WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008

Each wrestler now has two fighting style categories, one primary and one secondary. Each fighting style has its advantages and disadvantages in each particular match type. There are eight styles altogether: high-flyer, hardcore, submission, powerhouse, showman, brawler, dirty and technical. In addition, creative manager of THQ Cory Ledesma said early in production that he planned on having numerous wrestler animations redone. A new “struggle submission system” has been introduced, incorporating more analog control into the game. The player executing the submission can now decide how much pressure is applied by moving the analog stick in a particular direction.

Similarly, the player locked in a submission hold will have to power out also by using the analog stick. The game features the revived ECW brand, and it takes its place alongside the established Raw and SmackDown! brands. The official box art features the ECW logo prominently. The game’s ECW branding has expanded the number of weapons available under the ring during gameplay. New weapons such as guitars are available and tables and barbed wire bats can be set on fire. Despite the inclusion of the brand, the franchise kept its SmackDown! vs. Raw name, although an early logo included “ECW Invasion” in the title.

It had been changed, however, to “Featuring ECW”. The game features several arenas where WWE held events in 2006 and 2007. There are also arenas based on each WWE television show. The game allows several different game modes to be played, each with different goals and options. The Season and General Manager Modes of previous games have been merged into the new “WWE 24/7” mode, which takes its name from WWE’s video on-demand service. Players can choose to play one of the game’s included superstars or create a superstar, or as a general manager of one of the brands. Playing as a wrestler, the goal is to take that wrestler and achieve “legend” status.

In order to do so, the player has to win matches, then team with and feud with other wrestlers, and gain popularity. At the same time, they must choose whether to train, exercise, relax, or take part in other activities when not wrestling, all with their own positive and negative effects. The player could only choose to be either on the Smackdown brand or the Raw brand, as the ECW brand was excluded. Playing as a general manager is similar to the previous General Manager modes in the series, in which one has to choose a brand and act as its General Manager (Jonathan Coachman for Raw, Theodore Long for SmackDown!, Tommy Dreamer for ECW), draft a roster and make decisions to make it the most popular brand of the three.

The General Manager is allowed to make staffing decisions, schedule workouts and events. This was also the last game in the series to have a General Manager mode until WWE 2K22. There is also an all-new “Tournament Mode”, which allows the player to control a superstar through the various stages of the WWE tournament, such as Beat The Clock Sprint and King of the Ring, as well as Money in the Bank tournament. The game also allows the players to create own tournament. Like previous games in the series, the game also allows players to challenge for and defend championships. 

The game includes championships used by the WWE in 2007, bringing back the branded championships from the previous game and for the first time, the ECW Championship. The game featured the Fighting Style System which would not appear in later games until the release of WWE 2K18, where the system has returned. With each style, the character would adopt a series of preset abilities. Depending on primary ability, they would also be able to perform a unique move that can only be activated if the player has a stored finisher icon. The fighting styles were Powerhouse, Showman, Hardcore, Dirty, Brawler, High-Flyer, Submission and Technical.

This system was highly criticized as these pre-setting gave some wrestlers abilities which they cannot actually use, or stopped them from using common moves. For example, Carlito and Chavo Guerrero did not have the ability to perform any of their springboard attacks, and Mr. McMahon was as strong as some of the larger characters in the game. Also, the choice of fighting styles limited the variety of moves available in create-a-moveset. Wrestlers with the powerhouse fighting style can break out of a pin attempt with just one button press, unless they had sustained a large amount of arm damage.

They could also do a powerful Irish Whip (later named a ‘Hammer Throw’), which could cause damage if the opponent hit the corner turnbuckles. A player (regardless of weight) could be sent reeling over the top rope with the force of this move. Their special ability was called ‘Rampage’, a temporary adrenaline rush in which their grapple moves could not be reversed or blocked. Technical wrestlers automatically reversed all quick grapple moves until they had taken a good deal of arm damage. They also had the ability to perform diving attacks onto opponents outside of the ring. Their special ability was an adrenaline rush that allowed them to counter every attack for a limited time.