Coming Attractions 11.08.08: Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 (Multi), Mirror's Edge (Multi)

Posted by Drew Robbins on 11.08.2008

411's Drew Robbins returns this week, alongside Banjo-Kazooie in a not-so-welcomed format. Also, Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, Mirror's Edge, and the new Call of Duty make their way to stores this week. Which one should you spend your hard-earned cash on? Find out in this action-packed, academy award winning thriller, Coming Attractions!

Endangered Civilian: Heeeeeellllppp…come on Drew, we need your help. We have one last shot…*chanting crowd*DCR..DCR..DCR….DCR DCR DCR.
Drew Robbins: YEEEAAAAAAHHH, I was born, in a cross-fire hurricane…

Alright, enough of that EBA reference. The point is, your wishes have come through and Drew Robbins, your host to the world of awesomeness, has returned with a vengeance to bring you the greatest (and by the looks of Banjo, most vile) Coming Attractions to date!

- Last week I couldn't be here due to prior plans, and my back-up writing day (Wednesday) was taken up by an NBA 2K9 review. Roche filled in for me and did very well. Some of you called him a fanboy, but I have a feeling that if I had given either Resistance or Gears game of the week, I too would've been called a fanboy.

- Hey, I don't know if you've heard this, but Obama is the new president! Awesome.

- My week was spent putting all of my free time in to my Bioshock review. Now with the game beaten, I can truly say that it is one of the best games of this generation, if not THE best.

- Did you play the Mirror's Edge demo. WHAT? NO?! What do you mean NO?! Well, you best download it before I kick you in the face, because Mirror's Edge is 100% certified awesome, even if Cliffy B. thinks that it is wasted potential. Gun play would make it just like every other game this generation, and that is not a good thing…not a good thing at all.

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Coming Attractions Week – 18

This week is…well, as you would expect from November (I'm ready for those empty weeks in the summer again), jam packed with all kinds of games. Of course, this week I get to do my favorite thing, VENT! Oh and how I will vent at Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, I've been waiting for this column for months now.

Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 (Multi) - The Smackdown series returns with its annual update, and as usual, it includes enough add-ons to make it interesting. I'll start off with the most important matter, the roster. Now as many of you may know, last year's Smackdown was short on the amount of wrestlers, and that is just being generous. Overall, the tally came down to 50 wrestlers, and I'm fairly sure that about 15 of those were legends and divas. Being someone who predominantly plays as current wrestlers, that small roster really stifled me on how much I could enjoy the game. Luckily, the roster this year is much bigger, and has room to expand thanks to DLC. Yukes did a good job of picking and choosing which wrestlers should be in the game, as you'd be hard-pressed to think of someone they left out. Off the top of my head, I think my favorite inclusion for this year's roster would have to be London/Kendrick, this marks Kendrick's first appearance and makes London's return from a 3 year hiatus. As a tag team they were pushed pretty well, so each year it was kind of disappointing to see them miss the roster.

I know you don't like this, but I must take you back, once again, to last year's Smackdown game. The story mode was atrocious. They tried to make it some strange mix of story modes of years past and the superstar mode you find in Madden. Much like Superstar mode, it didn't pan out very well. To this day, a year after its release, I have yet to find someone who actually stomached the story mode. I personally just simulated it as Cena to get WWE cash to spend. This year, though, they have once again revamped the story mode. Road to Wrestlemania allows you to pick from six different wrestlers (Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Triple H, John Cena, Undertaker, Batista/Rey for tag-team) and take them through a few months in the WWE season. From early videos, the story mode looks fairly ridiculous, but in an awesome way, much like Smackdown vs. Raw 2006. If Road to Wrestlemania isn't your style, then maybe the Smackdown 2-esque Career mode is right up your alley. It appears to be a faithful return to Smackdown 2, as you can choose which titles you want to challenge for…so hopefully they don't screw this up.

Smackdown has been heavily marketed for three things this year, tag-teams, created finishers, and the inferno match. The tag-team addition revolves around making the matches more realistic, and adds tag-team finishers. Created finishers are fairly self-explanatory (go to the forums and check out some of fellow 411 writer Rod Oracheski's videos, it shows off the mode), giving you the option to give your created character that extra touch. Last but certainly not least is the inferno match, a heavily demanded match where you win by lighting your opponent on fire. I know I speak for everyone when I say…awesome.

Time to end all of the praising, because Smackdown, as per usual, had one pretty gaping exclusion. GM mode has left the building, and has been relegated to a small menu allowing you to alter the nature of wrestlers in exhibition matches. Don't get me wrong, that is actually pretty darn cool. Being a writer, I usually create a story for my match-ups to make them meaningful, so the ability to turn wrestlers heel when I want to is very welcome…but to just kill off GM mode. Darn Yukes, that is cold! GM mode was a time-sink for me, even though after 2006 it became a little fluky, I still loved it.

My Opinion: Thumbs Up - This iteration looks to improve on last year's disappointment. Also, PS3 owners, you can now have custom entrance music. Let us all rejoice together…



- Good to see that Good-ol' JR and his good-ol' commentary from last year have returned….yes, I'm being sarcastic, COME ON! CHANGE IT ALREADY!

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (360) - For those who aren't educated on the situation, I'll try to run it down as quickly as possible. Long ago, in the lands of Nintendo 64, RARE created a duo of games known as Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Grunty, the game's main villain, promised us a Banjo-Threeie, so I knew it was coming. RARE left Nintendo and the game just kind of fell off the radar. A whole generation had passed and still no Banjo Kazooie. Then, in the cold dark nights of…February or some other time in the winter, RARE teased fans across the U.S. with a trailer portraying the return of Bear and Bird. There they were, all shiny in next-gen graphics, and they ran outside to the beautiful world that filled many days of my childhood. For that day, I felt like I was a kid again…but then I was hit in the face by the cold, unforgiving hand of reality.

I will never forget the conversation I had that day with Derek. We were just talking and all the sudden he said they introduced new details regarding Banjo Threeie. The next words to come out of his mouth were, "Yeah, the game is called Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, you build cars and Mumbo is an engineer now." There are SEVERAL things wrong with this sentence. First and foremost, the game should be called Banjo Threeie, because that is what Grunty promised…and Grunty doesn't lie. Secondly, the game revolves around building vehicles to reach your objectives. This is not a platformer, this is one of those crappy levels in a platformer where you drive in a vehicle awkwardly. Now onto the last mistake, Mumbo is not an engineer. He is a witch doctor for goodness sakes! He is supposed to transform you into various creatures to aid you in your jiggy-hunting adventures, not FIX YOU CARS?! What is this garbage?!

At first I liked this whole idea of creating your own adventures, with games like Little Big Planet and to a lesser-extent Spore, but if I knew that it would lead to junk like this? I would've dropped that genre in a second.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is not for people who liked Banjo Kazooie, it is not for people who like platformers, it is for the newer gamers. I'll probably get 1,000 comments saying that I should "stop whining about change," but these comments are simply wrong. You see, I like change in games. Seeing something like Mirror's Edge, which truly tries something new, excites me. But this is different. RARE dangled this game for years in front of my nose, making me hopeful that some day a new Banjo would come out and I could enjoy more of the platforming that I loved so much back in the day. Then, they go and completely change the game to benefit new gamers? It would be like if they made Sonic about flying airplanes, or gave Mario wings…it just wouldn't feel right.

My Opinion: Nothing - I don't much care for this game…and I'm not sure I could put a number on how many thumbs down I think this game deserves.



- Don't mind me, just ruining the franchise.

Call of Duty: World at War (Multi) - Call of Duty 4 released last year to both critical acclaim and one of the biggest fan followings for a game I've seen in a long time. Halo 3 was the top dog on Xbox Live and pretty much everyone had just accepted the fact, but CoD 4 came and knocked Halo off of the throne, a task which many had deemed impossible…including me. Call of Duty usually did well, but to bring Halo's audience to a different game was something I didn't expect to happen for a long time. There is a reason CoD 4 topped the charts, and that is because it was a fantastic rewarding experience, giving players an incentive to keep playing the multiplayer. CoD 5 is extremely similar, and is also without famed developer, Infinity Ward, so how does this one stack up?

As it turns out, it isn't actually that bad, and I can say this because I've played the game. World at War uses the Modern Warfare engine, giving the game a similar look and feel…but now back to the World War 2 setting. The setting has seen a few improvements since Call of Duty 3, namely dogs and bombs. Dogs are released when a team gains a certain amount of points, and these dogs proceed to maul the enemies. The first time you see them you might just crap your pants…and that is a very strong might. Bombs are a similar point reward, and they are a thing of beauty. Walking towards a hut in Makin and seeing bombs light up the night sky is possibly one of the coolest things I've seen in a game this year.

Those accustomed to CoD 4 won't see too many improvements as far as gameplay goes. In fact, the gameplay might have taken a hit with this game due to vehicles. It isn't too big of a deal, but now with vehicles, people just run all over the map trying to find a tank, and getting them out of that tank will be a tough task. Overall though, this doesn't hurt the game too much. Most levels in the beta didn't feature vehicles in any form, so I'm sure that dedicated servers will make sure vehicle levels stay out of the loop. Oh what, console owners don't get dedicated servers? Haha, that makes me laugh every time. To think that people played TF2 on consoles with no servers…just the thought…*shudders*

My Opinion: Two Thumbs Up - While I believe that CoD5 could use a polishing here or there, it is an altogether fun package. Single player will no-doubt be hot, multiplayer could occupy your for a whole year, and nazi zombies! What more do you need?



World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - World of Warcraft was created by an evil group of wizards who had plans of conquering the world. They needed a way to distract us all while they did it, so they created WoW, the most addictive game of all time. Yours truly has been addicted to WoW at one point in his life, so I'll let you know that it can happen to anyone. The thing that made WoW stick out from the bunch of MMOs was polish, making it a package that worked fairly well and gave the user few problems. This polish made WoW into the most successful MMO of all time…so successful it even dragged in non-gamers and the casual market. Don't believe me (you probably do but…I'll defend my point), I have 5 friends who play WoW that fit into the casual market. Heck, a few of them fit into the non-gamer market. It draws in all kinds of people, and it has a nasty habit of keeping them in for a long time. Two of those friends have had an account going uninterrupted for about three years, so obviously WoW has its fangs deep within them.

Wrath is the second expansion of WoW, which pushes the level cap up to 80 (uuuuugggghhhh) and introduces a new continent, Northrend. Northrend has significant importance to the world of Azeroth, but I'm not here to talk about lore, lets talk about the new features. Let us start with the level cap, something that is sure to make those who have attained level 70 furious (I can speak for them because I have one, and the fact that I need another 10 levels just enrages me to an outstanding extent), and ensure those well on their way to 70 that they have a few extra steps to the level cap. Blizzard has promised that getting to 80 will take just as long as getting to 70, and to ease the pain, promises a bevy of great new instances and interesting new quests. It will be interesting to see if they actually keep the promise on those quests, as I haven't had a compelling quest since my days as a level 30 alliance, when I had to fend off the mighty Stalvin. Instances in Burning Crusade were fantastic, so I would expect more of the same from Wrath.

The addition that has really got everyone pumped, however, is the Death Knight. Death Knights are a hero class which can only be obtained through a quest chain at level 80. Warcraft III featured Arthas as a death knight, so if you played that…you pretty much know what you are getting. Think anti-paladin, and probably just as broken as paladins have become…hey, what am I saying, I am a paladin! And they are awesome, so be quiet all of you haters!

My Opinion: Thumbs Up - More WoW…that really is all there is to it. If you didn't like it before you won't like it now, but those who enjoyed it are in for a treat.

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This Week's #1 Pick

Mirror's Edge - It has already been mentioned in this column, but it is something that needs restating. Mirror's Edge is awesome, and anybody who disagrees should just stop playing games. Ok, I won't go that far, but I will say that Mirror's Edge is an incredible game with a premise that makes me just want to do a fist pump. Platforming? First-Person? Heck yeah, that idea rocks in so many different ways that attempting to name those ways would force my head to explode.

Mirror's Edge is about Faith, who is a runner, someone who…runs on rooftops? Ok, I don't know too much about the game's story because, quite frankly, I just don't care. Any game where I can run across walls, jump on rooftops, and slide down ziplines is awesome…and doesn't really need a story to back it up. The controls for Mirror's Edge are simple (though it might take time to get used to), you run with the joystick, and your other main actions are activated by pressing the left shoulder buttons. Combat actions are controlled by the face buttons, but most of Mirror's Edge will be spent running away from the enemies, which makes for some very exciting chases.

Graphically speaking, Mirror's Edge is quite a sight. It has a distinct look to it (waiting for someone to say "yeah, red and white"), which makes parts of the level just jump out at you. One of the graphic's strongest points is death, something that has been executed to perfection in this game. Missing a jump will see Faith falling several stories, and you get to see it through her eyes. The adrenaline rush could make some queasy, but it made me wide-eyed, I couldn't believe that a developer had actually made death fun.

My Opinion: Two Thumbs Up - A first person platformer that will get your heart pumping with the intense chase scenes, and some of the bigger jumps.



- Mirror's Edge is one of those games that have about three screenshots that everyone uses…I picked the only one I haven't seen this week. Or, that I remember seeing, at the very least.

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Quick Previews

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS) - For Pokemon fans who couldn't get enough of the original Ranger. My younger brother is one of those fans; he actually claims that Ranger is better than Diamond or Pearl. He is insane, though.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) - Tales of Symphonia is actually one of the only RPGs I've ever beaten. The combat was button-mashy, and at that time, I was in one of those moods for button mashing. Dawn of the New World will be very solid, but don't expect much from the story.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duel (Wii) - I'd imagine that this game will be as bad as the movies apparently are. What is up with those animations? It looks like some crappy Dreamworks movie mixed with the worst part of Star Wars…which is just awful.

Tecmo Bowl Kickoff (DS) - A football game for those who miss the older days, when games were more simple. It looks pretty great, and it is something that I will most definitely look into. Though, my hype for it dropped drastically when I played this year's Madden and loved it.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Multi) - Apparently this is the new king of soccer games, though I hear this year EA has taken the throne. For those of you soccer freaks, this question is directed at you Sean Garmer, what happened to Winning Eleven? I used to love the demos for those games…

As a quick note, I just noticed that Square is releasing the second Star Ocean on PSP next year. This is a great marketing campaign for IV, and with a copy of Star Ocean 1 in my house, I'm tempted to try it and see if this is a series I can enjoy. It begs the question, are they going to remake Star Ocean III, as well?

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Console War Scoreboard

Only a few weeks left to go and Microsoft has a pretty comfy lead. This week will mostly remain stagnant; Mirror's Edge comes out on 360, PS3, Wii, and the PC.

Xbox 360 10
PS3 7
PC 5
Wii 4
DS 3
PS2 2
PSP 0

Much like with the elections, I'm going to project Microsoft as the winner for this year. The rest of the year sees a few interesting releases, but nothing that should push Sony or the underdog PC over the top. The only 2 games left I'm really pumped for are Prince of Persia and Left 4 Dead…and for future reference, Left 4 Dead might be segregated to a PC only win, after I played the TF2 on 360 and PC…seeing the major differences.

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Yesterday's Attractions

Banjo Kazooie - I've talked about the bad side of Banjo Kazooie, so it is time to reminisce on the good old days, when companies like RARE didn't try to radically change the franchises I loved. Banjo was a platformer, obviously trying to capitalize off of the success of Mario 64 and other 3D platformers of the time. Surprisingly enough, Banjo was just about able to match those games in quality. What was aiding Banjo was his trusty bird, Kazooie, which allowed him to perform a variety of partner moves. You could hover for a short time, have Kazooie run you up a steep slope, or have Kazooie shoot eggs. In case you were wondering, this is one of the things RARE made less of a focus in Nuts and Bolts…a game which can only loosely be referred to as a Banjo Kazooie game.

Your main goal in B&K was to find Jiggys in the hope of saving your sister, Tooty, from the dreaded witch, Gruntilda. Grunty's favorite thing to do was rhyme, and she greeted you with some pretty funny couplets on your way to defeating her. Something that separated Banjo from a Mario or Sonic was the humor and charm of the dialogue, which made a lot of the characters more likeable. I will never forget Bottles, Mumbo, or even Klungo. But will I forget Petey Pihranna? Heck yeah, I even try to erase that guy from my memories. Also, Grunty is better than Bowser…prove me wrong.

Related To (very loosely) - Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
My Rating **** out of 5

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Reader Feedback

I would say, "No, I shouldn't respond, these are Joe's comments," but ehhh…screw it, I have nothing better to do. Let's check some reader feedback!

CArol - Xcrap, is that really the best you can come up with? You trolls aren't even trying any more. Besides, it was smart to go with Gears, the franchise is more proven than Resistance is, as most people generally admit that Resistance 1 is only decent, while Gears of War was awesome.

David - I think he just doesn't like Valkyria Chronicles as a concept, and I'm 100% with them…I hate those kind of games. And Dave, my fill-ins don't really abide by the same rule as me, they can base their "My Opinion" section on however much they hate the game, something I've tried to restrain myself from doing.

Mark Salmela - I'll concede that Gears, while very fun, does have some pretty overrated co-op. It wasn't anything that we haven't seen before, but that doesn't change the fact that it was extremely fun. Unless I shake things up and buy a 360, I won't be getting either. But if I do get a 360, you can bet on me getting Gears 2. Resistance 2…ehh, not so much. I feel that the game is only good for multiplayer, and I already have TF2 (and CoD when I'm in the mood for something more realistic), and soon Left 4 Dead, so I don't really need another multiplayer FPS game.

MCLOVIN BABY - Resistance 2 will be a hit for the PS3, all right, but a big hit? That is questionable, I think that the audience for Resistance chose between Gears and R2, and most of them will go with Gears.

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The 411

The 10th Hour by Derek Robbins. This week is a look back at when RARE made awesome games, and to be fair, I haven't tried Viva Pinata so I can't really say that they don't anymore. I often forget that they made Battletoads, a game that is made of pure win, though you can't beat it…ever. Don't even try.

The Full Circle by Joe Roche. Roche filled in for my column last week (thanks, again) and now returns to being the weekly Xbox reporter. This week he talks more about the double-edged sword known as the NXE. I say this because it looks sleek, but the avatars make me want to shove a fork in my eye.

The Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser. Nintendo is putting a crap-ton of Wario Ware content on the DS. IGN said something like "DSi Ware has great lineup," and I swear, all of those games were Wario Ware related. Not that there is anything wrong with that, Wario Ware is awesome!

B3yond the Report by Derek Robbins. I find it amusing that they are actually making video game vending machines…something that just seems so ridiculous. If they came over to America, I'd probably use one just to see what it is like. I really don't mind the customer service at EB Games Gamestop (Darn you Gamestop for buying out EB!), so being able to avoid them doesn't exactly make me jump with joy.

The PC Spotlight by Chris Vicari. Apparently EA could be bought out by Disney, which seems so weird considering earlier this year EA was the one on a buying spree. I'm really starting to like EA, with games like the much improved Madden, Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge. To see them bought out when they are shining brightest is just kind of…frustrating.

The Hall of Shame by Vincent Chiucchi. Apparently someone at Midway thought it was a good idea to make a shooter about JAX. I bet they were the same person who thought it was a good idea to make a TNA Impact game.

The PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans. Left 4 Dead has already captured my heart with the concept of "movies." When I saw "Dead Air," with the subtitle, "Their plane got delayed, permanently," I instantly knew that Left 4 Dead was going to be something incredible.

Fact or Fiction starring Joe Roche and Chris Vicari. Mirror's Edge will live up to the hype, if the demo is any indication.

That is all for this week's column, email me at [e-mail] or leave a comment below to give me some feedback. You can also contact me through PSN, my ID is Kikind. This week I'll probably be playing Madden/NBA 2K9…with a little bit of LBP interspersed through. Actually, it depends on when I get Smackdown, which I can't wait for.