WWE SmackDown Here Comes The Pain Remaster: 10 Things It Must Have

9. Lightning Fast Gameplay

SmackDown Here Comes The Pain
THQ/Yukes

Buttery-smooth is actually a nice way to describe HCTP's gameplay.

It's rapid, but never feels uncontrollable. It's more in-sync with today's fast-paced product than 2K19 is too; there's a lack of selling and psychology in Here Comes The Pain that somehow feels right. It doesn't find itself bogged down by 2K's disproportionate obsession with simulation, and it's a better game for that.

Strikes are meaty without being clunky, grapples are slick and inviting, Irish Whips go exactly where you want them to and finishers are damn fun to pull off multiple times. It's addictive, perfect for breath-taking multiplayer sessions with pals and doesn't require patience. It's instantly gratifying, basically.

A remodelled version of the game in 2019 would need that same pace. There'd be no point in remastering HCTP's chunky graphical style if the actual gameplay chugged along with all the speed and intensity of a Great Khali match.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.