The History of Here Comes the Pain
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain is a professional wrestling game developed by Yuke's and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2, released in North America on 27 October 2003, in Europe on 7 November 2003, and in Japan on 29 January 2004, where Yuke's published it as Exciting Pro Wrestling 5.
It was the fifth and final game to carry the SmackDown! name alone, and it is the entry the series is remembered by.
HOW IT WAS MADE
Yuke's, 2003Yuke's had built the SmackDown! series on speed. For Here Comes the Pain, directed by Taka Chihaya, the studio slowed the grappling down and made it legible. A new, more advanced grappling system arrived alongside body damage displays that showed where a wrestler was hurt, submission meters for both the wrestler applying a hold and the one fighting out of it, the ability to break a submission by reaching the ropes, and individual attributes for strength, endurance, and speed, all firsts for the series.
The match library gained the Elimination Chamber for the first time in a wrestling game. The roster passed fifty active wrestlers and, for the first time in the series, added legends: Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and The Undertaker in his original Deadman form. It was the first WWE game to feature John Cena, Batista, and Rey Mysterio as playable wrestlers, the first to show Kane unmasked, and the last to feature The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin as active roster members rather than legends.
Season mode was rebuilt around a locker room: decisions were made from a menu there, players could enter the General Manager's office to request title shots or a brand switch, and wrestlers waited backstage to talk. Production left ghosts behind. Early versions included Jeff Hardy, Hulk Hogan in three forms including Mr. America, and the Ultimate Warrior; all were cut before release as Hardy and Hogan left the company and legal issues kept Warrior out, though data for several removed wrestlers still sits on the finished disc.
THE TWO COVERS
Two names, two boxes
THE RELEASE
October 2003 to January 2004The game launched in North America on 27 October 2003, reached Europe on 7 November 2003, and closed its run in Japan on 29 January 2004 as Exciting Pro Wrestling 5, in standard and limited editions. A sequel, WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, followed in 2004 and renamed the line.
HOW IT WAS RECEIVED
The scoresTHE SALES
Documented figuresHere Comes the Pain received a Platinum sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, marking at least 300,000 copies sold in the United Kingdom alone. In IGN's fan Face-off of wrestling games, it finished second only to No Mercy, winning 77.3 percent of its matchups.
WHAT IT LEFT BEHIND
The runner-up, permanentlyEvery Yuke's wrestling game after 2003 was made in this one's shadow. It fixed the series' reputation for shallow button mashing by making damage visible and submissions a negotiation, and it preserved, in Cena, Batista and Mysterio's debuts, a roster snapshot of WWE changing generations. The question page on this shelf takes up why the fans rank it where they do.