Not much has changed in the last couple of years and what has may be changed in the wrong direction.
The first of the aforementioned problems involved the targetting system. If you're fighting only one opponent you're okay in a match. Fight two or more and you wind up hitting the opponent you don't want to hit if they're close together. For instance you might want to hit a standing opponent when you hit the one on the ground. I noticed this especially in a ladder match against two opponents and this is quite frustrating. Given that this is the fourth edition of this game for X-box 360, I would expect this problem to have been fixed by now. In fact I have this to be considerably worse than other years.
The second issue I have with the game is the character creation. I feel considerably this year's version is much more limited than other years. They may have, and I really can't say, been additions to the number of items but the fact is you are limited in the number of things you can have your wrestler wear. I know that WWE superstars don't necessarily wear a lot of layers, but if you are trying to go for a very specific look that could involve layers, you have to compromise. Also they have yet to resolve the clipping issue with items. Or better put, if you use certain items together such as certain coats or pants and boots, you get the tops of the boots poking out of the coat or pants. This is an issue that needs resolving.
My third problem with the game involves the lack of prerecorded music for created superstar's entrances as there have been in previous editions. Certainly you can use your own music if you have it loaded onto your console but if you haven't done that or what music you have is in an inaccessibly format, you have to rely on the entrance music of unlocked superstars. This is is kind of disappointing.
With all of that said, if you've played other years there isn't much change. The combat quickly becomes repetitive but the graphics look relatively good. It's nice to see that the health bar has been replaced by seeing your superstar get weaker and weaker or more winded as the match progresses and as he or she takes damage. I haven't explored the new story creator a whole lot but it seems that it will be good so far; if a little tedious if you don't have a keyboard hooked up.