As sure as night follows day, the SmackDown vs. Raw series will continue to sell in the millions. Regardless of the quality of the product, wrestling fans have always come out in droves to pick up the newest iteration of the long running wrestling franchise as soon as it hits the shelves; and for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, this Christmas will be no different. Maybe - in fact almost certainly - this is the reason that Smackdown vs Raw 2008 has made its way to stores in the state that it's in. Now, before all you wrestling fans start to panic, allow me to assure you: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is not a terrible game by any means - and it is certainly a better game than the disappointing 2007 edition. The problem is, it's only slightly better than the disappointing 2007 edition, thus only managing to raise the title into the league of mediocrity. Sure, many a wrestling fan will lap up the hugely comprehensive feature list, updated rosters and slightly improved fighting mechanics, but for all those longing for the days of the superbly crafted, Aki Corporation developed N64 wrestlers, SmackDown vs. Raw is still a long, long way off reproducing the kind of well balanced, epic matches that were available to gamers almost a decade ago.

One thing that Smackdown vs. Raw has never been short of features and SvR 2008 is no different, with an even greater list of game modes than the already exhaustive 2007 options. This might sound like a good thing - and it really should be - but this year, more than any other, it has become all too painfully clear that these features have been added primarily to cover up a game engine that's well past its expiry date. Don't be fooled by the flashy exterior and multitude of match options, because these are all built upon the same old engine that was being used back in the early days of the PS2. Minus the minor changes to gameplay and underdeveloped tacked-on game modes, SvR 2008 still has the same buggy but entertaining gameplay that the series has sported for years. Sorry if it feels like I am laying my disappointment on a bit thick so early in the review, but it's just so frustrating when a developer lazily throws poorly executed game modes at a title that is clearly in need of an overhaul. Sadly, for the time being at least, THQ and Yukes seem happy to rehash the same old game engine until it literally collapses under its own weight.

In fairness to Yukes, at least they have attempted to improve the creaking game engine with the addition of all-new 'fighting styles', a slightly improved grapple mechanic and the introduction of ECW and the uber hardcore matches that come associated with their special brand of 'extreme' wrestling. Sadly though, these don't really add up to all that much and certainly don't add up to a title worth forking out another £40 for.

The new fighting style mechanic gives wrestlers within specific classifications certain skills that can be unleashed once a power meter has been filled. For the 'high-flyers' such as Ray Mysterio Jr, unleashing this special ability allows him to roll up opponents for surprise pins, whereas a powerhouse wrestler such as The Undertaker becomes impervious to striking attacks and can execute irreversible grapples for a short period of time. For each of the many different classifications of wrestler there are these primary abilities, as mentioned above, along with secondary abilities that give this new mechanic a bit more variation in the long term while distinguishing the skill set for each class to a greater extent. This probably all sounds very promising on paper, but sadly it doesn't work out quite as well in practise. Simply put, this is just another mechanic that makes SmackDown vs. Raw feel as staged and pre-determined as the sport that it is based upon. Due to the unbalanced nature of the abilities, a win often comes down to who can build up their power meter the fastest, taking away a lot of the potential for the kind of epic matches that used to be a staple of the superb N64 wrestling titles.

As for the introduction of ECW, it certainly comes as a welcome one and is one of the more successful additions to SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, making it one of the few highlights in an otherwise poor update. The increase in violence and mayhem that comes from these matches, along with an improved weapon system, really does bring a freshness to gameplay not apparent in a lot of the other modes that have been seemingly forced onto the options menu. As fun as these ECW matches are though, you still have to come back to the same old game engine. Okay, so the grapple mechanics have been improved, with slightly smoother transition between grapple and subsequent move along with a simplification of the total control grapple mechanic that does aid gameplay, especially for those new to the series - yet beyond these changes, the plethora of problems that plagued the 2007 edition have simply not been ironed out.

Collision detection is still shockingly poor for a supposedly next-gen wrestling title, thanks largely to the poor animations that have yet again made their way into the game unchanged. These have needed improving for quite a few years now and are still largely responsible for the continuous clipping and occasionally bizarre warping of wrestlers. The AI is another aspect of the game that has shockingly seen absolutely zero attention for SvR 2008. If anything, CPU controlled opponents seem even dumber than they did last year, if that's actually possible. It really is quite amazing to watch the behaviour of the AI at times; be it a tag partner going for an impromptu stroll or an opponent repeating the same attack over and over again, their stupidity seems to know no bounds at times.

As mentioned earlier, one thing that SvR 2008 could never be accused of is a lack of options. In all honesty though, 2007 already offered nearly all the same options as 2008 does and in some cases actually did a better job with them. Along with the aforementioned addition of ECW, there is the admittedly cool Hall of Fame mode that offers the chance to play out classic matches from the days of yore. For many gamers with fond memories of growing up with the then WWF, getting the chance to battle it out as Bret Hart circa 1997 or the opportunity to enter the 1995 Royal Rumble is going to be an undoubtedly stellar feature, one that will see many forgetting about the game's shortcomings for as least as long as it lasts.

As good as the Hall of Fame mode is though, it sadly doesn't make up for the mess that has been made of 24/7 mode, which merges the single player story and General Manager mode into an intriguing package that sadly fails to deliver anything new on either front, instead ending up as a bizarre creation that fails to capture the excitement of last year's single player story while pointlessly squeezing rather boring modes from the story mode into the General Manager mode. When you start out in 24/7 mode, you are given the option of playing it out as a single wrestler attempting to get a shot at the title, or as a General Manager. The single wrestler option, which basically sums up to last year's story mode, largely replaces the actual story with statistical data that you are supposed to improve over your wrestling season. You need to increase your skills along with your popularity to increase your chance of getting a title shot, which is achieved by fulfilling numerous challenges that are often nothing short of boring. To make matter worse, a lot of these are non-playable, again adding to the general malaise that most players will feel towards this new take on story mode.

As for the General Manager aspect of 24/7 mode, it's largely the same as last year, be it with the forced addition of some ill-fitting training modes. These training modes have an affect on your entire roster rather than just one wrestler, but again come across more as a hindrance rather than a welcome addition. Other than this rather questionable change to the formula, General Manager mode is still made up of the exact same requirements of picking a roster and booking matches, albeit with the new roster available for this year's edition. And speaking of rosters, SvR 2008 actually has a smaller roster than the 2007 edition and, of the wrestlers included, many are actually out of date. Admittedly this is a problem that has plagued every wrestling game due to the quick changing rosters of the WWE and is therefore an issue to be raised in the development process, but due to the smaller number of wrestlers it does feel a little more aggravating than usual.

Beyond the changes and additions to the game modes mentioned above, all is pretty much par for the series with the usual array of exhibition and multiplayer, with the hundreds of variations that come with them, the likes of TLC, tag team and Royal Rumble being just the tip of the iceberg. Create-a-Wrestler also returns in almost identical form to 2007, although the 360 version does let you create your own theme tune from the tracks on your hard drive, along with tournament modes and online play that includes the usual choice of ranked and unranked matches against up to five online opponents. Again, this is yet another mode that has seen little to no upgrade and plays out exactly as it did last year. In fairness though, this is no terrible thing, given the generally smooth play and lack of lag during matches.

One thing that SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 unquestionably excels at is visual presentation. Although the animation is often poor, the actual wrestlers look nothing short of fantastic, with incredible likenesses to their real-life counterparts. Facial animations have been improved and most wrestlers are now coming close to the graphical presentation found in Fight Night Round 3. The crowd and the stadiums also look tremendous, with beautiful lighting effects and a lot of impressive incidental touches throughout. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the audio, which once again falls way short of expectations. The commentary is the main culprit as usual, with ringside commentators who make the Pro Evolution pundits sound like, well, pros in all honesty! It's just the same old repetitive junk that rarely has anything to do with what is actually going on in the ring - very disappointing. The dialogue in 24/7 mode doesn't fare much better either, with poorly delivered lines and array of bad dialogue - even for a wrestling game, which is saying something!

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is a very disappointing release and to only marginally improve on a title that was already a huge disappointment is almost criminal. Short of the introduction of ECW and the Hall of Fame mode, there really is very little here that builds upon what was released a year ago. In fairness the game can be pretty good fun, especially in multiplayer, but in all honesty, the game has been 'pretty good fun' for quite a few years now and these minor updates simply won't do. With so many other games pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved this Christmas, there really is no reason to purchase SvR 2008 unless you are a true diehard WWE fan - it's another example of a game that tries to pass off new features as improvements. If, like me, you're unwilling to put up with kind of laziness then speak with your wallet and leave this title on the shelf where it belongs.

Reviewed by Liam Pritchard for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).