World Wrestling Entertainment’s SmackDown video game series has been unrivaled for over a decade now, starting out all the way back on the PlayStation and then moving over to PS2, then with last years release, the Xbox 360. Now SmackDown returns once again and is on every available popular gaming platform that you could possibly think of; arguably the best versions of the game are on the Xbox 360 and PS3, which are supposedly identical in terms of content and features and even visuals. There is however one difference between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of SmackDown 2008; the Xbox 360 version has custom soundtracks available for you to put in on your created wrestler’s entrances, and you can even replace the entrance music of all of your favourite WWE Superstar’s, essentially enabling you to try and keep the game as up to date as much as you possibly can with the ever growing, over the top phenomenon that is World Wrestling Entertainment. The PlayStation 3 version has a neat feature for entrances, and that is using the Six Axis controller to basically turn the vision of the WWE Superstar during the individual’s entrance, essentially letting you see things in first person perspective. Personally, on that little exclusive feature front, I think we got the better deal with custom soundtracks on the Xbox 360 release. WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2008 asks the simple question of ‘how will you play?’, this is essentially referring to one of the biggest new additions to the game, which is Fighting Styles. The real question though is whether or not this unique new feature breaks up the once fun, fast and frantic gameplay that previous incarnations offered up.

Gameplay:

SmackDown 2008 plays very much like the previous game, at least for the most part. Though the more time you spend with the game you’ll notice a few new features as well as the inclusion of the Fighting Styles system. One thing that’s changed, whether it’s a good or bad thing, I haven’t decided yet but it certainly seems to slow the pace of the action down, and that is the way in which the wrestlers run. Previously with a one button press, you would run straight at your opponent or whoever you were locked on to. Now it’s very different and is more reminiscent of the old WWF Raw games on the old big black Xbox. You essentially run in any direction you want and no longer are able to charge straight at your opponent so simply, it’s not a major change but it is something which has previously stayed with the SmackDown games since the first incarnation on Sony’s PlayStation console. I personally dislike the new method, as I feel it breaks up the fast paced action that I feel SmackDown is more popular for, it doesn’t affect gameplay so much but it’s certainly something that I do not feel needed changing. The big addition as mentioned earlier and as is duly noted in all of THQ’s adverts which are currently running rampant in all of World Wrestling Entertainment’s current programming, is of course fighting styles, which asks the question of how will you play? I still can’t make my mind up on whether I like this new feature or not either, as some of what SmackDown fans have been accustomed to is now restricted to a particular fighting style, which is a big downfall if you prefer playing as a particular wrestler but can no longer pull off grapples with a steel chair or any other weapons, unless you pick a wrestler with a hardcore fighting style. There are however some unique things introduced here which seem to try and compensate for this, being able to light a match and set tables on fire is of course one of the more attractive points about getting the point across with the new fighting styles system. The real problem however lies with the brawler and technical fighting styles, which for a limited time give you the ability to either repeatedly attack or grapple your opponent as much as you like without them being able to counter. This can obviously prove very frustrating as some of the more experienced of online foes like to use this to their advantage, including such dirty tactics as throwing you out of the ring as soon as they have earned and enabled their fighting style, and attacking or grappling you for the ring out count of 10, where they of course run back in to the ring just in time after dishing out punishment which you are just unable to do anything about and thus claiming the victory and more frustratingly in some cases, your created championship belt. The introduction of stamina in SmackDown 2007 is still some what present but is not so over bearing now as you no longer have to hold a button to regain stamina. All that seems to be required now is for you to simply stand still for a few moments and watch as your wrestler’s appearance alters from a keeled over slow and knackered sweaty shell of a man, into a standing tall sweaty and ready for more "wrestling" kind of performer. With the changes and additions made to the gameplay, the most annoying of all is the removal of the weight system which was introduce in SmackDown 2007. While I can see balancing issues in gameplay with the weight system, overall it seemed perfect as it was. Now however with the removal of the weight system, the likes of Rey Mysterio can go about body slamming and superplexing the likes of the 7ft giant The Great Khali, as well as all the other beefed up sweaty muscled wrestlers too. This has also spoiled one of my favourite things to do during online play, and that is having a 3 on 1 handicap match with 3 of the WWE’s luscious divas taking on The Great Khali, which was such a laugh and joy to play every time online on SmackDown 2008. The removal of the weight system has now ruined that aspect of the game; even playing solo is made all the more less challenging by this now too. It wasn’t so bad previously as every wrestler also had several moves where you could knock the bigger guys to the floor and proceed to lay the smack down from their, which actually worked quite well. The new 24/7 mode which is simply the new name for the story or career mode from the previous games, this is where most gamers will likely be spending their offline time when they’re not interested in playing multiplayer locally or on Xbox Live. The 24/7 mode feels very hindered from the beginning, as it forces more of a simulation experience on the player. It features cumbersome menus which you need to visit regularly to select mundane tasks. This includes things such as Rest & Relaxation to keep your WWE Superstar in top form for the competitive action offered up by Raw, SmackDown and even those ECW performers which are hell bent on invading WWE’s flagship shows. Wrestling games in general have never particularly had fantastic career modes as they’re usually put off balance with bad commentary and dodgy cutscenes, in this area SmackDown 2008 stands out rather considerably, and not in a good way. You could be having a rivalry with another WWE Superstar and in one of WWE’s over the top and not so imaginative storylines, and then this person kidnaps your girlfriend (yeah, that sounds like over the top WWE to me). The problem here lies with the game's direction in cutscenes, where the commentators of whatever show you’re on typically keep the story going during cutscenes, the problem though is with the actual cutscenes themselves. You could literally be shaking hands with the person that has kidnapped your wrestler’s girlfriend in one of the storylines by the time the show ends, which is one of the most noticeable and annoying things about this year’s game, as the following week the rivalry continues as normal. Another rather mundane thing about the cutscenes is that you typically see the same cutscenes repeated week in and week out, though they usually have updated voiceovers by the commentators to reflect on the progression of the current story. As bad as the 24/7 mode is, you are basically forced to play it if you wish to earn considerable money to unlock the several WWE Legends, such as the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret “The Hitman” Hart among others as well as and including some of ECW’s more popular performers. Money is required as stated to unlock these Superstar’s, but you also have to complete a challenge as well as have enough cash to unlock them, which actually proves to be rather nifty as the challenges usually revolve around defeating the Legend you want to unlock by playing in one of their better real-life matches of their career on Legend difficulty, which presents a bit more of a challenge.

Graphics:

While it may not seem like it at first glance, looking back on SmackDown 2007 compared to 2008 then it is clearly noticeable that the visual flair has increased considerably. The most impressive of all is that the majority of wrestlers really do look like their real life counterparts, and some of the others perhaps not so much as the more popular wrestlers that most fans seem to admire. Animation seems to be another thing which has had some time spent on as the moves generally now look much more more fluid in their movements. There seems to be a problem with the cutscenes in 24/7 mode, as the audio is generally longer than the length of the cutscene video by a good few seconds, which results in an ending of a paused cutscene while the rest of the dialog is delivered by the commentators.

Sound:

During matches you’ll either be listening to the voices of Raw, SmackDown or ECW with their respective commentators calling the action. While a few of the commentator’s may have switched around since last year's game, this is basically the same commentary as 2007’s version, but with a few catchphrases for the new commentators thrown in for good measure. Some people will either like or hate the commentary. I however, just do not like it as it seems broken to me. Rather out of the blue, the commentators can mention a particular wrestler’s name and career highlights. The problem with this is that they begin talking about someone who is not even in the match! Another noticeable thing during gameplay is that they sometimes mention that a reversal has taken place, which sometimes is blatantly incorrect. If you own last year’s game then it would probably be a wise decision to turn the commentary off for this new game, unless you want to hear what is basically rehashed commentary from WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. Entrance music for the wrestlers seems to be up to date, though on a good note, WWE and gaming fans alike are able to replace and add music for their CAW’s as well as all the wrestler’s featured in the game. The only inconvenience with custom soundtracks is the Xbox 360 its self, having to transfer your music by way of audio CD is not the most convenient method but this currently is the only way, at least until Microsoft finally decides to open the box up a little bit more and allow us to transfer our media over a network or USB memory stick directly to the Xbox 360’s hard drive. In fact, you would think the developers would have pushed for custom entrance music on the PlayStation 3 version of the game, as all that I just mentioned about the Xbox 360 and transferring media can actually be done on the PS3 console, though the main problem is that the PS3 version of the game just doesn’t support custom soundtracks.

Longevity:

The 24/7 mode isn’t likely to keep any of even the most hardcore WWE gaming fans entertained for very long. The typical exhibition matches against the CPU and even local players are what is going to keep this WWE title from submitting. If Xbox Live multiplayer is more your thing, then you’ll find pretty much all of the basic and popular matches playable online minus the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches.

Overall:

An updated roster, gameplay enhancements and in some cases drawbacks don’t help the latest offering of the SmackDown series by any means. The removal of the weight detection, balancing issues between the new fighting styles, and ultimately the very poor 24/7 mode really do hinder this WWE experience. Regardless of improvements and rather infuriating drawbacks, this is still the only (decent) wrestling game available and is enjoyable to play with friends in multiplayer as were all the previous games in the series. However, apart from the bump in visuals it is hard to recommend this over WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007. If you already own the previous game and are an avid WWE fan or just enjoy the gaming experience that the SmackDown series offers then this will probably prove a worthy purchase, at least for the online experience of competitive play with or without friends and not to mention winning and defending created championship belts online too. I personally feel that Yuke’s need to concentrate on the fundamentals of what actually makes SmackDown fun to play and rework and fine tune that as much as possible for SmackDown 2009.