Although we had the legends introduced in WWE SMackdown Here Comes The Pain, they didn't come with authentic legend music, however THQ have rectified that for this title and all the legends (with the exception of Andre The Giant) come with Music that they used to enter the ring too. All the other games superstars as usual have thier own entrance music, which along with the entrances adds to the feel of the wrestling atmosphere (for about an hour till you bore of it.)
Another new inclusion with the sound on this game is the fact that commentary has been added for only the second time in the series, However play a long match and you'll more that than likely hear all of the banter that the commentators have. Not content with just adding commentary THQ have also added superstar voices to season mode, so now rather than reading the text on screen a WWE superstar will speak to your wrestler, the sound quality on these clips is of very poor quality and most of the WWE superstars deliver their lines with the enthusiasm of someone who has just won an all expenses paid trip to baghdad.

As I said earlier I've been a huge fan of the series since it was released, and one of the biggest things I was looking forward too was the online play available with this game, well what a dissapointment it turned out to be, I'm not sure if this was thrown into the package at the last moment but it seems pointless, there ae only 2 modes of play available with on-line matches Single match and Bra and panties, so net play didn't impress me.
THQ always try to add new matches to each WWE title, and this title as you would expect is no different. Along with Single, Tag, Survival, Hardcore, Bra and Panties, Royal Rumble and others we also get Parking Lot Brawl which effectivley is a hardcore match where the weapons have been replaced by cars that you throw your opponent into, in my opinion poor but others may like it.
As usual a massive list of WWE superstars is included in the game, however there are also alot of notebale absentees, not least in my opinion Englands own William Regal also missing, Eugene, the Bashams, Gene Snitsky, Maven, Steven Richards, Carlito, Heidenriech, Funaki, Luther Reigns, Orlando Jordan, along with smackdown GM Teddy Long. Whilst I know some of the superstars mentioned above may not of been on the active WWE roster when the game was released, Teddy Long was smackdown GM, however Kurt Angle takes this role on the game, alos the Rock (many peoples favourites is not a rostered character in fact a legend this time round.)
Season mode is the main single player mode, yet it fails to deliver. Where as in previous WWE titles the path you take through the season could vary, this time you have one set route give or take a couple of events. The season mode is a massive let down in this game, you can no longer play as the legends trough season mode either. THQ have added a new feature to the single player mode on the game and that is the challenge mode, completing challenges in the challenge mode gives you extra cash to buy things from the shopzone such as Legends (Bret Hart, Brutus Beefcake, The Rock, Mankind, Legion of Doom, Andre The Giant, Rowdy Roddy Piper and a few others), arenas, diva loading screens along with a few other things.
Create a Pay Per View returns but is pointless, in smackdown 2 you got to see the buy rate of your PPV so would attempt to make a better PPV to beat it that no longer happens, also create a belt which you use your smackdown dollars to buy and create your own WWE belt which you can have your wrestlers wrestle for at your PPV's (so there is a little point to the PPV's).
Create a wrestler is here as usual and seems to be better than usual, but to be honest I never bother with this bit, howver I can see alot of potential in creating new wrestlers or indeed yourself.
As usual where this game excels is in the player Vs Player department and thats the only time now that I really play on the game now.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw to me was a huge let down, I own every game in the series, maybe it's the fact that this is the 6th title in less than 6 years and that th developers rushed it?
If you own Here Comes the Pain there is little point in buying this, if you feel you must own it look on Ebay or somewhere else where you can find a cheaper copy as It is not worth it's retail price.
Hopefully the next title won't be rushed and we'll get a great WWE game again.