Post by King:$noopy on Sept 27, 2005 19:57:11 GMT -5
[glow=blue,7,300]SmackDown vs. RAW 2006[/glow]: The Season Mode
First details, media, and a closer look at a month in the life of legend killer, Randy Orton.
by Jeremy Dunham
September 26, 2005 - After hearing it from players and critics alike last year, THQ wanted to ensure that WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 had the best season mode ever available to wrestling fans. The 2004 version of that feature, after all, suffered from a myriad of different problems (including poorly-recorded voice acting and rather generic storylines) and just about every other sports game on the market eclipsed it in terms of options, unlockables, and things to do. But based on what I've seen of SmackDown vs. RAW 2006, so far, the game's apparently permanent status as a season mode underperformer isn't looking quite so permanent anymore.
You see, in the newest iteration of WWE SmackDown vs. RAW, THQ has gone back to the drawing board and revamped two main areas of the Season feature to make it more like real WWE programming. As basic an improvements these two fixes may sound (Presentation and Gameplay flow, more specifically), I can tell you first hand that it makes an enormous difference in how the season plays out already... and I'm only one month into it.
Triple H lays down the law.
To start, there are more than 100 different completely motion-captured cinematic cutscenes ranging from two to six minutes in length. Likewise, there are double the amount of cutscenes compared to 2004 and players no longer need to press the X button to move on to the next scene (now, the storytelling happens in real time). The voice-acting used to convey these stories is much, much better when compared to last year too, and the wrestlers finally sound like they're speaking with emotion and conviction and boast realistic lip synching at every turn.
And speaking of, well... speaking, created superstars now have voices too. In fact, there's no longer onscreen text used during the season mode unless players turn on the optional feature in the menu screen. Instead, gamers can now select from among five different voice types to represent their characters between matches, or select from any existing superstar on the roster and listen to them instead.
Friends become enemies... and vice-versa.
Of course, the big news is that some of (but not all) the legends also have voice-overs included with their personas and can be used during a regular season just like the normal guys (the basic rule of thumb is that if he has a voice, he can be used during a season). What's more, there is also legend-specific storylines into addition to superstar-particular plots to go along with them. This means that if you choose the Undertaker or Triple H, you're going to run into situations that you wouldn't otherwise see with anyone else. Every WWE superstar will act and behave in a manner that mirrors their real life personality too, and regardless of whom you choose every last character in the season mode will speak.
First details, media, and a closer look at a month in the life of legend killer, Randy Orton.
by Jeremy Dunham
September 26, 2005 - After hearing it from players and critics alike last year, THQ wanted to ensure that WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 had the best season mode ever available to wrestling fans. The 2004 version of that feature, after all, suffered from a myriad of different problems (including poorly-recorded voice acting and rather generic storylines) and just about every other sports game on the market eclipsed it in terms of options, unlockables, and things to do. But based on what I've seen of SmackDown vs. RAW 2006, so far, the game's apparently permanent status as a season mode underperformer isn't looking quite so permanent anymore.
You see, in the newest iteration of WWE SmackDown vs. RAW, THQ has gone back to the drawing board and revamped two main areas of the Season feature to make it more like real WWE programming. As basic an improvements these two fixes may sound (Presentation and Gameplay flow, more specifically), I can tell you first hand that it makes an enormous difference in how the season plays out already... and I'm only one month into it.
Triple H lays down the law.
To start, there are more than 100 different completely motion-captured cinematic cutscenes ranging from two to six minutes in length. Likewise, there are double the amount of cutscenes compared to 2004 and players no longer need to press the X button to move on to the next scene (now, the storytelling happens in real time). The voice-acting used to convey these stories is much, much better when compared to last year too, and the wrestlers finally sound like they're speaking with emotion and conviction and boast realistic lip synching at every turn.
And speaking of, well... speaking, created superstars now have voices too. In fact, there's no longer onscreen text used during the season mode unless players turn on the optional feature in the menu screen. Instead, gamers can now select from among five different voice types to represent their characters between matches, or select from any existing superstar on the roster and listen to them instead.
Friends become enemies... and vice-versa.
Of course, the big news is that some of (but not all) the legends also have voice-overs included with their personas and can be used during a regular season just like the normal guys (the basic rule of thumb is that if he has a voice, he can be used during a season). What's more, there is also legend-specific storylines into addition to superstar-particular plots to go along with them. This means that if you choose the Undertaker or Triple H, you're going to run into situations that you wouldn't otherwise see with anyone else. Every WWE superstar will act and behave in a manner that mirrors their real life personality too, and regardless of whom you choose every last character in the season mode will speak.
