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SmackDown Countdown 2005: Bret Hart
The best there is, was, and ever will be.
IGN's most popular recurring feature is back and bigger than ever! Returning for the fifth year in a row, the SmackDown Countdown is the world's coolest sneak peek at the lineup of THQ's latest installment in its line of incredibly successful wrestling videogames.
As has been expected every year, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 is the largest and flashiest version of the game thus far. Not only have the online elements been improved beyond the barebones connectivity of last year, but the overall number of gaming modes has been advanced as well. Bar Room Brawls, Buried Alive Matches, and more realistic Cage confrontations are just a few of the refinements that have been made while additional upgrades to the AI, graphics, and grappling mechanics have been implemented as well.
Of course, one of the most dramatic changes this year has been to the wrestlers themselves. Not only have all their textures and polygon counts been increased over last season, but their entrances have been motion captured as well. Each grappler also has been granted two additional attribute types over last year (Hardcore and Stamina) and roughly 50% of all moves in the game have been reanimated. If that's not an improvement, we don't know what is.
While all these new features can't be experienced by our readers until SmackDown ships later this November, we're still dedicated to bringing WWE fans the best pre-release coverage they could hope for. Over the next 11 weeks, we'll be highlighting all 50 current superstars and divas as well as more than a dozen different legends from WWE history. And starting on October 10, we'll be doing two new wrestlers every weekday in addition to another special treat for SmackDown and RAW fans --customizing our Monday and Friday grapplers to match the shows from which they hail. Sound cool? Cool!
But enough with the buildup already, let's get this party started! Sit back, relax, and enjoy today's Countdown superstar, Bret Hart!
| BACKGROUND="http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/662/662054/wwe-smackdown-vs-raw-2006-20051027021326721.jpg"> | |||||
| HEIGHT: 5'11" |
WEIGHT: 235 lbs |
HOMETOWN: Calgary, Alberta | |||
| Bret "Hitman" hails from the first family of pro wrestling and was trained in Calgary in the infamous Hart family dungeon by his promoter and father, Stu Hart (who was awarded the Order of Canada for a lifetime of contributions to charity and community). It was in this humanitarian spirit that Bret traveled the globe for two decades as World Champion of both major wrestling organizations (WWE and WCW), while brightening the lives of sick and dying children, who he met one on one while seriously taking his position to live up to being a role model to millions more watching on TV.
Bret earned numerous amateur wrestling awards before turning away from Olympic-style wrestling and towards its more theatrical counterpart. He is widely considered by his peers to be the most technically proficient pro wrestler of this generation. But when Bret confidently asserts his slogan proclaiming that he "Is the best there is, was or ever will be," it's not because he's the toughest or the strongest... but because in all those thousands of hard hitting action-packed bouts, what Bret is really so prideful about is that he never actually hurt even one opponent! It's the ultimate irony then, that Bret Hart's wrestling career was abruptly ended by an errant kick to the head during a pay-per-view match that caused a severe concussion -- followed by a major stroke! The Hitman battled back from this one-two punch and is looking forward to writing the story of his life (and to explore new adventures like Aladdin: The Magical Family Musical, which is his first foray into live theater). Bret's prior acting experience includes a recurring role on Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years for which he received a Gemini nomination, as well as numerous sitcoms and adventure series. In the fall of 2004 Bret was voted one of the top 50 Canadians of all time on CBC's Greatest Canadian. Bret says he doesn't yet know how he's going to live up to such an honor, but that it'll be great fun to try. Source: Bret Hart.com | |||||
| FINISHERS | |||||
| Sharpshooter 1 | Piledriver 2 | ||||
That's it for today's installment of the SmackDown Countdown. As always, please remember that all statistical attributes are considered temporary until the final version of the game ships this November, so if you end up with the game and things don't quite match up, now you'll know why. Check our table below for links to the superstars and legends that we so diligently covered over the past couple months. See you again next year!
©2005, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
12:00 am PDT October 27, 2005