestling fanatics hooked. This year Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 hasn't changed much but it is still tons of fun to play, especially online where I can talk all the trash in the world being MVP.On a Side Note, to me it seems as if THQ has picked up some pointers from EA's Madden and just make a game every year with not much of a change. Hopefully this wont be the case for Smackdown Vs Raw 2010.

Overall: 7.8 - Fun

Pros:

Imported Soundtracks for the create-A-Entrance for PS3

Mic chat online for PS3

No frame rate drops

Highlight Reel

Cons:

Felt more or less the same as SVR2008

Created wrestlers don't have a full story mode

Create-A-Finisher should be called Modify-A-Finisher

9/10

Outstanding

- Wynton Harris