THQ publishes every WWE game on every system, so you'd expect only one game be made and ported to each one. This isn't the way things are done for WWE games, however. Instead, each of the three major systems (Xbox, Gamecube, and PlayStation 2) has their own signature WWE series. For PS2 and Gamecube, you get the Yukes developed SmackDown and Wrestlemania series, respectively. While both games are good and have their own style, RAW is a whole other ballgame. Developed instead by Anchor, RAW debuted in 2001 and offered wrestling fans a slower paced wrestling title but gained mostly poor reviews. Despite the harsh comments usually made about it, a sequel has been made and released. Oddly enough, it's titled WWE RAW 2 and before launch was hailed as the next great wrestling game that would blow SmackDown and Wrestlemania away. The obvious question here is should you believe the hype?

RAW 2 starts off just like the 10 year old television show; you see WWE's signature intro, followed by the exact same opening that's on TV every week. Not very original, but still better than nothing I suppose. Next you're introduced to the menus, which are very cool looking. Presented in the same style as the RAW logos and graphics, they are easy to navigate and you can find what you want quickly. Every match type you've come to expect from WWE is included, with the exception of the Elimination Chamber. RAW fans will appreciate this, as some match types that have come to be expected from every wrestling game were left out before. So the matches are all here this time, but do they play well? Sadly, the answer is pretty much a no.

Ladder matches will end quickly and from my experience it is not possible to knock an enemy off the belts in a ladder match. To get them, you climb the ladder and leap towards the belts, grabbing them and hanging in mid-air. If you and another player both hang, it's just down to who gets them off first. In table matches you cannot set people up to lay on a table, at least not without spending quite a bit of effort trying to do it. You cannot simply whip them onto it. Adding to this, once you actually do get them lying on a table, you cannot leap onto it and break them through it. Cage matches generally end quickly as well. Hell in a Cell matches are in, but you cannot walk around the cell, you're only able to go to the left or right of it, or climb on top. It's a nice looking cage and it's fun to fight on top of but here's the problem; everybody wants to slam somebody through the top of it, but once you do the camera moves so slowly you don't get to see the impact below. Once the camera pans down, the wrestlers are just lying on the mat. You can also toss somebody off the cell and through the announcer tables. Sounds cool, huh? A great way to finish somebody off and then pin them, you would think However, this results in an instant KO and the match ends then and there. This would be fine if we could disable it, but we can't.

The gameplay itself is much slower than Wrestlemania and SmackDown. The downside of the slower gameplay is that, like in the previous RAW, the controls feel unresponsive. Irish whipping is still a problem, as you can only Irish whip in the direction your back is facing. This is more realistic and would be fine, except when you turn to face another way and whip them, they usually break out of your grapple by the time you're ready to do it. One thing I really liked about the controller layout, however, is that the left analog stick is dedicated to running, which means you can free roam in run mode. Changing direction just requires a move of the analog stick instead of having to stop moving first and then change, like in most wrestling titles. Using the d-pad makes you walk, while double tapping and holding the d-pad will also run, just like the thumbstick.

Many of the move animations lack any impact, and wrestlers are lifted up for power moves such as a suplex or powerbomb extremely fast and easy, as if their opponent is as light as a feather. To the game's credit, however, aerial moves look fantastic and get a decent amount of hangtime. The selection of moves isn't too big and some expected moves have been left out. There are also some unrealistic looking martial arts moves, where the wrestlers seem to be on movie wires. Finishing moves can be done from any grappling position, standing in a corner or leaning against ropes. Aerial finishers are done by grappling in a corner, which sounds weird but looks great. Your wrestler will throw down the enemy and proceed to climb up and execute the move. You can leap off the turnbuckle yourself and do an aerial attack, but it never looks as good because of contact issues. Moves like the People's Elbow, or the Lionsault (both ground moves) are done from grapple in the ropes. Sending people into the ropes is pretty easy and normally a few punches near the ropes will send them in fine.

Weapons are here in full force and there are a lot of them. Some you would never expect to see, even. These include the usual chairs (which can be grabbed from the announcer table), tables, ladders (in two sizes), guitars, all the way down to stuffed animals and bananas! Grappling with chairs can results in awesome looking chair shots and strikes, which do a fair amount of damage. Without a doubt they are the best-looking chair shots in a wrestling game yet. One thing that isn't included is the ref taking the weapon from you, however. He doesn't care if you have one, just as long as you don't use it.

The problem with the gameplay is it simply gets dull after a while. There isn't a whole lot to do in a match; weapons will get you disqualified and you cannot leave the ring area, nor even to go up the ramp. Striking the ref, even by accident, usually results in a disqualification and a broken controller. The AI is the worst I've ever seen in a wrestling game, hands down. Rival wrestlers who want to destroy you will interfere in a match, only to beat down your enemy and help you win. Partners in a tag team match will come into the ring when you pin somebody and try to grapple your body during the pin. While they do this, your rival's tag partner will break the pin. The AI and many glitches that are littered within the game usually cause a major amount of frustration and can easily ruin the experience and turning up the difficulty level will just make the computer kick out more and reverse most of your moves. However, if you have a group of buddies to play with, this isn't a problem.

This isn't the end of the problems though, as if you get the wrong ref it can be a major hassle to successfully pin your opponent. Included are four different refs; Earl Hebner, Mike Chioda, Nick Patrick, and Tim White. They aren't just different for looks, either (two wear the RAW brand ref shirts and two wear the SmackDown brand shirts). They each have their own statistics, which include movement speed and pin count speed. Mike Chioda is the fastest counter, while Nick Patrick is the slowest counter and mover, which usually results in the player screaming obscenities at him. RAW 2 doesn't just have the most refs, it also has the biggest roster out of the upcoming wrestling titles. Over 60 in all, including grapplers you wouldn't exactly expect to make it into the game, such as A-Train, Christopher Nowinsky and Shannon Moore. Missing are La Resistance, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin, Maven, Ultimo Dragon and other newcomers and lesser known wrestlers.

Multiplayer is probably what saves this game the most. Included is a never-ending season mode, similar to that in SmackDown 2. There are around eight matches per show, with the exception of the Pay-Per-View events (which happen after two normal shows) that include ten matches. Before each show takes place you get to decide what you want your character to do before or during each match. There are a number of things to choose from, which include resting, interfering in a match, surprise attacking somebody, setting a trap for a fellow wrestler, stealing and others. Hiring a manager is also included, but it takes some effort. Stealing will give you the victim wrestler's attire for use in Create-A-Superstar mode and if you continue stealing from them you will get their entrance video to watch in the theatre section. Each character has a friends and enemies list, which is originally determined by what personality your wrestler is given and how that matches the other personalities assigned to the superstars. Every person playing in season mode, up to 4 players, can set up what they want to do before the show starts. Usually your goals will not be met, however. Calling somebody out rarely results in that person coming out, surprise attacks usually fail, as do traps. All of these are meant to get somebody on your bad side to set up matches with, rather than achieving your goal.

Getting a title shot in season mode takes quite a while and requires a certain amount of popularity, which must be earned. To make matters worse, there is a glitch that will take the title if you win it and randomly give it to somebody else. No cut-scene explains this, it just happens. Don't expect realistic matches, either; I've seen Stephanie McMahon beat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title and then beat Goldberg to defend it. Not only did she beat him, she won in 3 minutes. In a Hell in a Cell.

The Create-A-Superstar (CAS) mode is excellent and the stars you create will end up looking just as good as their real-life counterparts, due to the awesome graphics engine. However, there are only about 7 different face models to choose from and you cannot change the structure of them. The CAS mode is quite limited when compared to that of SmackDown, or even Wrestlemania XIX. However, RAW has something that those games lack and it's the ability to keep the real wrestlers up to date appearance-wise. Everything but their face and hair are editable. You can even make the chubby grapplers more muscular, if that's what you want to do. Making the CAS mode even better, you can even rip your own entrance music from your CD collection, instead of using the other wrestlers' music. To make entrances even more original, you can even make your own titantron video. Although it is limited and includes only a few seconds of animation, it is still better than seeing The Rock in your own wrestler's entrance video. Text and colour filters can be added as well.

Once you choose the way you want your character to come to the ring you can decide on the lighting by changing colours, flickers and fades to any light source in the arena. This includes the titantron colours, ramp colours (in three sections) and ring lighting. Pyro is also here in full force, with every kind you'd imagine; Fire, ice, lightning, explosions, glitter, everything is here and can go off whenever you want it to, right down to the exact second and below. You can create some spectacular entrances and they all look amazing and realistic, thanks to the graphics engine. In fact, sometimes the sweat and water on the wrestlers looks so good the graphics almost look cel-shaded, they're that impressive.

The music comes out pretty good, although I wish a start time was included. It's not rare for the good part of the music to hit right when the entrance ends due to most ring walks being quick. Sometimes you'll stumble onto a good combo though and the music just fits perfectly. Speaking of music and sound, the sound effects are what you'd expect from a wrestling game; decent mat impact sounds and generic music that I usually just turn off. The sound effects haven't left much of an impact on me as being really good or really bad.

Overall, WWE RAW 2 is an improvement over RAW in many areas. It has very good presentation, menus and layout, you can create up to 64 wrestlers and you can edit real wrestlers' attire, moves and entrances. Combine this with the awesome graphics, decent sound and a refreshing season mode and this puts the game on the road to being great. Unfortunately, the gameplay, glitches and mind-bogglingly bad artificial intelligence let this game down. You will probably get bored of playing the same matches over and over, or get fed up with the glitches and dumb enemies. If you have friends to play with, season mode and exhibition matches can give you hours of entertainment, even if you can't battle over titles. Given the right developers, the WWE RAW series could still be a great game, if the next instalment combines RAW 2's features with a better wrestling engine and includes the needed adjustments. Add an online mode and WWE RAW 3 could be the great wrestling title us Xbox owners have been waiting for. So come on THQ, show us you can do better than this and get developing!

Reviewed by Chris Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).