WWE Raw 2

"Best wrestling game out yet!"

Finally, the Xbox has an excellent wrestling game that its name can stand up to, and it's the best WWE game to strike the planet since 2000's WWF No Mercy for the N64. I never knew Raw 2 had so much potential, and it certainly had a lot more in store than I expected. The game has so many excellent features that make it such an excellent game any wrestling fan who owns an Xbox should definitely purchase. This game puts Raw 1, Here Comes the Pain and Wrestlemania XIX to shame.

WWE Raw 2 allows you to play with the same great gameplay that was there in Raw 1, but with smoother moves and controls. You can copy songs and soundtracks onto your Xbox's hard drive and have a very exceptional Create-A-Wrestler system that allows you to plot so much detail and lots of moves for many situations. So you could have a Spider-man cowboy mix coming down the ramp while his entrance video sings the Pizza Boy song.

What Raw 1 lacked, Raw 2 focuses on. The lack of wrestlers problem has been rectified, the horrid controls are much better, the graphics look a lot sharper, the moves are more realistic, and the fun factor lasts a whole lot longer than it ever did in Raw 1. So what makes Raw 2 such an excellent game? Read the review on and find out...

Gameplay - 10/10

This is what should be in every wrestling game. Lots and lots of wrestlers (over sixty, a very great thing about the game), a very in-depth CAW system, a very huge variety of wrestling moves, and several different types of matches. You can have plain old one on one or Tag Team, or make it more exciting and have a King of the Ring tournament, Royal Rumble, or no mercy hardcore style with a Cage Match, Street Fight, or my personal favourite, the Hell in a Cell! There are a lot of things you could do to customise your fights, and this will keep you interested for a long while.

The CAW system has tons of moves, looks, features and miscellaneous to make it so much better than any other CAW system out there. You can customise them to your likes at a very almost precise angle, and every detail is almost perfect. When you make your wrestlers, they can have an almost lifelike pre-match card picture and a Superstars' music, or your own music copied onto the Xbox (a feature I really loved!!)

There are lots of unlockables and an excellent Season mode to be discovered as well. These are very attractive and great looking, and overall Raw 2 has the best gameplay out of any wrestling game I've played so far.

Story - N/A

It's a wrestling game, so there's no story. So skip that one.

Audio/Video - 9/10

The sound in Raw 2 is absolutely fantastic! Once more as I've already mentioned, you can put your own tunes into this game, so it can be more suited to your liking (at least, while you enter the ring). This could make it better for you if you like your music!

The graphics look almost like the real thing. When you see a superstar come out in their entrance: They almost mimic what the real life people do when they enter the arena. The pyro, lighting and firework effects look amazing too, and this is something to make the surroundings look more real than ever.

Replayability - High

WWE Raw 2 is the best wrestling game out yet at least in my opinion, and its fun factor, excellent controls, huge variety of wrestlers, massive in-depth excellent CAW system will definitely keep you interested and playing for more for a good while. There is a lot of quality graphics and sound too, and if you're a fan of the WWE, this could be the nearest thing to a realistic wrestling game you could ever hope to come across.

Buy or Rent? Hmmm that depends

Wrestling lovers should definitely purchase this game, you will not be disappointed. It could be quite hard to get used to at first, but once you adapt you will definitely not be disappointed. If you don't play or have much experience with wrestling, then by all means rent the game first, as this would be the best option.

Overall - 10/10

WWE Raw 2 is the best wrestling game out yet. In its competition with Here Comes the Pain for PS2 and Wrestlemania XIX for Gamecube, I strongly favour this one because of all the marvellous features it exploits, its big improvements over the predecessor game, and the fact that it is much more addictive, realistic and fun to play than the others. It ties with my other favourite No Mercy and overall it is one of the best games out for the Xbox that the system should be proud of owning.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/04, Updated 03/16/04