Following on from last weeks article regarding wrestling video games, this time out we shall be taking a look together at the forthcoming latest addition to the “Smackdown” series. The last edition of the “JKE” (Jamie Kennedy Experiment) garnered a ton of feedback from all of you and quite simply, some stunningly long emails explaining your loves and hates for wrestling computer games. I'm really glad to know I'm not the only geek out there! Most even took time out to calm any worries I had about outing myself as a player who allows the CPU to beat their character up from time to time. Always nice to know that I'm not that far out of touch with the rest of you lovely grap fans.

Last year's “ WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009” gaming experience boasted a refined “Road to Wrestlemania” (season) mode and a more linear, non-story driven “Career” mode which allowed for you to work your way up the various titles in WWE and win them by beating various other challengers. Simple, but effective. The “Road to Wrestlemania” aspect was a little more in-depth than some previous story modes the Smackdown games have thrown at us. Whereas it wasn't quite as long as the “Here Comes The Pain” story nor quite as addictive as the “Smackdown 2” multiplayer season – last years approach allowed us to choose one of 7 top WWE superstars and guide them through a set of storylines running from Royal Rumble right up until Wrestlemania on the Pay-Per-View schedule. The choice of stars was good and the storylines on average were entertaining and well thought out. In short, in this writers opinion, the mode was a success.

This year, we get the same mode yet again – this time with different superstars. I know most of you will already have seen which wrestlers have been chosen for this years game but I'm not in the business of including anything which might be construed as 'spoiling the game' for anybody. If you haven't seen who's in for this version then just trust me, it's a good lineup. One thing we can talk about regarding the system is that there will be a “Road to Wrestlemania” for you very own created superstar..

The create-a-wrestler feature has long been a staple of professional wrestling games. I believe the very first one for WWF/WWE games was 'WWF Warzone' way back in 1998 so that should give the relative newcomer some idea of just how important the whole thing has become for fans. People who buy wrestling video games just LOVE to 'build' their own characters from scratch. The mode has seen vast improvements over the years, with additions such as create-an-entrance coming to be. For this years game, the developers have heralded the 'create' modes as being some of the most important in the game. Indeed they have even come out themselves and stated that they want the player to tailor the game for themselves instead of the development team strictly saying “Here's a bunch of new matches and wrestlers, go have fun!”. This game will allow you, the player to customise almost everything to do with what is presented in the game. Obviously I'm only going by what I've read and heard but that sounds like a pretty cool attraction to me. This budding journo is really not quite sure how far the customisation will stretch (will we be able to alter already existing WWE superstars in the game for example?) but on the surface, it looks really sweet. The thought of creating your own wrestler, modifying everything about him right down to his entrance video (yep, another awesome addition) and guiding him through a season to eventually winning the WWE Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania has long been one of the appeals of the Smackdown series and it's pretty great to see that it is accessible.

Personally, one of the highlights for me was hearing that created superstars will look almost, if not just as good as the studio-developed stars such as a HHH or a CM Punk. One of the things which has held back the series in my view is that the CAW's (create-a-wrestler's) don't ever seem to quite match up to the other playable characters in the game. There was always some weird 'pale' skin colour vibe going on which really can ruin the entire atmosphere when playing out a match against a non-CAW. The player-built guys and gals just didn't really cut it when locking up with what THQ were rendering. There's also the case of the attire and hair which you can 'paste' onto your avatar. In past titles, the hair had this weird 'stuck on' thing happening and any clothes seemed to be painted onto the wrestlers body. Things didn't flow that well and it was clear that your guy was second rate again standing next to “The Man of A Million Polygons” Shawn Michaels across the ring there. That the game makers have made significant strides in this area is important as the whole experience will benefit greatly by making your character match up to the ones already featured on our TV screens and in the game.

Fingers, toes and anything else physically possible crossed that the “Career” mode will still be kept in there. I thought it was a very enjoyable feature which, while it was hard to keep going with it with one superstar until the very end, gave those just interested in winning matches something to play with. The “Hall of Fame” aspect was pretty cool too.

On the downside, word is that THQ have included the 'kick out' system which was seen in “WWE Legends of Wrestlemania” earlier on this year. You know, the one where you have to button mash to fill up a little yellow bar before the 3-count. Never being a big fan of this, I preferred the excitement of even mashing away at buttons and not knowing if my superstar could get the shoulder up. This system seemed to not really work all that well for me and I found myself getting heavily involved in a match for 10 minutes before getting beaten by something as lame as an arm-drag. Something like that is not really appealing to me, especially seeing as the game is supposed to be fun for the player. Getting beaten by punches and fingerpokes of doom is not an entertaining thought. Think of the ratings!

I couldn't cover everything in this column that I wanted to but I guess that goes to show just how much there is to talk about regarding “WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2010”. Could we finally get a WWE game which is different to it's predecessors for the first time in years? Perhaps this is the 'next gen' wrestling title we as fans have been starving for. If the game creators can mix the stellar presentation of previous games in the series with deep customisation and gameplay which sucks the player into each match, there is no way they can fail. I'm going to be optimistic on this one and say we may see the best wrestling video game ever come later this month. Cross those fingers R.D. TAKE IT HOME!