Wrestling games are a weird breed. Most people point to No Mercy or Here Comes the Pain as the absolute peaks, but there is this one middle child that everyone remembers differently. I’m talking about WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008.
If you played it back in the day, you probably remember the neon-green "ECW" logo plastered everywhere. It was a big deal. For the first time, the "Extreme" brand was finally under the same roof as the heavy hitters. But looking back now, was it actually a good game, or did we just love the soundtrack?
Honestly, it’s a bit of both.
The Fighting Styles Experiment (and Why It Was So Frustrating)
The biggest change in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 was the Fighting Styles system. THQ and Yuke’s decided that every wrestler shouldn't feel the same. Sounds smart, right? They gave everyone two styles—like High Flyer, Powerhouse, or Brawler—and each had its own special ability.
If you were a Powerhouse like Batista, you could go on a "Rampage" where you couldn't be reversed. High Flyers like Rey Mysterio had a "possum pin" to catch people off guard. It added strategy. But it also broke things.
You see, if your favorite wrestler wasn't labeled a "Technical" specialist, they suddenly forgot how to do basic technical moves. It felt restrictive. I remember being so annoyed that I couldn't customize my CAW (Create-A-Wrestler) moveset the way I wanted because my chosen style "locked" certain grapples.
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ECW Invades the Roster
This was the "Land of the Extreme" era. We got guys like CM Punk (his first-ever video game appearance!), Sabu, and Sandman. Seeing the ECW Championship in a SmackDown game felt like the ultimate crossover event.
The "Extreme Rules" match was the highlight here. You could finally pull out guitars, flaming tables, and barbed-wire bats from under the ring. It was chaotic. It was messy. It was exactly what we wanted from an ECW expansion.
However, the roster felt a bit thin compared to the year before. We lost about ten legends and mid-carders to make room for the ECW guys. And let's not talk about the "24/7 Mode."
24/7 Mode: The Good, The Bad, and The Burnout
In 2008, the developers decided to smash Season Mode and GM Mode together into something called WWE 24/7 Mode. On paper, it was ambitious. You lived the life of a superstar: training, doing interviews, and wrestling every week.
In reality? It was a grind.
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If you didn't manage your fatigue, your wrestler would get "injured" and be out for weeks. You’d spend half the time staring at a calendar menu instead of actually wrestling. It lacked the cinematic charm of the older games and the depth of a standalone GM Mode. It sorta felt like a chore after the first few hours.
Console Wars: Which Version Was Actually Best?
There were huge differences depending on what you owned.
- Xbox 360: The king of the bunch because of custom soundtracks. You could rip a CD to your hard drive and give your wrestler actual entrance music.
- PS3: Looked great, but lacked the custom music. It had a weird "first-person" entrance mode that nobody actually used twice.
- Wii: This one was a disaster. It used motion controls for almost everything. You’d be swinging your arm like a madman just to do a suplex. It also lacked almost all the match types found on other consoles.
- PSP: Surprisingly solid! It had exclusive legends like Eddie Guerrero and Sgt. Slaughter that weren't on the home consoles.
The Soundtracks We Can’t Forget
We have to talk about the music. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 had arguably one of the best licensed soundtracks in the series.
- "Well Enough Alone" by Chevelle
- "Famous" by Puddle of Mudd
- "Put Your Hands On Me" by Joss Stone (a weird choice that somehow worked)
Even if the gameplay felt clunky, those menus felt alive because the music was so aggressive and perfectly "mid-2000s."
Is It Still Worth Playing?
If you're a retro collector, yes. It's the only place to see the original ECW revival in its purest (and strangest) form. It represents a turning point where the series tried to become more of a "simulation" and less of an arcade brawler.
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While WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 isn't perfect—the submission "struggle" system was a pain and the AI was often brain-dead—it has a soul. It was the last game before the series started to feel a bit "samey" every year.
Actionable Insights for Modern Players:
If you're planning to revisit this classic today, skip the Wii and DS versions. They are curiosities at best. Stick to the Xbox 360 version if you can find a disc, purely for the performance and the nostalgia of those custom themes. If you're playing on a PS2 or PSP, be prepared for longer load times, but enjoy the fact that you have a more complete roster of legends than the Nintendo fans did back then.
To get the most out of the experience, try playing through the 24/7 mode as a created superstar rather than a pro. It makes the "legend" climb feel slightly more rewarding, even if the training mini-games get old fast. Just make sure to keep an eye on that fatigue meter—nobody wants to spend their "WrestleMania" moment in a digital hospital bed.
Check the back of your copy: If you find the "High Flyer" or "Dirty" special editions for the 360, hold onto them. They came with postcards and mini-guides that are becoming increasingly rare for collectors these days.
Ultimately, this game wasn't the best in the series, but it was the most experimental. It took risks that the modern 2K games are still trying to refine. It’s a messy, loud, and extreme piece of wrestling history that deserves a spot on your shelf.