WWE games have had an unfortunate history of poor mechanics and iffy animations for years now, but the leap to the next generation will have players thinking again. After spending a little time with the recently released WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, there is certainly some potential here for greatness in its new control scheme and use of environmental moves to make the game more dynamic than previous years.

Players will instantly take notice of the high-definition facelift the series has undergone. The ring entrances for the demo’s two available wrestlers, Triple H and Kane, look strikingly faithful to real life. They capture just about every detail imaginable, from the water spray out of Triple H’s mouth as he stalks the ring to the hottie announcer waiting to call the next superstar into the arena. This is all in pre-rendered scenes using the game’s engine however, so you would expect these scenes to look phenomenal. What impresses the most is how clean the action in the ring looks. Grapples are clear of any clipping issues that may have made previous games look silly. Transitions from camera angle to camera angle during the match frame the action very well, keeping your attention focused squarely on the man standing across from you. Lighting in both the ring entrances and during the action are also spot on. Overall, this game looks about as next gen as you could hope for.

Gameplay attempts to match graphics in this demo by showing off the new analog stick grappling system. Engaging an enemy in a grapple is as simple as flicking the control stick in one of the four directions. Strong grapples, which lead to many of the more impressive moves and slams, are performed by holding the right bumper down when flicking the analog stick. After you have locked your opponent up, flick the stick again in a direction to perform the move. Every direction on the analog for a lock-up has four moves that can be performed, so 16 strong grapple moves are potentially available to any character.

In addition to the new analog setup for grapples, WWE will feature environmental attacks to take advantage of the many set pieces in and around the ring. When strong grappling near the ropes, for instance, you can rub your opponents face on the ropes themselves, giving them a nasty case of rugburn. Tossing him into the corner could lead to another environmental attack in the form of multiple strikes to the face. When the action heads outside the ring, you can bash their face against the steps next to the ring, rewarding yourself with the sweet sound of flesh smacking metal. All of these were relatively easy to accomplish once the enemy was weakened considerably, though the computer never really took advantage of these moves themselves.

An interesting feature that wasn’t mentioned in any of the demo’s training videos was the “Clean” vs. “Dirty” wrestler profiles. When choosing between Kane and Triple H, you can set your superstar to either Clean or Dirty. Clean wrestlers gain momentum by performing signature grapple moves, performing diving attacks, kicking out of a pin after a 2 count, and a number of different counter moves. Dirty wrestlers, on the other hand, get momentum boosts for low blows and eye pokes, weapon attacks, ignoring or attacking the referee, and attacking ineligible wrestlers (those waiting to be tagged or managers). This seems like an interesting attempt to get players to play the roles of their wrestlers more closely, and it will certainly make for interesting matches between good and bad wrestlers

The demo available on Xbox Live is a huge 1 GB file, but downloading it will be plenty worth it to wrestling fans. Hopefully, the new features, along with the enhanced graphics, will make for a truly next-gen wrestling experience that puts fans in the tightly-laced boots of their favorite WWE Superstars. Look for this one to leap off the top ropes and into living rooms on (release date).

Features: