WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth

Published by THQ
Developed by YUKE's CO
Platform: PlayStation 2
Out Now
Price : £39.99

PlayStation 2 wrestle fans have had to be patient with the release of WWE RAW (Xbox) and Wrestlemania (Cube) but finally the game they have been waiting for, WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth is finally here. Being the successor to the popular Smackdown! Just Bring It, much has been expected of Shut Your Mouth so let's get on with it and see if the game delivers all that it's promised.

Having looked at the recent offerings on both the Cube and the Xbox the first thing I have to remark on with Shut Your Mouth is the sheer amount of features within the game. The number of wrestling variations is absolutely incredible. Ironman, Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble and Street Fight are only a few examples of the variations on offer (I could fill the review with these alone). Shut Your Mouth also offers around 60 wrestlers ranging from Hulk Hogan to Brock Lesnar. If by some miracle your preferred fighter isn't here then you can use the excellent create-a-wrestler option and tailor one to your liking.

Like Just Bring It, Shut Your Mouth lets you get involved with an exhibition match or season mode. The exhibition mode is the usual one off match and you can choose any one of the variations from the colossal amount that's on offer. The season mode is where most people will head for. After you've picked your wrestler you'll see the draft for RAW and Smackdown! After this you'll be backstage with the ability to walk around and literally bump into fight opportunities like in Just Bring It.

One of the biggest complaints with Just Bring It was the rather awkward control system. This is largely unimproved and is virtually the same as in Just Bring It. The wooden animation remains too. At times it looks like a puppet fight, which is very disappointing when other sports titles have got the animation spot on. The visual quality of the wrestlers is, for the most, the same except for when you get a close up of the wrestlers backstage in the season mode where the facial detail looks much improved.

Just Bring It wasn't overly impressive for deaf gamers and Shut Your Mouth is exactly the same. Commentary is unsubtitled as in other sports titles. In season mode there are times when there are subtitles and no verbal speech and there are also times when there is verbal speech and it's different from the subtitles. All thing considered though, the game does enough to make the game enjoyable for deaf gamers.

Does Shut Your Mouth surpass Just Bring It and become the number one wrestling game on the PlayStation 2? Well yes it does but only just. A majority of the niggles that existed with Just Bring It still remain in Shut Your Mouth. Still the number of features on offer will impress fans of the sport. Let's hope the control and animation are improved for next years version.

Overall Game Rating: 7.0/10
Shut Your Mouth is an improvement on Just Bring It, but only just. The match variations on offer is truly outstanding.

Deaf Gamers comment:
It's a mixed bag for deaf gamers. Essentially there are no real problems.