I know, I know. After I saw WWF Raw at E3 last year, I came home and wrote up all the glorious details. When the game was released some six month later, all of us were shocked. What happened to such a great game? It looks like a classic case of being the only kid on the block ? where else were wrestling fans going to turn? It's not what we like to see, but the backlash has been so significant that THQ and their developer, Anchor, understand they are under scrutiny, and so far Raw 2 is looking better than ever.

Promising a much better story mode, and packing wrestlers from WCW (including Hulk Hogan and nWo), there is now a lot more to the game. In addition to the enhanced single player story mode, a multiplayer mode allows you and three of your friends to hit the mat on a quest for superstardom. That's right ? up to four player seasons will no doubt enhance the gameplay experience.

Traditional multiplayer packs modes like King of the Ring, Triple Threat, Fatal 4-Way, and Battle Royal. An enhanced Create a Superstar mode will allow you to put your own characters into the game, and should feature more customization than ever. In addition to standard customization features, you can now design a custom intro for your superstar wrestler including music. Rip tunes to your Xbox hard drive and use them to enhance the presence of your custom superstar.

The look of Raw 2 has gotten even better. Wrestlers look just shy of perfect, and the movement and interaction in the ring is very natural. The audience goes nuts in reaction to bouts, and everything in the arenas looks just like the televised version. In fact, duplicating the televised version of the WWE is a major focus of the game, and so far Raw 2 looks to be right on track.

Certainly we can't get quite as hyped about this installment of the Raw series as we were last summer, but I can confirm that THQ and Anchor have heard your complaints about the first game and are committed to protecting their reputation. If Anchor can do as good of a job with Raw 2 as Yukes is doing with Smackdown! 4, we have nothing to fear. We'll just have to wait and see, but with a little good will World Wrestling Raw 2 should be the Xbox-owning wrassling fan's game of choice.