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Hello everybody, my name is Dale Kulas and I am the latest Specialist to join the Torch. I will be bringing you updates in the fascinating realm of wrestling videogames. Before I begin my first article, let me just tell you a little bit about myself. I have been writing videogame articles and reviews for over eight years for several websites during that time. Currently, I have been writing for http://vgpub.com for over three years, but right now my main focus is to bring to you the latest news, previews, reviews, and flashbacks to wrestling games at least a couple times a month.

With that out of the way, my very first column will be my impressions from playing the recently released demo of the Xbox 360 version of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008. The demo just went up for download several days ago on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but I have had a little more time with it since it has been available for a couple weeks now with a pre-order of Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 at Gamestop.

If you haven't had a chance to download the demo yet, I highly recommend it, as it offers a few more wrestlers to choose from (four) compared to past demos (two). Additionally, there the basic control fundamentals have been altered from the 2007 game and this should help condition you to the new controls when the 2008 game is released.

The demo allows you to play with one of two fighting styles for Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Undertaker and Bobby Lashley in either a basic one-on-one match or a Hardcore rules match. The Raw, Smackdown and ECW arenas are the venues available to play in. Upon starting the demo, I was relieved that the menu music didn't feature the random band music that dominated past games and instead consisted of wrestler's entrance themes. I hope that stays in the final retail version of the game as past Smackdown games usually had limited licensed soundtracks, which resulted in songs that grew repetitive way too quickly.

Upon starting my first match, I immediately discovered that the controls had some significant button reassignments. Unfortunately, there is no option from the pause menu which shows the player what button does what and surprisingly there aren't even tutorial videos that explain the new controls like there were in the 2007 demo. So suffice to say, it took me a few matches to figure out what I was doing. The main alteration to this year's control scheme is that the running and finishing move buttons have been swapped. So that means wrestlers now run with the left bumper button, and perform finishing moves with the Y button.

Also noteworthy is that players no longer need to manage their stamina meter with the B button anymore. Now the wrestlers will gradually show fatigue as the match progresses. It took me a while to get use to managing stamina in the past couple of games, but I am definitely not going to miss it here. The pacing of the actual game play seems toned down just a notch from 2007, the wrestlers maneuver around the ring a little more carefully, but they still perform their moves in the same rapid animations as past games. Applying submissions have also been tweaked around a little. A new on-screen interface will allow players to apply more pressure by pressing down on the thumb stick, but also making sure to rest up between each tug of pressure which then allow a precise moment of time for the opponent to break the hold.

Bobby Lashley [artist Joseph Borzotta (c) PWTorch]

The Ultimate Control system introduced in last year's game is back and expanded upon here. Now multiple Ultimate Control moves can be initiated from a few more grapple commands where for example as Bobby Lashley, you pick up a wrestler in hoist him up over his shoulders, and then can walk around the ring with him hoisted for a little while, and then move the thumb stick to either toss him up in the air, or drive him down to Lashley's knee for a backbreaker. Each wrestler has more Ultimate Control moves (which can now be fought out of!) so if you loved performing those in last year's game, than you're going to have just as much fun with them again here.

I remember seeing in game footage online recently that showed wrestlers picking which weapon they wanted to grab when trying to access them from under the ring. That feature though wasn't present in the demo as I received random weapons like before. I understand though that feature may only be available in the ECW Extreme Rules match that will be available in the final version of the game. Speaking of ECW, their arena is a picture perfect representation of the arena seen on Sci-Fi, though it seems a little larger in scope and size. Joey Styles & Tazz also debut their in-game commentary during game play and they sound about the same as the Raw and Smackdown duos by delivering lines that don't really have much to do with the actual match that is taking place, but mostly random rambling about the characters and WWE atmosphere instead.

The graphics got a major upgrade too. I keep telling myself they cannot keep getting this better each and every year, but the developers at Yukes keep on managing to surprise me every year. I was playing on my HD television, and the attention to detail is amazing. Every single one of the Undertaker's and Rey Mysterio's tattoos are faithfully represented, even ones that managed to slip by me before and that they possibly may have gotten during their recent hiatus. The moves are animated to perfection and continue to keep looking better and better.

After playing this demo, things are looking promising as usual for the latest Smackdown vs. Raw game. I got use to the new control tweaks within a few matches, and the new pace of game play flowed a little more to my liking than before. I wish they could have had a few more match options to try out, including the new WWE 24/7 career mode I am super psyched for, but it looks like I'll have to wait to see how it turns out when the game is released next month. Now I gave you my impressions for the 360 demo, but also keep in mind that WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 will also be released on the PS2, PS3, Wii & DS.

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