WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth

WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth (Exciting Pro Wrestling 4 in Japan) is a professional wrestling video game released on the PlayStation 2 console by THQ and developed by Yuke's. It is part of the WWE SmackDown (now WWE SmackDown vs. Raw) video game series based on the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This game was the sequel to WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It and was succeeded by WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. It was the first game not to have The Rock on the cover, although he appeared on the cover of the PAL version along with Hulk Hogan.
==Gameplay==
Season mode was re lengthened to two game years, as opposed to the abbreviated season mode in its predecessor. It was the first game to feature the Brand Extension featuring Ric Flair's Raw and Vince McMahon's SmackDown! Players compete exclusively on the show they are drafted to for the first few months of year 1, consisting of four Raw or four SmackDown! events, plus a pay-per-view event per month. If the superstar is a created superstar, or if the original superstar is below a rating of 60, he will start (or be demoted) to wrestle on Sunday Night HEAT. Eventually, the player will have the freedom to fight on the two major TV shows, appearing on two RAW and two SmackDown! shows and the PPV event, even if he did not hold the Undisputed Championship. One of the major angles featured is based on a nWo storyline featured in early 2002 that included Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac, who replaced Scott Hall from the original televised storyline, after Hall was released for his problems arising from his alcohol-related actions. This was also the first game in the series in which female wrestlers could not participate in season mode.
Like its predecessor WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, Shut Your Mouth's championships cannot be contended for in Exhibition mode and can only be defended in season mode. All of the major titles of the time, except for the Women's are included in the game: WWE Undisputed, Intercontinental, European, Tag Team, Cruiserweight, and Hardcore championships.
Televised and pay-per-view events are televised from the SmackDown! Arena, which is based on Madison Square Garden, as seen from outside the arena and within the main foyer. Though each week, each event takes place from a different city (as announced by Jim Ross at the start of the events), the areas outside of the arenas remain in Manhattan, New York. Notable areas are a New York Subway stop named SmackDown! Station, Times Square, and The World. Although this game was seen as a vast improvement over Just Bring It, it still had several problems and limitations, many of which are corrected by its successor, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. The game features several arenas that WWE held events at in 2001 and 2002. There are also arenas based on each WWE television show. In certain arenas, players could make their wrestlers scale the TitanTron and jump off it. In addition, The Undertaker's motorcycle could be ridden in some matches.
In terms of graphics, some wrestlers were greatly improved, and included realistic facial features. Fully animated entrances for each character are featured, with their entrance video playing on the TitanTron, and their respective themes playing in the arena. The only exception is Maven, who instead was given the SmackDown! theme (although an instrumental of his real theme can be unlocked with a cheat device). The title belts are also displayed in the entrances realistically (i.e. if The Rock held the title, he would carry it to the ring and toss it above his head in his salute to the people, as opposed to wearing the belt on his shoulder or around his waist). The belts move according to natural physics, as well. This game was also the first to include alternate attires which the player could unlock through Season Mode (the game also holds the record for most alternating costumes in the SmackDown! series with 37 individual superstars collecting either one or two extra costumes).this game was good in comparison to previous smackdown games.
For wrestler entrances, most of the themes used in the televised and house shows were incorporated into the game. Along with the in-house music from Jim Johnston, remakes of Johnston's originals from bands such as Breaking Point (for Rob Van Dam), Our Lady Peace (for Chris Benoit), and Saliva (for The Dudley Boyz) were featured. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler provide sporadic commentary. However, ring announcer Howard Finkel returned to provide his voice for match introductions and wrestler entrances.
Create-A-Superstar mode gives the freedom to manipulate any part of the superstar's body. It also offers over 58 move sets from a combination of wrestlers in WWE not featured in the game or working in different promotions. A gripe, however, is that it is impossible to give CAW's teeth.
Even with the recent name change, it was rumored that the WWF name would remain in the game since most of that season was under the WWF name. That was later to be proven false.
This would also be the last game not to feature any blood, later being featured on the 2003 sequel, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain.
==External links==
*WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth at IGN
*WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth at GameSpot
*WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth at GameFAQs
ja:エキサイティングプロレス4
Category:Video games
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment video games
Category:Wrestling video games