Who can represent the people with a single brow? Why, The Rock, baby. Who else? Game Info Publisher THQ Developer Yukes Genre Wrestling Origin Japan Number of Players 4 Dual Shock YES Release March 2000 Peripherals Memory Pack Using the garbage can is always trashy idea. (Ouch...) Vert suplex? No, upsidedown head slam? How about just major pain? Mankind may not be the prettiest wrestler in the WWF but he can take -- and deliver -- the smack.

Look for a lot of coverage of WWF Smackdown in the coming months on IGN PSX.

Previous information:
One of the oldest genres of fighting, wrestling, is now so hot, it's a little frightening. Wrestling games are even more popular than, gulp, Gran Turismo 2 (No!). And up until now, at least on the PlayStation, the best game to hit the system is Acclaim's WWF Attitude. But now, Yukes and THQ have teamed up to top even Attitude with their own WWF Smackdown, a fast-moving, one- to four-player game that's bound for glory.

Even at this early point in production -- and we're talking the Beta version here -- WWF Smackdown promises to be a fantastic wrestling game. Phenomenally detailed, gorgeous looking, fast-moving, filled with big characters, and packed with the kind of gameplay the West has been waiting patiently for, Smackdown is a surprisingly deep game with a robust physics engine.

In fact, WWF Smackdown is built on the Toukon Retsuden 4 (All Japan Pro Wrestling) wrestling engine, developed by the wrestling fanatics at Japanese developer Yukes. Yukes spent the last four years specializing in wrestling games, all of which are very popular in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Graphically, Smackdown is amazing. The wrestlers, which are key-framed, not motion captured, were all hand animated, and once you see the wrestlers in action, you'll see why this is important. According to THQ, the key framing process enables more moves and a freer ability for Yukes to capture the speed and character reaction faster than the motion capture process.

Once a match starts, the whole screen comes alive like wild concert of light, sound and action. Photograph flashes come in intervals of mere half seconds, so the screen is constantly flashing, while the crowd sounds off with a tidal wave of cheers, yells, and hollers. All of the various lights create multiple shadows on the mat, all of which move along instantly with the wrestlers. Once a wrestler pins another one, the camera enters into a lower position and spins around the ring, while the crowd goes ballistic and players receive a close up of the specific move being performed. This specific effect, much like that seen on Mayhem, is great, adding a TV-like feel to the game.

In an unusual PR move, THQ kept mum on the introductions of the wrestlers. Intros are always a huge fan favorite, and the music, lighting, and exact stance and moves of the wrestler are always well loved. The part of the game is apparently still being worked on, and not much information was given away just yet. So we'll keep you posted on this aspect. We're sure THQ has something up its sleeves.

As for the wrestling system itself, WFF Smackdown works a lot like the N64 game, Wrestlemania. It uses a grappling system. Players can hit, kick, and grapple each other and then depending on the first to enact a move, can initiate a throw, pin or set up. What's most stunning about the game is that the reaction time is amazingly fast. The speed from the press of a button to the actual move is the fastest we've seen. Another physics mindblower we noticed was the rope movement. The ropes moved when someone slammed another wrestler. They bounced to and fro after a wrestler used them, and continued to wobble after they were used. In short, they are very accurate.

The game is set up with several different modes of play: Survival Match (whoever lasts the longest), Cage Match, Single Match, Tag Match, an option for handicap, and our favorite, Special Referee (pick a wrestler). In Special Referee, players pop in a Multitap, and one player picks their very own wrestler as the referee. In this mode, the ref can interfere (i.e. wrestle) as much as he wants and definitely has an outcome on the game. Players also can enter into Exhibition mode, Season, or choose to create a player; players also can chose King of the Ring and Hard Core (no disqualifications).

The most interesting new aspects THQ and Yukes are bringing to the wrestling arena are its Backstage features. Introduced originally in EA's WCW Mayhem, WWF Smackdown takes the feature to the next level. As with every wrestling game, players can fight in and just outside of the ring; that's been a standard for as long as I can remember. Just like in Mayhem, superstars in Smackdown can fight all the way out of the ring area, onto the introductory stage, and into entirely different rooms.

But here, the rooms aren't just places to "wrastle" in, they are part of the whole ongoing sagas and scenarios that make WWF so much fun to follow. As part of the Season mode, players have the chance to go backstage and actually talk with other characters to create duos, alignments, deepen ongoing feuds, or work at new team-ups for the future. We saw a good deal of the backstage conversations in the latest version, and they are totally new and cool. The way these scenarios work isn't entirely clear just yet. It appears that characters walk by each other in the hallways of the backstage area and players can initiate conversations by pressing a certain button or by walking up to one another. Conversations are mostly text-based, as real voice-overs would take up too much memory, but the possibilities still seem endless. These conversations can occur all throughout the Season mode. Another new aspect to the backstage area is that many of these are outdoor locations. These locations include the Intro Stage, the Main Backstage area, the Boiler Room, the Kitchen, and the Loading Dock, and at least one more.

WWF Smackdown features more than 35 WWF superstars, said THQ's wrestling guru, known as "Sanders," all of who perform their very own trademark moves. From the demo we saw and played, the game so far includes Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Bill Gunn (Mr. Ass), Mankind, Road Dogg, Kane, The Undertaker, Bradshaw, Al Snow, Farooq, Big Show, D'lo Brown The Hardy Boys, The Big Boss Man, Paul Bearer, Tori, X-pac, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, China, Jeff Jarrett, Hard Core Holly, and Christian.

WWF Smackdown also sports a Create-A-Player mode. As seen WWF Attitude and WCW Mayhem, Create-A-Player enables players to change the way their players look, dress, and can arrange their height, weight, skin color, and more. What was most impressive was the game's ease of use. Unlike other wrestling games, the on-the-fly meters are instant. For instance, players wanting to alter a Mankind lookalike can simply move the weight bar from left to right and watch the wrestler get fatter or skinnier. Likewise with the height meter, players can make their wrestlers taller or shorter on the fly. It was awesome to see it in action, not to mention even a little funny.

The Create-A-Player mode is deep and offers varying areas that are different that competitor's games. Players can dig right in to Create-A-Player by selecting from these areas: Moves, Fighting Style, Head, Torso, Clothes, name, text on clothes, and face, among others. What we took special note of was the fighting section. Given the ability to select different moves is one thing, but here, the choices seemed bountiful. The selections range from Rough Neck (a brawler style), Powerful, Speedy, Technical, and a few more that weren't all ready to show just yet. Once you choose the style, you can then choose the moves, and then in a special window, the moves are preview for you, prior to a final confirmation. So yes! You can see the moves performed before they are selected.

Best of all? Once you create a wrestler, he or she can be used in any part of the game. That's right, as a first for any PS game, the create-a-player character will work in any wrestling mode you choose. Now that's sweet.

Using both analog and digital controls, the game also is dual shock compatible. WWF Smackdown will be 1-4 player, so that you can go through a full season, or battle against three other players. Look forward to loads of new screenshots, movies, and more details as we get closer to the release date of the game.