Anchor's first attempt at the World Wrestling Entertainment wasn't a complete failure, but it had a lot of problems. For one, the game was moderately difficult to play, the grappling system was a tad bit confusing & awkward, the game offered limited game modes and a very sparse Create-A-Wrestler feature set. Thankfully Anchor's second attempt at the RAW license is a lot more fluid, responsive, feature rich and easier to play than the first game. RAW 2 is by no stretch of the imagination a perfect product, but the franchise seems to be heading into the right direction. The game still has some of the same problems as the first game, but there's a lot more fun to be had outside of multiplayer (which for the record, was one of only three elements I can think of off the top of my head the made first game palatable at all).

One thing RAW had going for it was that it was a beautiful game - probably the best looking wrestling game ever made at the time of its release. RAW 2 continues that tradition, taking full advantage of the Xbox's graphical prowess to provide fluid animation, crisp graphics & backgrounds and small touches like colored lighting, realistic background effects and facial animation. But beyond the game's look, Raw 2 just plays better and offers a lot more reasons to continue playing it long after the various exhibition and gimmick modes grow tiring. The most interesting thing is the new season mode. For starters, four players can take part in the season mode, making it a multiplayer affair. Players can load up their own creations or use an existing superstar and play through a season up until the biggest event that wrestling has to offer - Wrestlemania. "The road to Wrestlemania" is a long one and during your ascension (or descent) in the ranks, you'll have a chance to win titles, make friends and enemies and influence other wrestlers by committing a variety of strategic actions. Before each week's match players can commit to a number of actions after each match -- from resting and choosing a manager to stealing, attacking, setting traps to cause bodily harm, influencing others (both negatively or positively) and calling other wrestlers out. The results are relatively random and offer a number of benefits to the player. For instance, attacking your opponent at a particular show before the match will give you a definite advantage when match time comes up because your opponent will already be beaten up a bit. On the flip side of the coin, if you fail an action then you'll lose a little stamina and will find yourself in a tougher set of circumstances.

The single player component of the game is pretty interesting, especially when playing it with four other human players. The only real drawback is that you have to wait for each person to select the actions they'll take and then you'll have to witness those actions play out during the match. Luckily you can skip all the animated cutscenes, so you won't have to watch it play out (unless it's a surprise attack, in which case you'll have to watch as you or the other players are forced to fight or fend off an attack successfully. The Season Mode isn't perfect, but Anchor is moving in the right direction. One of the odd things about RAW 2 is that there's absolutely no spoken dialogue (save the announcing) or captions to go along with cutscenes you might see when a dramatic story event is taking place. Having something to help drive these events along and make them interesting would have given Season Mode a spicier appeal.

RAW 2 also offers a much improved grappling system that makes a lot more sense, offers more move types and is less confusing than the previous game. The fighting is actually a lot easier to get a grip on with very little practice and now when you slap a submission move on your opponent they eventually capitulate to it after a number of applications - certainly not the case in the first game. The game uses the Voltage meter from the first game exclusively (no more stamina meter) to indicate the shape of your character during a match. When the voltage meter turns a thick, deep red players can execute a special move that deals out considerable amounts of damage. Contrary to what you may have read in other reviews, the voltage meter has to be red in order to do a special - you can't start doing a special from the beginning of the match. When your character has dealt out enough damage to the opponent the voltage meter will flash a "Danger" message, much like the first game. When that happens you'll be able to pin or make your opponent submit to a move more easily.

RAW 2 adds a ton of new gameplay content including new match types, game modes and a very in-depth Create-A-Wrestler feature that is so deep that it surpasses THQ's other popular wrestling franchises. The game offers just about all the gimmick matches that fans love and special settings for regular matches like Hardcore, Street Fight, Tables, Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Hell in a Cell, Cage Matches, King of the Ring, Royal Rumble, a variety of Tag Matches, Handicap, Battle Royal and many more. Overall Anchor has done a great job filling out the game modes and offering even more content than the original game. Anchor's first attempt at the World Wrestling Entertainment wasn't a complete failure, but it had a lot of problems. For one, the game was moderately difficult to play, the grappling system was a tad bit confusing & awkward, the game offered limited game modes and a very sparse Create-A-Wrestler feature set. Thankfully Anchor's second attempt at the RAW license is a lot more fluid, responsive, feature rich and easier to play than the first game. RAW 2 is by no stretch of the imagination a perfect product, but the franchise seems to be heading into the right direction. The game still has some of the same problems as the first game, but there's a lot more fun to be had outside of multiplayer (which for the record, was one of only three elements I can think of off the top of my head the made first game palatable at all).

There are still a number of problems with RAW 2 that were obviously carried over from the first game - the artificial intelligence being the prime offense. The AI is still quite messed up and does some pretty strange things in just about all the new game modes and the season mode. For instance, when a wrestler interferes they still attack your opponent and not you, which is a bit bizarre. During an "interference event" in Season mode both the computer and human characters (which get taken over by the computer after a few minutes of manually thrashing your intended target) tend to attack the opposite character that wasn't your original target. There's also an issue with focusing on opponents. Characters sometimes lose focus for no apparent reason, leaving you to strike out and nothing - because you are facing the wrong way. Characters also don't seem to auto focus when being attacked by other characters - something that is a staple of the wrestling game genre. The AI in season mode also pits you against the strangest choices (ala GM requested match) despite the fact that you're not even feuding with a particular character. The game makes it a real chore to maintain a serious feud with a particular wrestler and you have to really focus your energies to make it happen. Finally the AI matches in season mode are sometimes just so bizarre and the outcomes are even more strange because they don't seem to be based on statistical data. Trish Stratus would never beat Triple H in the WWE, so when the game shows that happening it's very odd. The game lets low-level card players beat out big names at random, and while it's interesting it doesn't feel right in a game that is supposed to offer a realistic WWE wrestling experience.

The bottom line is that while RAW 2 may suffer from a few minor old (and new) bugs and flaws, the overall game is pretty solid, easier to play the the first game and entertaining due to the sheer volume of new content., If you liked the first game then RAW 2 is a must buy. If you hated the first game then rent it before buying.