THQ's latest foray into the universe that is the World Wrestling Federation, WWE SmackDown! vs RAW, at first glance looks like an upgrade to last year's SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain.. but delving deep into all that this latest entry offers reveals a massive amount of new features, improvements on old features and online play that make this game one of the best SmackDown! titles to date. And although things have really come together for Yuke's and THQ's new game, there's always room for improvement. Traditionally the development cycle of Yuke's wrestling titles tends to serve up bite sized incremental changes and this titles is no exception.

The first things players will not is an overall overhaul of the game's visual appeal and presentation. The game just looks beautiful in just about every aspect. The models have been improved, the animation has been tightened up and refined, and the characters match their real-life counterparts pretty accurately. There's always room for improvement of course, but Yuke's is marching in a direction where changing the engine graphically will be less work as the series evolves. The entire presentation of the game - from the intros, animations and mannerisms to the actual action in the ring - has been ratcheted up 100 percent in WWE SmackDown! vs RAW.

The other cool features on the presentation side of the equation include the return of in-game commentary -- now before you head to the bathroom to hurl (should you remember the hideous work that Michael Cole and Taz did in a previous SmackDown! game which we won't mention) we should point out that this time around it doesn't suck. While the in-game commentary of Cole, Taz, J.R. and Lawler isn't perfect, it dopes fit into the game very well. There's even commentary before every Pay-Per-View that adds some genuine flavor to the game's story mode which WWE fans won't hate. The other aspect of the game's presentation that has been touched up is the in-game voice acting of just about everyone that stars in the game. While this could of used a little more emotional emphasis on the part of the WWE superstars that lent their pipes to the endeavor, it's still a step forward for the series and a welcomed element. Hopefully next time the game will feature commentary and voice acting that is a little more emotional and genuine.

Looking past the presentation, the actual gameplay has been refined, tightened up and improved, and a number of mini-game elements have been thrown into the mix for good measure. Gauging their usefulness is a tough thing - some may enjoy the overall flavor they add to the game, while others may want to go out of their way in avoiding being caught in these types of situations. These new elements include see-saw like battles like the Ric Flair style chop battles you see on WWE TV, stare downs that end in shoving matches and the previous see-saw battles associated with submissions (including a new one that allows you to escape and reverse some moves). These mini-games are pretty cool and most of them are pretty useful and entertaining in the overall scheme of things.

Another more useful element of the game is the clean versus dirty classification and meter. This new element lets players do things that will fill up a meter, much like how you activate a special move. For heels this means doing bad things like hitting the referee, removing turnbuckle covers, using weapons and taunting outside of the ring. For Face players this means cheering and using signature moves. Once players have filled their meter, they simply hit the right analog stick and power up their bar. For bad players this means a special extra dirty move that will do as much damage as a special and for good players it means a invincibility for a short time and - if used with a special - double the damage. This new gameplay element is a great supplement to using you special move, at times making it even easier to defeat an opponent.

Another nice refinement is the ability to use your manager more effectively. Now hitting the left analog stick up or down will allow the manager to get a weapon for you and hitting it up will cause your manager to distract the referee - mastering this will allow you to give your opponent a quick and dirty chair shot. Yuke's also did a great job of keeping players from going to the well too many times - distract the referee too many times and your manger gets banned from ringside - a great way to give players extra options while keeping them from going completely crazy.

WWE SmackDown! vs RAW doesn't change the way the game is played out too much - the same moves sets implemented in the previous game (Power, Quick, Signature and Submission) using the circle button and the direction keys (up, down, right, left). The controls for the game remain the same as well. Some of the game's various elements have been made easier, and the physics have been changed a little for the sake of realism. One thing that has changed is the way players use weapons - much like in previous games, weapons now disappear after using them excessively. Some weapons still do stick around, but players must now pick them up again after using them a number of times because the game makes you automatically drop them now. This change isn't a bad thing, but sometimes it can make things a little more difficult.

WWE SmackDown! vs RAW features the usual suspects as last year's SmackDown! entry including Hell In a Cell, TLC, Table, Hardcore, Survival, Handicap, Bra and Panties, Tag, 6 Man Tag, Royal Rumble, Elimination, First Blood, Iron Man, Steel Cage, Submission, Ladder, Slobber Knocker, Special Referee, Elimination Tag and the much beloved Elimination Chamber. WWE SmackDown! vs RAW also offers a new and improved Parking Lot Brawl mode which lets players bounce each other off of vehicles for some extra bloody fun. All the modes have been improved and refined to make them more palatable and fun - and in some cases just plain easier to play. The only problem that Yuke's has not fixed is related to collision detection when performing aerial moves - this is more apparent when attempting a high dive off of the Hell in a Cell - though at least this time out you can occasionally connect to your target. Some progress in this department is better than none I guess.

If exhibition isn't your bag then the new Challenge Mode might pique your interest. Quite simply challenge mode lets you earn extra cash by taking on specific challenges in exhibition mode. For instance in one challenge you are charged with making Ric Flair bleed in a hardcore match in under 3 minutes (and win), while in another players must beat Kane so that his entire damage meter is red. The challenge modes range from simple to complex and add a lot of extra fun which can lead to extra unlockable goodies and cold hard cash that you can spend in the good old Shop Zone.

If you want a bit more substance you can try out Story Mode, which has been vastly improved in WWE SmackDown! vs RAW. The presentation is more alive than ever with the voice-overs of superstars, all new storylines (that are less lame) and a variety of twists and turns in the plot. Story Mode isn't perfect, but adding in all the new elements we've already mentioned, it proves to be more entertaining than any other SmackDown released to-date. It's nice to see rivalries being built up and played out more effectively this time out, but it would be nice if the game did a better job of allowing rivalries to be built and be long lasting. One thing that is interesting is that the actions you take do affect whether or not you have dirty or clean tactics in the ring at your disposal - if you're coarse during your back-stage interactions or nice, it affects who you are in the ring.