Why must people put up with ridicule for liking something? Vanessa suffers every day for her love of hideous metal tracks and furry animals. Likewise, my wrestling fervour is another source of amusement for the office's second-rate football supporters.

Raw 2 tries hard to move beyond the usual formula of a few different match types and a large superstar roster. The first ever multiplayer season mode allows you and three friends to compete across Raw, Smackdown!, and all the pay-per-view events in a season.

Between matches, you can set your superstar wrestler some extra-curricular activities. These include attacking another player or NPC in their locker room, stealing one of their treasured possessions, or forming an alliance with them. There are around twenty actions in total. It's a gripping way of improving your success rating without always having to win matches. When all four players are causing trouble behind the scenes, it's a lot of fun. The only real downside to all this mayhem is the vast amount of menus to wade through.

Competing in the matches can be a bit of a chore, too. Expect the same sluggish movement and occasionally erratic collision detection as last year's Raw. On the plus side, it's much easier to reverse grapples and execute those spectacular finishers. We were also impressed that you hardly ever see the wrestlers' heads and limbs passing through their bodies.

The game physics are a lot better, too. You can execute any special move on top of the Hell in a Cell and both players will go crashing through to the mat below. You can climb up the ladder and jump outside the ring onto another superstar as well. Unfortunately, the table matches let the realism leak out like soup in an envelope. You can't seem to make your opponent lie prone on the table, and trying to grapple them upright here is nearly impossible.

That's disappointing, but you certainly won't be despondent with the create-a-wrestler mode. It's the most comprehensive character builder to date, especially when it comes to designing entrances, taunts and moves. I certainly had bags of entertainment making my own character and taking him through Season mode. It's going to be even more fun to build a wrestler of Phil and smash his face in.

Raw 2 is by no means perfect, but there's enough slapstick violence and WWE authenticity to entice most grapple fans. On the flipside, those who prefer pure beat 'em ups should stay well away from the canvas.

1. Multiplayer season mode rocks!
2. Rob Van Dam option for custom soundtracks

1. Poor gameplay
2. Kane is masked
3. Too many menus

Power
Graphically superb with an incredible amount of detail and realism in each superstar.

Style
It's as up to date as possible. Some of the music is wrong but you can replace it with your own.

Immersion
Gameplay is sluggish and the collision detection isn't perfect The pre-match options save it.

Lifespan
Every pay-per-view event + plenty of unlockables + a fun create-a-wrestler mode = loads of play.

Summary
Another wrestling game where options and modes are more important than the gameplay. That's the wrong way round!