WWE Smackdown games have been around now for many years and with each year the game has built on its amazing foundation. When Smackdown was first released many years back it brought wrestling fans an amazing looking and incredibly fast paced and exciting game to play. This years game has made vast improvements in many areas and has finally given the community creation fanbase much needed in-game Xbox Live sharing.

Over the past years we have seen the Smackdown franchise games get closer and closer to mirroring the real world WWE action. Early WWE games had simple match types and now players will be able to jump into just about every type of popular match type. With the match types and fighting systems already having a solid footing this years game sees most of the changes come to the creation areas of the game. From the first time create -a-superstar was introduced into WWE games, players have flocked to many websites and messageboards around the internet to share and find creations of superstars past, other company superstars, or the average celebrity to beat the snot out of. Well the need to search through tons of lackluster attempts or spend hours creating your own, are over. Players can now go right onto Xbox Live and browse through community uploaded create-a-superstars. And as we have seen with other games like Forza there are many talented artists out there creating some amazing content. But the creation aspects don’t stop there.
This years game also sees the addition of WWE Story Designer. Have you gone through the Road to Wrestlemania? Do you want more? Well plug in a USB keyboard and get to work on your own storyline. With Story Designer you get a chance to create your own WWE tails, you are in control of all aspects of each nights show right down to promo camera angles. Just think of the possibilities, reenact Vince kidnapping his own daughter, or play out another Diva giving birth to a hand, oh the glory days of WWF Raw. And if you don’t feel like putting in the time, again head to Xbox Live and download someone else’s Story Design.
While the creation tools are rather comprehensive they do have limits. Create-a-Superstar now uses a point system when creating. Each item you use has a point value, use to many high point items and you might run into problems. Story Designer also has some limitations on how often create-a-superstars can be used, I’m sure most players won’t have this issue, but the hardcore fans might run into problems.
Besides the creation modes the game has received some tweaks and additions to its game modes. The biggest play changes are in Royal Rumble mode. Built into the Royal Rumble match is mini-games when eliminating opponents. These mini games involve button combos and really make the match less repetitive as you now have more elimination tools in your pocket.
Road to Wrestlemania which was a big addition to the franchise has received some tweaks. Storylines are new and fresh plus you can now complete a Diva storyline and also take your Create-a-Superstar down the road.
Backstage Mode has been added which allows you to fight in other environments in the arena. While the backstage areas are fun and fairly detailed with environmental hazards and a handful of weapons, there is a strange system in place where it seems the wrestlers can only go so far away from eachother. If you try to retreat or go get a weapon while your opponent is down you’ll hit an invisible wall, but once they are on their feet and closer to you you can move. This invisible distance bubble really gets annoying while playing backstage.

The game itself looks and plays great. Superstars look amazing to their real life counterparts. And for once you won’t have to wait through painstakingly long load screens. Once you set you match, you will be exposed to a very real looking WWE broadcast right down to the WWE logo watermark and even the copyright at the end of the match. Controls are still nice and simple yet very deep. Strikes are single button and grapples use the right thumb stick. Add the right bumper and you will do strong grapples opening up another level of high damage attacks. Blood has always been a mixed bag with WWE games, and it looks like this years title has almost gotten it right. Fighters will get an initial cut which will then open up as you inflict damage. And as you open it up watch your opponent get bloodier and bloodier, the blood will even drip off them and onto you, with some matches even leaving you with blood soaked knuckles. However unlike UFC Undisputed blood that falls to the mat will magically disappear. For the most part the game runs real smooth, there are times when the framerate will hiccup but its not to the point that it ruins the game.
As with many games this year we have seen big steps in the way the HUD is handled. With SVR 2010 we see the normal HUD move to a halo under your fighters feet. This allows the screen to look clean and and much like what you would see on a Monday Night. The Halo will fill up as you pull off moves and once you hit a certain level you will unlock your fighters Signature Move, and fill the meter up even more and you will be able to pull off your finisher. Beyond the new HUD system, the camera action also take more of a broadcast feel, big moves will trigger camera cuts. While in the ring the camera cuts work well, once outside the ring sometimes the view is so wide you miss the action ringside, plus if the camera cuts to the opposite angle the controls flip which in the heat of the action can cause you to miss a move.

Overall Smackdown vs Raw 2010 is quite a decent game in an ever growing and changing franchise. The big improvements in the creation aspect coupled with the ability to now share creation over Xbox Live, really raise the games replay value. The graphics look amazing. All the good though does come with some issues, the game still suffers clipping issues, and sometime the AI can act real strange. At times while I was getting attacked by 2 opponents I would trigger a double team move which doesn’t make sense as they are the team. I also experienced a few times during 1 on 2 matches where I would go for a grapple just to experience a camera cut and I would be the one getting grappled. Now these issues aren’t rampant in the game, so its not a gamebreaker, but they do keep the game from being perfect. If you are a fan of the WWE and have been playing the games since the NES your gonna want to take a look at WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, for many the addition of creation sharing will be well worth the money.