SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 is just as good, if not better, than all of its past incarnations. The biggest change, however, is a total redesign of the wrestler controls which makes for a very confusing start for anyone, even people who have played previous versions of the game. Now in order to lock your opponent into a grapple you have to first hold the right bumper and then press left, right, up or down on the right joy stick.

Moving the joy stick down gets you a submission grapple, moving the joy stick up gets you a dirty or clean grapple (depending upon which your superstar is), left gets you a category 1 grapple and right gets you a category 2 grapple. Also a new feature is something called Ultimate Control Moves. To perform an Ultimate Control Move you simply press the right joy stick while in a grappled state. Each superstar has four different Ultimate Control Moves for each one of their different grapples.

Needless to say this was a very hard transition for me, having played the previous versions of the game. It took me a good 2 hours to finally get the controls straight. I can now finally compete in matches against guys like The Undertaker and Kurt Angle (who, oddly enough, doesn’t even work for the WWE anymore).

There are even more new goodies in SvR 2007, including new are Environmental Hotspots for this year’s version of the game. Several points around the arena are intractable, including both announcer’s tables, the steel rings steps and 8 different spots inside the ring, not to mention an area in the crowd where you can fight. One of my favorite things to do in the game is to set an opponent on an announcers table and perform a finisher.

Rather than performing your actual finisher on the table you slide back into the ring and climb to the top rope and dive to the outside, delivering an elbow drop to your opponent. Talk about a spectacle! Also while fighting in the crowd you can throw your opponent into a set of speakers which spark and FRY your opponent. You get to watch in glee as your opponent falls to the ground still smoking. Fun ain’t it?

The season mode, as always, is what really keeps your attention when playing a SmackDown game. However I’ve noticed a problem as I’ve continued to play the game. I’ve created two wrestlers via the Create-A-Wrestler mode (which I’ll touch on in a minute) and both times the storylines to start the season mode were exactly the same. Not one thing was different. The only way I could change the storyline was intentionally losing a WWE Title match against Kurt Angle. I didn’t want to, but I knew exactly where the storyline was gonna go if I kept winning matches.

Speaking of the Create-A-Wrestler (CAW) mode, not much has changed here. It all seems to be pretty much the same with few changes. I would personally like them to improve the CAW mode a bit more over the next few games as I would actually like to see a few more options in character outfits and design. I did manage (although not without the help of an online formula) to create a killer version of CM Punk.

Also making a return to SvR 2007 is the General Manager Mode. This is not my favorite mode personally, if they wanted to make a game where you managed the wrestling brand then they should have just made a different game for it in my opinion. If you really wanted a good Pro Wrestling Management game go get Total Extreme Warfare. I just think the General Manager Mode is a waste of time but that’s just my personal opinion.

I don’t know how the graphics are on this game for the PlayStation 2 but they can’t be as good as they are on the Xbox 360. This game looks outstanding on the Xbox 360, I couldn’t imagine anything better than this graphic wise. The audio is good enough, the crowd reactions and the voiceovers are seamless but the announcers are awful. Why they don’t just cut them out of the game totally I don’t understand.

As far as extras are concerned there are plenty to keep you busy. There are lots of challenges (such as beating The Undertaker & Kane with Super Crazy & Psicosis, unbelievably hard) not to mention the various achievements that can be unlocked as you play the game. They’ve even added the Money In The Bank Ladder Match to the game, now you can watch people fall from ladders in mass unison!

Being a wrestling, fan I’m so thankful a good wrestling game has finally made its way to a Microsoft console. There are a few flaws which are to be expected but hey, I’ll take a few flaws over an awful game like previous Xbox wrestling games. Go out of your way to buy this one folks, with all the things you can do in this game its almost a must have for the Xbox 360, wrestling fan or not.