THQ is taking their line of WWE games back to the drawing board. As announced yesterday, THQ has put an end to the long-running Smackdown vs. Raw video game series. This year’s edition of the annual release will serve as a reboot of sorts to the series in the form of WWE ‘12.
The new game will redefine the series in nearly every aspect. First off, the gameplay mechanics that have been used over the past couple of years have been thrown out the window in favor of the classic style of mapping everything to the face buttons on the controller. The moves available to your character(s) are dependant on the stamina level of your opponent; you will need to wear them down in order to expand your arsenal. THQ is also incorporating a new limb targeting system which will allow players to focus on certain parts of their opponent’s body in order to wear them down for specific finishers or submission maneuvers.
I was really impressed with last year’s edition of the Smackdown vs. Raw series and felt that THQ and Yukes were definitely moving in the right direction with the series after a couple of lackluster years. Considering the positive reception that game garnered, I am a little shocked that they are making this “drastic” of a change for the new year. Hopefully it all pans out though and the WWE games will continue to get better and better. The first preview trailer for the game is available below and you can guarantee that we will be hearing more about this title at next week’s E3...
