The submissions system has seen a slight change, where both players use the right analog stick to respectively apply pressure or escape, but this doesn't add much dynamism to that particular component. The same right analog stick-based grappling system is on offer, though the number of buttons you have to press to pull off a total-control grapple move has been lessened. Not to suggest that you can't win with smaller, less powerful guys, but if you get caught in a flurry of punches from a brawler or a series of hard slams from a powerhouse, you're down for the count.īeyond that significant change, the gameplay hasn't seen much alteration from last year's game. Granted, there's always been that difference in effectiveness between wrestlers of this type, but these fighting styles just make those differences all the more pronounced. The powerhouse's ability to just grapple at will tends to be a lot more effective at ending a match quickly than the high-flyer's ability to do surprise pins. There are several different types of these styles, including technical wrestlers, high-flyers, brawlers, submission specialists, dirty fighters, showmen, and hardcore types.įor the most part, each of the abilities assigned to these different archetypes fit nicely into each wrestler's general moveset, but some have a tendency to appear overmuch over the course of a match, and in some cases, they also feel a little overpowered. For instance, a powerhouse can also pull off stronger Irish whips that send opponents over the ropes. For instance, powerhouse types like Batista can effectively 'hulk up' when they fill up their energy meter and store a fighting style icon, which renders them impervious to strikes and makes all their grapple moves irreversible. This is a sort of classification of each wrestler type that gives wrestlers under each type specific abilities. This year's SmackDown! doesn't do an awful lot to improve the franchise in any meaningful way.īy far the biggest change to this year's game is the addition of fighting styles. The gameplay is still basically fun, but all the various little problems that have built up over the years remain unaddressed, and some of the surrounding components of the game are really starting to show their age. In fact, some of the changes impact the game negatively. Once again, this year's game adds several new components to the existing game engine that's been piled upon since the series was a PS2 exclusive, but the difference this year is that few, if any, of the changes really feel like they impact the overall experience for the better. As much as this series has always been about piling new features on top of existing features, the pile is starting to teeter and is in danger of falling over entirely. RAW wrestling game franchise may have taken one chair shot too many.

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