All throughout 2004 I had extremely high expectations for THQ and developer Yukes' upcoming WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw and for good reason. The previous installment, Here Comes the Pain, was spectacular. In fact, I played it non stop for several months, awarded it a very high 4.5 out of 5 rating, and was prepared to consider giving the new one a perfect score if it built upon the rock solid gameplay from last year, and thankfully it does, but there's also some things about it that baffle me, leaving me no choice but to swing my final score in the wrong direction.

Before I get into what makes this SmackDown so much fun, let's take a look at what THQ did wrong, starting with the game's online component. For the first time in history, you can challenge other players using Sony's online network, but it's such a boring set up that it's more of a novelty than anything else, for you see, you can only wrestle in singles and bra and panties matches. No First Blood Matches, no Cage bouts, and no Triple-Threat contests. It's just you and someone else. Oh, and you can't talk to them using the USB headset, you can't defend created championship belts, or see your win/loss record. Either THQ had this grand vision all along (which I doubt), or they had bigger plans and just couldn't implement them effectively before the game's release. Either way, it's a poor showing.

While the boring online setup is a shame, it's easy to forget about it because it's not really the focus of the total package. However, I was shocked to see some of the things THQ removed from the gameplay. For starters, you can no longer go backstage during hardcore matches. Part of the fun in Here Comes the Pain was to take the carnage to the city streets, the fountain, and the locker room, but in SmackDown Vs. Raw you're restricted to the ring. Yes, there are some backstage areas (a room with a TV and very few weapons and a parking lot where you stupidly ram your opponent into car horns and windows), but you need to pre-select them before the match starts, which is beyond lame, and I can't think of any logical reason why THQ decided to short change us.

In addition to the lack of arenas, THQ pretty much destroyed the Career Mode. It's still fun, but everything's a lot more linear. You can't travel to various locations, and there are only four championships to wrestle for! No women's, cruiserweight, or tag team titles! Who in their right mind would get rid of the tag team titles!?!

Moving on, I was thrilled with the legends in last year's SmackDown. While I thought THQ could've used more colorful characters, I considered Here Comes the Pain to be an experiment and something Yukes would build off of. Unfortunately, the developers seriously tripped over themselves. I don't mind that they removed the Iron Sheik, Hillbilly Jim, and Sergeant Slaughter, but I can't believe who they replaced them with! Masked Kane!?! Legend Undertaker (when the current Undertaker is pretty much legend Undertaker)!?! The Rock!?! It's just the epitome of laziness on the part of the developers. Why not give us Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, Big Bossman, or Macho Man Randy Savage? Brutus the Barber Beefcake and Bret Hart are very cool (they even come down to their theme music), and Andre the Giant rocks, but this year's legends roster is a huge disappointment. The Legion of Doom!?! Fun last year, but come on! There were so many more great tag teams!

Also shady is the game's presentation. It features actual songs performed by bands that play at the options screens as well as well as during the matches, and the announcers from SmackDown and Raw lent their voice talent, though, while it's cool to hear Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler banter back and forth, the speed at which they talk is nowhere near as impressive as what we've seen in Sega's ESPN Football. They sound very wooden, and repeat phrases again and again. Also, there are superstar voiceovers, but the lines aren't always delivered with gusto, so aside from the ring announcer who introduces each wrestler (which is a nice touch), the voice work is very average.

Those are the only gripes that I have, and believe me; they don't seriously bring the experience down. SmackDown Vs. Raw retains most of what made the last game great while adding little enhancements that significantly improve the gameplay. The loading is a lot quicker, so you'll hop into matchers real fast, and said matches actually play out like they do on TV. For example, now there are pre-match mini games you can play to get the upper hand on your opponent. There are five mini games, and they include tests of strength, chop battles, spanking, stare downs, and first strikes. Also, before the match even starts you can choose whether you want to fight clean or dirty, and there are benefits to each. If you choose to fight cleanly the object is to fill your special Clean Meter by getting the crowd behind you. This entails doing signature moves, winning chop battles, performing a submission counter, and doing diving attacks. Basically, it requires you to just wrestle the match. Once your Clean Meter's full, your character will become temporarily invincible Ultimate Warrior style and you'll be able to easily put the hurt on your opponent.

Honestly though, who in their right mind wants to fight clean? We all know that being the heel is a lot more fun because you get to do cooler stuff. Conversely, you'll have a Dirty Meter, and you must fill it by being extremely underhanded. Remove a turnbuckle cover and irish whip your opponent into the exposed metal, complain about a two-count (L1), beat down the ref, and call for interference (among other stuff), and you'll be able to execute a Dirty attack that's just as devastating as a special. Sneaky!

Other gameplay improvements include picking up and throwing opponents off the top of the Hell in a Cell and reversing submissions, but what THQ did to the Royal Rumble match is far more interesting. In last year's SmackDown, the Royal Rumble was a frenzied arcade-like event where all you had to do was whip your opponent to the ropes and knock him out, and matches could be over in less than 25 minutes. It was a lot of fun, but this time around, things are far more realistic. In SmackDown Vs. Raw, the object early on is to get your opponent on the apron, grapple, and try to push them off. It's a frantic button mash for both sides as players jockey for position, one trying to push the other off, and one trying to get back in. Adding a layer of strategy, another wrestler can come over and help to make the elimination, or attack the person in the ring so the one on the apron can get back in. However, being pushed out of the ring isn't the only way to be eliminated. If you go up to the top rope and someone knocks you down, it's possible to fall to the floor, and if you're weak enough, you can be tossed over the top, or, in the most extreme case, get picked up and get dumped to the outside. I seriously applaud THQ for this, because this is the most realistic representation of the Royal Rumble ever seen. Matches always go for a long time, and there's a better sense of accomplishment winning the contest.

While much of the new stuff serves to enhance the actual gameplay, little touches add increased enjoyment. If you win an elimination chamber match, you're treated to a celebration screen where your character is in the middle of the mat and confetti is pouring down from the rafters. While wrestling, if you hit someone with a hard punch your character will shake out the pain in his hand. Stuff like this goes a long way into making things realistic, and THQ definitely did a fantastic job implementing them.

As far as the graphics go, THQ somehow managed to improve the engine. Featuring almost 50% more polygons, the superstars look amazing (they even blink), and the crowd, while pixilated, moves about at a quickened pace. Everything else (the lighting effects and the pyro), have also been significantly improved.

If you're looking to customize, there's a plethora of things to do here. You can create your own belts (right down to the placing of individual diamonds), plan out PPVs, and, as always, create your own superstar. The CAW is just as deep as previous ones, and you can make some outlandish superstars that would put Rico to shame!

All of this new stuff is cool, but it's built on Here Comes the Pain's solid gameplay. For the most part, the controls are the same, and there are still tons of different match types including Three Stages of Hell, Hell in a Cell, Cage, Triple-Threat, Fatal Four-Way, and TLC matches to play, and you can still brain someone with a steel chair, though I was pleasantly surprised that there are even new ways to hit someone. As you'll play, you will make similar discoveries.

Nitpicks aside, Smackdown Vs. Raw is the best wrestling game of 2004 and a welcome addition to the series, but it isn't a necessary purchase if you own last year's. THQ did what it could to keep things fresh, and for the most part the new features enhance the gameplay, but what they took out makes no sense, and I'll never get over how they short changed us with the legends. However, what's here is good. I just wish it was golden.