WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 Featuring ECW [X360]

We wish we could tell you we played as someone other than the Sandman when we got out grubby paws on WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2008 at San Diego Comic-Con, but that would be a lie.

If you're too young -- or too mainstream -- you might not remember how awesome the ECW of old was. There were people diving off scaffoldings, Mike Awesome throwing Masato Tanaka from the ring through a table and onto the concrete and ladies that weren't afraid to get hit with steel chairs.

It was like 300 in a bingo hall.

Anyway, Sandman. Today, in front of the dozens -- and dozens -- of fans at the THQ booth, we took the ECW original into a hardcore match with Rey Mysterio. We thought about being one of the other superstars -- this build featured John Cena, Kane, Randy Orton, Triple H, Undertaker, Bobby Lashley, Chris Masters and Jeff Hardy -- but it's about time Sandman got some videogame love. The guy was only featured in a couple crappy Acclaim games. He faked being blind for an angle -- give him his spotlight, you Cena fans!

So, if you're reading this, you're obviously a WWE fan and have probably read IGN's in-depth overview from a few weeks ago. In it, the article said the Sandman smashes a beer can on his head and enters from the crowd.

Friends, that ain't the half of it.

As the Sandman's theme kicks up, the main man walks into the audience from a side door with his Singapore cane in one hand and a beer in the other. He swigs the beer, slams the can repeatedly into his head and then spews the frothy beverage into the air. From there he marches through the impressively animated and detailed crowd, and the fans go nuts. He pushes past the throngs of folks -- some holding signs proclaiming that they're diva search rejects -- climbs onto the black barricade and hoists his cane into the air.

That's how you make an entrance.

Rey's introduction is equally as impressive. His music hits, the camera pans the cheering audience and then the highflier pops up from the depths of the stage. As a purple lightshow goes nuts in the arena, Rey runs around whipping the fans into a frenzy and then slides into the ring to share the spotlight with a scantily clad Lillian Garcia.

The bell rings, Sandman moves in and lands a solid kick to Rey's gut. From there, Sandman basically owns the cruiserweight. Superplexes, steel chair shots and submission moves follow qs Rey prays for death ... we're pretty sure THQ has dialed the difficulty down for its all-ages demo.

What was amazing for most of the first-timers stepping up to the control pad was how deep the controls were for being such a simple system. The left analog stick moves the wrestlers, the right analog stick performs simple grapples, run is controlled by holding a shoulder button and moving and submissions are now part of an analog-system where the person performing the move uses the stick to apply pressure and the opponent in pain tries to match the movements of an onscreen lock with the right analog stick to break the hold.