WWF Smackdown: Just Bring it! is the latest installment in the Smackdown series of PSX only wrestling games. Smackdown usually brings good graphics, arcade-like, but fun gameplay, and a nice, full roster. Let's see how Smackdown improved on its past installments…

This is a mixed bag. Sure, the move to PS2 will result in better graphics, but the in-game graphics are defiantly not anything to write home about. The graphics aren't bad per say, but with the power that the PS2 has these aren't really anything special. Very mediocre.

The graphics look quite good on the intros though. In fact, the intros are the coolest part of the game. The intros are replicated pretty well, and the Titantrons look great, which take advantage of the DVD player.

Also of note is that the Backstage Areas and Sets themselves both look pretty good. You'll like being around those areas more than the ring side area.

The gameplay hasn't really changed too much from the previous 2 games. The controls are exactly the same, but the game has a somewhat different feel. That's not a bad thing, that's a good thing! Anyway, reversals are more abundant in this game, which makes the CPU opponents a tad more difficult (which was needed).

Also added in were more moves to the movesets. This is done by giving new moves when you get the opponent groggy in the front and back, and through having you pick up your opponent into a grapple for a third set of new moves. Also a big addition is a second finisher.

One thing that's great about all Smackdown games is that they are very easy to pick up and play. The controls are very simple, and reversals and finishers are executed with a simple push of a button. This gives the game a very arcade feel, but this reviewer likes it!

Thankfully, load times have drastically decreased (there is barely any, but that can't be said for the long ass save times). The Royal Rumble mode is actually playable now! 8 men are allowed in the ring at once, making for an all out clusterfuck of a brawl. The Rumble mode still has some bugs to be worked out, for example, you'll be beating the hell out of someone and they'll just randomly eliminate you. Very unrealistic.

Smackdown games never really thrive on realism though, you can get slammed through the cell, put through a table, smashed over the head with a chair, hit by a car, and STILL get up, or not lay down for the 3 count. Although this isn't nearly as horrible as it was in the past two games as the guys seem to stay down a half second more.

The Hardcore matches are fun, the backstage area is HUGE. Parking Garages, Regal's office, hell even WWF New York is in the game.

The multiplayer mode is where Smackdown really shines. It's always great to have a good brawl with a friend or a few. Tons of different types of matches are available, and with many friends it can get fun to see who works best together, and doing 4 man TLC's. The multiplayer mode is a blast.

The story mode of the Smackdown games is really a great idea, it just seems that they can never deliver. They can never live up to the hype. This year's installment is DEFINITELY an improvement over the boring, load filled version of Smackdown 2, and the short, depth lacking mode in Smackdown 1.

The story mode once again is a disappointment. All the stories are exactly the same. 3 matches in, if you play your cards right (or wrong for that matter) you get a WWF title shot at Steve Austin at Wrestlemania, no matter who you are. This does change once you win the title, but you have to fight the current title holder to get the belt. You can be The Rock, Triple H, hell even Steve Blackman and get a WWF title shot basically handed to you. Then when you win the title, the career is over. You can start a new one with that guy again, but it consists of one title defense, then its over again.

In order to get certain matches, you have to find guys backstage. Say you want to fight Billy Gunn (Don't know why, you might not live through the match); you might have to find Regal backstage to ask for the match. You get a first person point of view when you are in "Roaming" mode to try and find things backstage. This is a nice addition, but it could have been executed better.

You have to sit through the promos and everything too. Well only the ones that have something to do with your wrestler, but they are still long and boring. The text-based promos are ULTRA-GENERIC. Every wrestler gives the same exact promos, unless your wrestler has a series of catchphrases, in that case, the same promos are given with a few other lines added in.

One great thing about this mode… there is LOTS of stuff to be unlocked. 50 some-odd "cards" are just waiting to be unlocked. Each time you win a big match or do something of importance, you are awarded a card, which unlocks something, whether it be a new wrestler, CAW parts, music, etc.

It's a real shame, the Story mode could have been something, but once again, it failed to live up to the hype, and is just a generic shadow of what it could be, lacking any real depth.

God, I could go on for days on this. The entrance themes are fine, and in CD quality auto, and the sound effects are all right. That's not the problem.

The problem is the commentary. The GOD AWFUL COMMENTARY. God I could go on forever about how bad it is. The commentary is brought to you by Michael Cole and Tazz. Some excerpts:

Now I know why the first two games lacked commentary. Maybe this game would have been better off without commentary. Well at least you can turn it off.

The Create modes are where Smackdown shines. Smackdown JBI offers one of the best and most thorough CAW engines in a wrestling game. You can customize everything from shirts to eyebrows. Thousands of parts are available to tweak your creation to the finest point. You can create up to 12 wrestlers. Loads of new moves have been added this time around also. It's possible to create pretty close carbon copies of wrestlers who aren't in the game. They even have the movesets of some of these wrestlers, they just have to be unlocked. The CAW mode adds a hell of replay value to this title.

The create a stable mode is what it should be, it offers 5 wrestlers per stable, the option to pick a Titantron and entrance for them as a group, and an original name.

One thing SD has is replay value. It takes a while to unlock everything in the game, and after that, there is still plenty of fun be had. The create mode adds so much replay value to this title, even more so then in Smackdown 2, because Smackdown 3's modes are so thorough. The multiplayer mode is what keeps this game alive; I played the multiplayer mode in Smackdown 2 up to the day I got JBI. This game fails in some places, and builds in others. Overall it is a pretty good game, and if you're not a hardcore simulation freak you'll probably enjoy it.