WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
| WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Yuke's |
| Publisher(s) |
THQ (WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth) Yuke's (Exciting Pro Wrestling 4) |
| Series | SmackDown! |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Professional wrestling, Fighting |
| Mode(s) |
Single-player Multiplayer |
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth (Known as Exciting Pro Wrestling 4 in Japan) is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation 2 console by THQ and developed by Yuke's. It is part of the WWE SmackDown! video game series based on the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This game was the sequel to WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It and was succeeded by WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. It is also the first game in the series named under the "WWE" banner.
Gameplay
Season mode was lengthened to two in-game years and features the Brand Extension featuring Ric Flair's Raw and Vince McMahon's SmackDown!. For the first time, only WWE superstars could participate in "season mode". Players compete exclusively on the show they are drafted to for the first few months of year one, consisting of four Raw or four SmackDown! events, plus a monthly pay-per-view (PPV) event. If the player's character is a created superstar, or if the original superstar has a rating lower than 60, he will instead wrestle on Sunday Night HEAT. Eventually, the player will be booked on the two major TV shows, appearing on two Raw and two SmackDown! shows and the PPV event. One of the featured storylines is based on the nWo of early 2002 that included Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac (who replaced the released Scott Hall).
Like its predecessor WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, Shut Your Mouth's championships cannot be contended for in "exhibition mode" and can only be defended in "season mode". All of the major titles of the time, except for the WWE Women's Championship, are included in the game: WWE Undisputed, Intercontinental, European, Tag Team, Cruiserweight, and Hardcore championships. Various unlockables such as alternate player attires, extra movesets, and arenas be unlocked through "season mode".
Televised and pay-per-view events are televised from the SmackDown! Arena, the exterior of which is based on Madison Square Garden. Although Jim Ross announces a different city at the start of each event, the exteriors remain the same. Notable areas are a New York City Subway stop named SmackDown! Station, Times Square, and The World. The game features several arenas that WWE held events at in 2001 and 2002. There are also arenas based on each WWE television show. In certain arenas, players could make their wrestlers scale the TitanTron and jump off of it. In addition, The Undertaker's motorcycle could be ridden in some matches. "Create-A-Superstar mode" gives the freedom to manipulate any part of the superstar's body. It also offers over 58 move sets from a combination of superstars in WWE not featured in the game or working in different promotions.
This is the first game to feature superstars on different brands, Raw and SmackDown!. In this game, all the superstars, including champions are eligible to be drafted on both brands, except for the WWE Undisputed Champion, who is available on both brands, as long as he is the champion.
Development
Superstars models include realistic facial features. Fully animated entrances for each character are featured, with their entrance video playing on the TitanTron, and their respective themes playing in the arena. The title belts are also displayed in the entrances realistically (e.g. The Rock carrying the title belt to the ring and raising it above his head).
For superstar entrances, most of the themes used in the televised and house shows were incorporated into the game. Along with the in-house music from Jim Johnston, remakes of Johnston's originals from bands such as Breaking Point (for Rob Van Dam), Boy Hits Car (for Lita), Cypress Hill (for Tazz), Our Lady Peace (for Chris Benoit), and Saliva (for The Dudley Boyz) were featured. However, Maven, Stacy Keibler, Tajiri and The Hardy Boyz do not have their correct themes. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler provide sporadic commentary while ring announcer Howard Finkel provided his voice for match introductions and superstar entrances.
Reception
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The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[1]
References
- 1 2 "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic.
- ↑ EGM staff (January 2003). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". Electronic Gaming Monthly (162): 182. Archived from the original on April 6, 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Bramwell, Tom (November 18, 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". Eurogamer.
- ↑ Leeper, Justin (December 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". Game Informer (116): 119. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ The D-Pad Destroyer (November 8, 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on January 12, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Varanini, Giancarlo (November 7, 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Villoria, Gerald (December 10, 2002). "GameSpy: SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". GameSpy. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Romano, Natalie (December 3, 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Smith, David (November 7, 2002). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". IGN. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Zuniga, Todd (January 2003). "WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 136. Archived from the original on March 29, 2004. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Baldwin, Michael (November 11, 2002). "'WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth' (PS2) Review". X-Play. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ Gibbon, David (November 21, 2002). "Let's play: WWE SmackDown! [Shut Your Mouth]". BBC Sport.