In my high school years, before we could drive, many a weekend night was spent playing N64 with beer we stole from someone’s garage or got a homeless guy to buy for us. We spent those nights playing either Goldeneye or WWF No Mercy. The latter was an absolute masterpiece for wrestling and great beyond its years. THQ solidified themselves as the studio who knew wrestling and what its rabid fan base wanted out of a game. The SvR series has since replaced those titles and every year seem to get a little better, but falling short of overall greatness. In SvR 2010, they got it right.

I have never played a wrestling game that has the feel of a live event as much as SvR 2010 does. The wrestlers themselves look great, but we knew that was coming. Their entrances are spot on, the crowd is vastly improved, and the overall design of the area is lights out. After matches, if you are the main event, you will see the logo and copyright. It is these little touches that make the game just pop. The always important game play is as fluid as ever. The RS does all of your grappling moves with a toggle for strong grapple being the RB. Reversals are common, but not overused. Not having a life bar is also a great touch. You feel like you are really in a match. Slowing down the game when Finishers and Signatures are being performed is bad ass in every sense.

I only have a few gripes about WWE SvR 2010. The first is the lack of characters you can be in the Road to Wrestlemania. They finally added CAS, which was sorely missed, but you have very limited choices when using actual superstars. I have played as Cena, HHH, Edge, Orton, and HBK a million times in this series. Why can’t I bring the Great Khali to the granddaddy of them all? There is also a glaring omission of WWE Legends in 2010. I have the Legends game from THQ, but it is nowhere near as good as this. Some can be unlocked, but making Steve Austin a preorder only bonus was downright cruel. There are some clipping issues, especially when using tables, ladder, chairs, etc. and the announcers are really hit or miss.

In SvR 2010, it is not how much time you will spend playing, it is in what mode. There are a ton of match types to play. A ton. TLC, Inferno, Cage, Last Man Standing, they are all there. It is surprisingly easy to get opponents onto tables as in the past it was near impossible. Create a PPV is something we all dreamed about doing in the 90’s and now can play God. The CAS will take you hours if you are thorough enough and with online support, the replay value is endless. I would have liked a deeper roster and expanded Road to WM, but you can find a flaw in anything if you look hard enough. This is the best wrestling game I have played in years. For that, it is must have for any wrestling fan and a great sign for fans of the series.

[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]