Now, let me first get this out of the way. I am a wrestling fan, so if you’re expecting me come out with some dumb references about “fat men in tights” and “oily cuddling” please leave now. Wrestling fans, myself included, know it’s “fake” so please take your self thought spectacular revelation elsewhere.

Smackdown vs. RAW 08 is the 251st sequel in THQ/Yukes wrestling series. A series in my opinion that’s been on steady decline for the past few years. The big question though, can SD vs. RAW 08 bring the series out of that downward spiral?

The big gimmick this year is the fighting styles which include Hardcore, Showman, Technical and Powerhouse among others. Each wrestler has been assigned two styles from which you can choose one to go into battle with. Sound complicated? Well it really isn’t…..pointless, sure. Maybe a tad harsh, most of the different styles don’t really add anything. Submission being one of the exceptions. Got a guy in a hold? Got a style powered up? WHAM! Double bubble it’s likely the pain is gonna kill him. If you time it correctly, you can pull off a surprisingly quick tap out victory.

The styles do add a sense of realism. The assigned styles are suited to the erm….assignees…. Carlito won’t be on the telly chucking people through flaming tables, so he doesn’t get to do it in the game. Very good…….or it would be if the hadn’t forgotten about the other ‘realism’ guff they had a couple of years ago. See whist the relatively small (in wrestling terms) Carlito won’t go Hardcore on your ass, he can easily pick up and slam the big fat tree trunk like limbs bearing Mark Henry. Rubbish!

I understand THQ/Yukes have tried to dumb things down this year, I guess to make it more accessible to people who don’t play a lot of wrestling games. The grand total of people who’ll play this game and don’t like wrestling is……..6 - possibly. Man, I’d like a chug on that optimism bong they were smoking when they had that brainstorming session. Wrestling games are for wrestling fans, the same way football games are for football fans. Golf being the one and only exception and no, I have no idea why.

The actual gameplay has been dummed down. Not long ago a wrestler would have a hundred different moves, now each has about 30 - including punches and kicks. That’s the real low blow for me, less moves equals less fun. Aside from the restrictive move sets, the button layout has changed again. B is now your irish whip, whist LB + left stick is your running, full running control is also a new feature which has turn out to be a duffer. Y is now your finisher, and RB + Y is your style special. The big X button located in the middle of your joypad brings up the blade which then allows you to press Y to go back to the dashboard - temping? Damn straight!…….

Visually - again it’s hit and miss. Some of the animation is superb, other times it’s horrible. The wrestlers themselves are solid enough, but finishers take the real brunt of whomever was designated ‘Finisher animation studio guy’ as 90% of your favourite moves look like awful. Unforgivable.

A 50 strong roster (including unlockables) is pretty decent. Granted it’s out of date, but unless they can make this entire game in about 10 minutes it’s always going to be out of date. Chances are, you’ll never choose to operate 75% of the roster. Snitsky, Mark Henry and Cryme Thyme being the real standout losers. Be warned, you can’t play as all of them in story mode……why? Read on…

Those dastardly voiceovers are back and are the worst they’ve ever been. Sure, it’s nice having the characters offer their tones to the game, you’d think they would add authenticity, but the delivery of said voiceovers is horrible. Clearly reading a script, no passion and personality exists. They’re lacklustre and really sodding dull. Because I guess THQ could only afford a handful of voiceovers, a lot of the roster isn’t eligible in season mode. The commentary is also in dire need of a complete overhaul. Not just the delivery of the lines, but the actual lines themselves. Glitchy, out of time and just ill placed, the announcing is another nail in the coffin.

Story mode has also had a massive overhaul. Oh yes, instead of ‘Season’ mode, it’s now called ‘24/7’ mode. That’s it. Sure, there’s some new actual scripts, but fighting over who gets the starring role in Stephanie McMahon’s new movie is quite frankly terrrible. There was lots of talk about 24/7 mode being a combination of last years season and GM modes. Yes, 24/7 mode gives you the chance to go through the game as General Manager - but not on the same save device. So that’s all the talk turned out to be; talk. However they paint it, Season mode and the, admittedly with more options, GM mode are pretty much the same as last year.

The usual Exhibition and online matches are here, joined with a dull tournament mode and an updated challenge mode called Hall of Fame mode. The latter actually proving pretty decent. All you have to do is recreate a match that happened in the real WWF/WWE. Winning unlocks those ever important legends to buy in the shop. Rick Rude being at the top of my shopping list.

Create mode is back with the usual array of options to tinker with. I know it’s a popular feature and a lot of people love it, I have no desire for it really - but I’m not going to skank on the score because of it. It works well and has tons of options - hours of fun for some - just not me.

Overall Smackdown vs. RAW 08 has some nice ideas, most of which are poorly implemented. Really and truly, a major shake up is needed. to inject some life into the SD series. Wrestling fans will get at the very least a few days joy out of it, non fans won’t even be reading this review.