Having taken the trouble to click on this review, youre clearly the sort of person who realises theres more to showbiz wrestling than greased-up men kicking the living shit out of each other. And for extreme console brawling, the tongue-twistingly-titled WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 is a remarkable recreation of the TV grapple-opera.
Building on previous editions in THQs evergreen series, 2008s list of features is impressive: more attention has been given to individual fighting styles and using them to recreate professional bruisers, techniques such as Powerhouse, Dirty and Showman helping to capture the unique approach of a fighter such as Sandman. A more interactive audience also makes for hilarious matches - especially if they grab hold of your opponent so that you can get in a few cheap punches - and new weapons such as fiery tables, barbed-wire clubs and breakable guitars add extra flair to the explosive bouts. And with simplified controls that allow you to lay the smackdown with little more than a button press, anyone who picks up the game can look like a wrestling superstar in minutes.
Slick visuals and the best graphics so far in the series - check out the realistically bad hair - also make 2008 an essential purchase for fans, and an outrageously fun grappler for anyone looking for straightforward, beautifully presented ultra violence.