Create A Superstar is back, and some would say it's better than ever seeing as how parts load in a flash. This time around you're going to be able to have 50 CAS, which includes the guys you've whipped up as well as the ones you've downloaded from the SVR community, and they're each able to have three alternate costumes to their default duds. A nice touch: you can name these alternate attires so you know exactly what you're grabbing off of the character select screen. You can edit your guy or gal's entrance attire, cinematic attire, and ring attire, choose a screen pose, and so much more. Plus, these folks and all their accessories are in 3D this time around, so "shirts" won't just be painted onto their skin anymore.
One of the biggest changes to Create A Superstar for 2010 is the elimination of the layer restriction -- in past games, you could only have so many layers of clothing, paint, and other junk on a guy -- and the addition of a point system. When you're creating your character, you'll have 48 points to work with. Adding certain clothing pieces and items costs you a certain amount of points. If you don't have enough points left for a kickass pair of boots or something, you have to go back and make room in your pool or accept your shoeless hero.
If you're looking for nitty gritty details, the build I have has 76 hairstyles in it including Mr. Perfect and Jake the Snake-looking hairdos, there's a Foley-like flannel, British Bulldog dreads and pants, and so on. When it comes to giving your character a name the announcers can call him, currently, the list is just 35 generic titles such as "The Princess" and "Dynamite." Hopefully, that list will be expanded in the final product. When it comes to assigning your Superstar or Diva an allegiance, you can place him or her with Raw, SmackDown, ECW, WCW, WWE Legends, or the Free Agent pool.
We might as well talk about my jump into the Paint Tool. If you're just joining us, the Paint Tool gives you the chance to sit down with a simple set of commands (there's a pen, circle creator, line tool, eraser, rotate option, paint can, trash and color palette) and put whatever you can think up on the digital canvas. You select the mode, choose one of the 20 slots you have at your fingertips, select if you want the canvas to be 128 x 128 pixels or 265 x 256 pixels, and you're off. Important note for planners: you can't have hi-res and low-res logos on the same character and you can only have two hi-res logos and 10 lo-res images on one dude or dudette.
Create A Finisher is also on this preview disc and allows you to save 30 special moves. Although it has been overhauled visually and loads a hell of a lot quicker -- I mean, you pick a move part and you're seeing it instantaneously -- the big addition here is diving finishers. When you choose to create a new move, you need to pick at the very start if it's a front grapple move or a diving one. The front grapple one's the same system we saw before (start with 36 moves such as Poison Fog and Wrestling Hero Slam Clutch 01 as options and then start branching out into different holds and finishers from there) even though new moves have been added, but a diving finisher starts you on the top turnbuckle.
Your first decision is choosing one of 16 taunts or 53 take off animations such as simple leaps and the beginnings of flips. From there, you have more than 60 dives to begin stringing together that range from sunset flips to Superman poses to flying punches. After that, it's more dives, new descents, and finishing moves. It's sweet, and all the better because you're creating 10-step processes that could never happen in real life. I mean, some of the stuff I have created here has guys just flipping through the air and hanging in the sky for no reason. You can change the speed the guys are moving at as well as what trajectory each part of the move is coming in at so things get crazy quickly. It's insane and one of the few times I've been able to round up my coworkers to have them watch SVR and actually be entertained.
A quick hit before I end this preview, I got the chance to fool with Superstar Threads here as well. This is a pretty simple concept, so I won't beat a dead horse. You pick an existing WWE Superstar and get to save three alternative versions of their attire. You're not redressing them, just taking what they're already wearing and re-coloring it. So, you can only jump in and change the color of Cena's jean shorts, sweatbands, etc. You can't add or subtract these things and you can't add or change any logos the wrestler may or may not have. This is a simple way to keep your roster looking like it does on programming as well as changing Triple H into a pink outfit.
ing heads that once a year is too much, but this won't change as long as they keep making money. 
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