WWE 2K26 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Games—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
#WWE #WWE2K26
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Showing posts with label Wrestling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wrestling. Show all posts
WWE 2K24 - Xbox Review
WWE 2K24 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2KGames—Microsoft Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Last year was a return to form for the long-running WWE 2K
series, and I’m happy to say that WWE 2K24 puts on another great performance.
A few years ago, the 2K series had a sort of midlife crisis,
with a couple of lackluster releases that had fans wondering where things had
gone wrong. Thankfully though, last year the studio managed to right the ship
and deliver an entertaining, hard-hitting experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.
For starters, the sheer amount of content here is
incredible. The modes include both online and single-player, scripted stories
and lots of freedom to create your own WWE landscape. From the more structured
standpoint, the Showcase mode is better than ever. Generally these follow a
person through the highs and lows of their career, but here wrestling fans get
a trip down memory lane with some of the biggest names and matches in history.
Here you wind up with a series of objectives to complete in each match. Sure,
you can roll out and just try to win, but the idea is to authentically recreate
how the match went, with highlights and specific moves that can sometimes
frustrate due to those requirements, but often thrill as well.
As great and nostalgic as the Showcase mode was, I spent a
ton of time in the MyRise mode. This is 2K’s heavily story-based mode (similar
to what we see in NBA 2K games), where you can take a male and female wrestler
of your creation through branching stories that lean into fictional ‘what if
WWE universes. While the scenarios are made up and deviate from the reality of
where the WWE is at now, the narrative still leans in heavily to the
established characters and histories that have occurred and makes the whole
experience more immersive. There’s some decent replay value to be had here too,
as you can make choices along the way that veer the story one way or the other.
It was also fun seeing past MyRise characters pop up (again, similar to NBA 2K)
that again just sort of added some familiar texture to the tale.
MyFaction is another matter altogether. It’s the microtransaction
part of the game (the 2K games tend to lean into these), and the format is the
familiar combination of ‘fantasy card collection’ and objectives-based gameplay
that serves as a play, collect, improve gameplay loop. This is never really my
favorite mode, but there’s some fun to be had there as you build up and collect
better versions of wrestlers here. I am not one to spend actual money on the
virtual packs of cards, but I know this mode has its fans.
MyGM feels a lot like last season structurally, but some of
the quality-of-life updates are appreciated and this feeling of trying to build
your own roster to create a better brand than your competitors is entertaining.
There’s still a decent amount of administrative grind to be had here, but
improvements to how contracts are handled and roster tweaking is certainly
welcomed.
Universe Mode returns as well (lacking the My naming
convention), and man – this is fun. It’s such a massive sandbox of options as
you create all sorts of insane scenarios using both real and created / imported
wrestlers, both past and present. This is a mode that’s incredibly easy to lose
hours of your life into, though it perhaps has seen the least amount of change
from last year’s release. There’s some new cutscenes and I enjoyed the new ‘Special
Referee’ sub-mode (which shows up in some other places as well), but there’s
still a lot to do here.
So outside of all of these modes, how does the game play?
Pretty well overall. I mean, the presentation is pretty top-notch with
authentic voicing and commentary and generally excellent visuals (though
clothing and long hair can get a bit floppy and weird at times). Most of the core
gameplay is the same as last year (which is a good thing given how much better
it was than the prior couple of years), with strikes and slams feeling
authentic and appropriately weighty. There’s loads of accessibility options that
let you rapidly press buttons or hold on, choose mashing versus timing-based
mini-games to break out of pins or escape submission attempts.
That’s not to say there’s nothing new sprinkled into the gameplay itself. There’s the aforementioned Guest Referee that may favor one player versus the other (until they tip their hand too many times and get yanked from the match), a new mini-game where you are trading strikes with your opponent that feels like something you’d see out of an actual match and the ability to store up three finishes for a sort of ‘super attack’ that launches all of the finishers back-to-back to try and close down the match. There’s even a new type of match, which is really just an alternate version of a submission or out of the ring game, but the coffin match that characters like Kane and the Undertaker made famous has been introduced.
There were a few unfortunate crashes, a couple of times where servers were unavailable (which kicked me mid-game to boot), some glitchy fine detail visuals and a handful of frustrating match objectives that sometimes took the shine off of WWE 2K24. These however, were few and far between and certainly the overall package is an impressive one that fight and wrestling fans should enjoy for many hours of play.
Score: 8.5 / 10
AEW Fight Forever - PS5 Review
AEW Fight Forever by developer Yuke's and publisher THQ Nordic—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Jim with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
I
have been a fan of pro wrestling for almost my whole life from
watching WCW back in the day to WWE today and I would probably be a
fan of AEW if I got the channels to watch it on TV. I know enough of
the AEW roster to want to play this game though and I was a fan of
Yuke's past work on the WWE games.
AEW Fight Forever is an
arcade-style game meaning it's fast-paced and normal matches can be
short with most lasting less than 5 minutes. Fight Forever has a
handful of exhibition matches where you can play against a computer
or another player sitting next to you. These matches are 1 on 1
normal matches, lights out matches, and falls count anywhere matches.
Then there's 2 on 2 tag matches that are normal matches only. There
is no option to do a tornado tag match. With a 3-way match, again you
have normal matches only with no DQ. Four-way match, again normal
with no DQ. Casino Battle Royale is a 21-man take on the Royale
Rumble match. I did like the Casino Battle Royale. When I entered my
first one in Road to elite mode I entered at number two and I didn't
think I would win. I ended up winning lasting over 20 minutes!
Switching things up to the more extreme match types. My favorite being the Exploding barbed wire matches where the rope around the ring is barbed wire and set to explode after a set number of minutes that damages both competitors. I loved how brutal this match could be, especially when you push the other wrestler into the barbed wire and it explodes on them dealing big damage. Then there are Ladder matches that are 1 on 1 only in exhibition mode. There are no DQs in this type of match so I was able to use weapons and not just the ladder but I also had fun doing moves off the top of the ladder. To win this match I had to climb the ladder and grab what was hanging above it by mashing the button it shows.
There are also Mini-games I started with a few unlocked and I unlocked more by playing Road to Elite mode. I honestly didn't care for the mini-games. I really didn't like the baseball mini-games where I had to hit a wrestler dressed up as a baseball that his partner throws. I was winning by a bit but every throw I did as a pitcher the computer player ended up with a home-run. That mini-game was also way too long. So far I have not found a mini-game that I did like. And lastly, there is training. Training is a good place to start for learning how to play.
For some reason in Road to Elite mode there is a 3-way ladder match, and 1 on-3 gauntlet matches, but there are no options for these in exhibition. It seems kind of odd to do something like that. Why have them in one part of the game and not the other? There are also ranked casual, and private online matches if you would like to play with someone random or with a friend.
I'll describe a match for you. Firstly there are no health bars, just a momentum bar at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes after taking a hit a damage icon will show up showing what part of the body is hurt. As I land moves my momentum bar will rise and getting hit will lower it. Once it fills up I can use a signature move by getting close and hitting a button on the d-pad or by grappling and pressing any button on the d-pad. I could do this more than once if I wished but one hit and the momentum bar will lower and I will lose the chance to do a signature or finisher. To use a finisher the wrestler must taunt using the right stick by pressing in any direction. Once I do this the wrestler will be in special mode and you can use your finisher the same way you do with the signature but with a flick of the right stick. I can do this once and your momentum will drop back down, but you will do massive damage to your opponent. I can then rebuild the momentum bar if an opponent kicks out of a pin. I am glad that pulling off signatures and finishers is easy as some games make it way too hard to do special moves. The one thing I didn't care for is using the R1 and L1 buttons to reverse a move. R1 is used to block a punch or kick while L1 lets me block a grapple. Why use two different buttons? It isn't fun trying to press the right buttons at the right time. And then when needing to kick out of a pin or submission I have to mash buttons. I don't like button mashing in my games and doing this made it way too hard to kick out for me and probably some other people too.
In
matches with no DQ, you will find lots of weapons from normal things
you would see in wrestling like steel chairs, tables, kendo sticks,
and so on. But there are also some wilder ones like a barbed wire
baseball bat that explodes when you hit someone which is my favorite
and a propane tank that you can throw and blow up on an opponent. The
exploding barbed wire match is especially brutal but I had a lot of
fun. In the more action-packed matches, I heard the crowd chant “holy
shit”. I found this amusing because in WWE2k23 they change it to
“holy crap”. There is also blood in this game and unlike WWE
there is more than just blood appearing on their foreheads. When I
hit someone with a barbed wire baseball bat for example they will
have blood on the part of their body I hit. I hit them on the head
and their face will become bloody. This also is the same for their
back and chests. Blood will also drip onto the ring mat and stay for
a short time before disappearing for both male and female wrestlers.
You can even do mixed matches in this game if you want a male to
fight a female.
The game's roster is decent with well-known
wrestlers from AEW like Chris Jericho, Christian Cage, CM Punk, Jeff
Hardy, Jon Moxley, and Sting to name a few. The Female wrestlers are
a little lacking though with only thirteen. You need to unlock Aubrey
Edwards so there's one less if you are just starting out. You get
some decent talent though with the likes of Abadon, DR. Britt Baker
D.M.D., Nyla Rose, Riho, and Thunder Rosa just to name a few of the
females. There has been one female DLC confirmed but it still feels
lacking. This brings up the fact that I do think the DLC is
overpriced at $12 for two wrestlers and two mini-games in each pack
while WWE gives you five wrestlers for $10. Maybe they should have
focused more on the wrestlers and not mini-games that tend not to be
a lot of fun.
The game features challenges for you to complete that will give you in-game money. There are daily, weekly, and normal challenges that you can compete in time just by playing. They kind of reminded me of the challenges in NHL 23's HUT mode, but these are easier to do such as just playing as a certain wrestler. You can also earn in-game money by just playing matches, so it's easy to rack up to unlock new things. You can unlock apparel for created wrestlers, poses for them, arena items for when you make an arena, new moves for your wrestlers, things for your wrestler's entrance like their movement and music, and lastly what the game calls 'More items' where you can unlock wrestlers like Cody Rhodes and Aubrey Edwards to use as a fighter. There are a few new attire items for some of the wrestlers you can buy. By playing Road to Elite you can unlock new things to well unlock again with in game cash.
It
is cool to see Cody in two games in one year. Where AEW has one up on
WWE you can play Cody's theme song Kingdom by Downstait in the menu
and while fighting. It was strange that WWE wouldn't let you pick
this for play in the menu, but maybe it had something to do with the
AEW game? I don't know?
My favorite mode in the game is the
career mode called Road to Elite. In it, you can use a created
wrestler and start his career in the AEW. This wrestler will work his
way up or use one of the other wrestlers in the game, but they cannot
be trained up in this mode unlike your created star. I played both
and I did enjoy using my own created wrestler. When starting you will
always start at the very first Double or Nothing and if a male is in
the Casino Battle Royale, as a female, you will start in a 4-way
match with some of the tougher opponents in the AEW.
I started with multiple wrestlers and each time I did I always started second. Either I have really bad luck or the game was designed this way. One of the nice things that I liked without knowing much about AEW that the game shows live-action clips of events and things that happened in AEW's short history. If I managed to win the Casino Battle Royale I would get a title shot at the next PPV. In-between events there were four turns to do things to train my wrestler. There are a few things to watch first and that was my energy. The lower it is the more likely I would get injured while working out or wrestling. If injured, I would have to take a turn to go to the hospital to get fixed up. The other thing I needed to watch for is my motivation. The higher the motivation is the more momentum I started with in a match. It also determined how many skill points I received when working out.
In the four turns you have in a week I could workout to earn skill points. Each city I went to has its own cuisine based on real life such as Philly cheesestake in Philadelphia. There is an option when starting for vegetarian meals only it has no impact on the game other than what you eat. Dining restores my wrestlers energy so it was good to do once in a while. I could also go out and sightsee to raise my motivation or depending on the city I'm in, do a meet and greet, press conference, or appear on a talk show. This would raise my motivation by one and earn a small amount of energy. While doing one of these there would be an event with other wrestlers and sometimes the dialog can be a bit funny. I heard; "At one time breaking the forth-wall," and another time mentioning smelling what Dwayne is cooking. Lastly, doing a mini-game for extra money and skill points, but if I lost I got nothing. Again I am not sure why they wasted time on these mini-games when Yukes could have used that time for other things like glitch fixes. After a few weeks I will be able to appear on AEW Dark and AEW Rampage matches once a week for extra money and skill points.
Sometimes you get your picture taken with the wrestler for some reason. I never really understood this but you can go back and look at them from the menu. Once your four turns are up you will have a match on Dynamite or a PPV. If you are using a created wrestler you can use your skill points to make your signatures and finishers stronger, movement speed faster, stronger arms that let you deal more damage with strikes, leg strength for stronger kicks, and so on. You can also spend your skill points on perks that let you gain momentum in different ways like landing the first hit!
Money
in this mode is different than the normal money you get and is for
this mode only. This money can be used to do things like heal without
going to the hospital, gain extra skill points, gain some energy, or
even buy and unlock a shirt from the city you are in. Now even though
I did like this mode it ended way too soon lasting only a few hours
and it is over. But luckily a few different things can happen so
replaying it might be fun now and then. One thing that did bug me was
Matt Hardy is in this mode, but to use him he is blocked behind a
paywall unless you pre-ordered the game. If you didn't then he is $5.
Why put him in this game mode where it seems like a tease that there
might be a way to unlock him but you can't?
Graphically
the game isn't as powerful as WWE but it matches it's arcade style of
game-play. Wrestlers entrances are short but one cool thing I got to
do during entrances is by pressing one of the four buttons I could
set off pyro and smoke! A cool touch if I do say so, but some
entrances do zoom in to close to the wrestlers and you can't see any
of the pyro.
Overall the game is fun for a while but it lacks
anything to keep me hooked for a long time. It took a few tries to
get used to the game, but after I did I found it way too easy even on
a harder difficulty. I do hear a new match type is being added for
free and that's nice. I do want to try this Stadium Stampede match
which puts 30 wrestlers in one Stadium to duke it out and the last
man or woman standing is the winner all while the area you can fight
in shrinks in size.
Hopefully, they will keep adding new match types and maybe expand on Road to Elite mode but this is AEW's first game and it is a fun arcade-style fighter that is enjoyable for a while. I do hope they make another AEW and make it even better next time but for this one, I do feel it was rushed as my time with the game has not been perfect with lots of glitches and the worst of them seeing wrestlers falling right through the ring and getting stuck both players and computer players with no way out other than quitting the match or restarting the game.
Score: 7.5 / 10
WWE 2K23 Review
WWE 2K23 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Games-Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Last year saw the WWE 2K series bounce back after a rough
outing with its 2K20 release. It was an acknowledgement from 2K Games that in
taking another year to make sure they got it right, that there was plenty of
room for improvement. This year’s release of WWE 2K23 builds upon that
foundation from last year’s iteration and maintains or improves the game in
just about every way possible. Last year the team pushed a theme of how 2K22
hit different, and this year the team of “Even Stronger” resonates just as
well.
First of all, WWE 2K23 does what the series always seems to –
which is to provide a ton of modes and options. That has almost never been an
issue, and Visual Concepts continues to provide that here in the latest
release. What is even more impressive however, is how the various modes have
even more depth than last year. I spent a ton of hours going through the myriad
modes and options in 2K22, and it’s clear to me that I’ll have even more great
content to work through in WWE 2K23 well after this review has gone live.
Let’s start with the cover star, John Cena. Several years
ago WWE began to provide a ‘Showcase’ feature that let us get to know wrestlers
like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rey Mysterio better, putting you in their shoes
(boots, colorful outfits, you get the idea) and play through some of their biggest
matches ever. The script gets flipped a bit this year though, because instead
of focusing on the star wrestler’s biggest wins and pulling their moves off,
you are facing John Cena as he relives some of his biggest losses.
Simply put, I love this approach for a few reasons. One, it’s
a completely fresh take on things, as Cena is more focused on the match, the
crowds, the environments and not just tooting his own horn throughout. Sure,
some of those losses happened in dubious ways (I mean, that’s a hallmark of the
WWE), but it’s still nice to see a star willing to talk about failure and not
just triumph. More than that, from a gameplay perspective, it’s just a lot more
fun to get to play as different wrestlers. You might not get quite as good with
that single wrestler in this scenario, but it’s a lot less of a grind and far
more interesting how you get to switch it up every match.
Showcase is really all about telling the story of the chosen
wrestler – in this case John Cena. For those new to the mode, it not only sets
up the biggest matches – which you still want to win, but it intersperses the
fights with a series of objectives. You might be asked to pull off a signature
move in a specific location, or to pull off a series of light combo strikes, something
specific to that match that actually happened. You can of course choose not to,
but you won’t get ‘full credit’ and unlock all of the available rewards. One aspect
of this mode that I’ve always enjoyed is how many times, these specific
objectives set up a scripted scene that sees the wrestlers recreating what
actually happened in the match, but then fading from the game video to replace
it with actual footage from the fight. It’s always been a slick presentation
feature, and it has only gotten smoother transitioning from archival footage to
gameplay in WWE 2K23.
My one quibble with this year’s iteration of the Showcase
mode is that there’s less of a documentary style feel to it than years past.
John Cena’s very comfortable talking in front of the microphone by now, and he
is given ample space to describe why a match was important to him in between matches
as he reflects on his career. It’s engaging to hear, but in the past we’ve had
the featured athletes adding commentary during the fight, so it’s not just the
announcers and the cut scenes. It’s still an improved mode overall, but that’s
one design change I don’t love, as I’d have enjoyed hearing more of Cena’s
thoughts during the matches.
Another mode to call out due to his massive improvement is
MyGM. This mode was okay last year, but this year it’s seen a lot of small
tweaks that have seriously added to the depth here. Probably the biggest change
is that instead of watching your story end after a single season, it’s more like
an NBA 2K game in that you can run multiple seasons and try to cap them off
with an induction into the Hall of Fame. I still find it a bit odd that there’s
no online feature (or if there is, I certainly didn’t find it). While playing
this mode with friends on a couch would probably be the ideal method, that’s
just not an option available to everyone and I could see that as a bit of a
letdown for some players.
There’s plenty of other modes, all of which have received various tweaks. You can wrestle online, take on some AI opponents, and participate in. The most open-ended mode is probably Universe, which is a sort of sandbox feature for diehard fans to create the WWE world the way they see fit. MyFACTION is the mix of fantasy sports / card collection that seems to be a monetization staple of every sports game that comes out anymore. You pull wrestlers from packs of cards, you acquire consumable items to upgrade them or extend the number of matches they can participate in, things of that nature. You then take your stable of wrestlers (both male and female) into various settings called ‘towers’ that pit your wrestlers against a variety of challenges.
Completing these
challenges earns you some currency that you can use to purchase more packs of
cards. Of course, it’s a bit of a grind and you can always accelerate the
process by spending more real money on the VC (virtual currency) and buy more
packs that way. This mode’s got a few new flavors of challenge baked in there,
and it’s always fun pulling a higher tier wrestler that you like, but I’ve
never found it to be the most compelling mode and this year’s tweaks didn’t
change that for me personally.
That being said, MyRISE is still where I have the vast
majority of my fun. Say what you will about annual releases, microtransactions
and all of the other things naysayers ding the 2K games for, I get a ton of
enjoyment out of these RPG-like modes, and that holds true in WWE 2K23 as well.
There’s been a shift in recent years to include female wrestlers into the mix,
but it’s been a somewhat bumpy transition. At one point in the series, the divas
felt simply bolted on. Then they tried to do a single story involving both male
and female wrestlers in the disastrous 2K20 outing. Last year, they offered male
and female careers, but they were essentially the same thing. I played as a ‘good
person’ with one and a ‘heel’ with the other just to see some differences in
there, but they were pretty miniscule.
WWE 2K23 offers two very distinct storylines, fully voiced
options, essentially creating two stories to play through on your way to a (hopefully)
Hall of Fame career. You play matches, make choices (which offers solid replay
value for either of the two paths if you’re so inclined to see how the stories
could play out differently) and continue to upgrade your superstars with new moves
and abilities. The storylines on either path in MyRISE is pretty well-done, and
I easily spent the bulk of my time here. It’s also worth noting that you can
(finally) create a superstar and properly import them into this mode. I’m sure
that I’ve been hardly alone in being annoyed by going through all of this work
to create a specifically stylized character only to find out I have to do it
all over again once I fired up my career mode, because there was no way to
import them. That always seemed like a rather silly oversight and I’m glad to
see that’s been remedied.
Last but not least, a bevy of modes and features are all
well and good, but they don’t mean a whole lot if the in-ring action doesn’t deliver.
Thankfully after the rough outing of 2K20, the developers spent a lot of time
refining the controls and collision detection in last year’s release. As a
result, I’d describe the gameplay of WWE 2K23 as more of a refinement than
anything else. There’s a new option for kicking out of pins if you choose to
use it (flicking the stick up during a sort of timed minigame as opposed to
mashing a single button repeatedly). I personally use this method now myself,
as it just feels slightly better than the previous button-mash method.
Otherwise, the game’s controls are pretty similar to last year.
One on one fights still handle better than mass melees, but
that’s some of the product’s charm I suppose as well. Still, there are times
opponent selection or even hit detection during canned moves can look and feel
a bit dodgy. Also, the game is not entirely bug-free.While nothing like what
released a few years ago, I did have a couple of odd instances where things
just did not seem to collide properly and wrestlers were doing moves against thin
air instead of one another, but I can count the number of times that occurred
for me on one hand. Match types from past years are here, but with the addition
of a cool new one called WarGames, which I had a lot of fun with as well.
Summary
WWE 2K23 is the best in the series, and it avoids any major
missteps along the way. Some of the modes received much improved death, while
gameplay tweaks are minor but progressive. MyRISE is still the best mode in WWE
2K23, and I have and will likely continue to sink a ton of hours into it. It’s
great to see WWE 2K23 building upon the solid foundation from last year and
gives ample hope that the series will continue to shine.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds - XB1 Review
WWE 2K Battlegrounds by developer Saber Interactive and publisher 2K Games—Microsoft Xbox One Review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
WWE 2K Battlegrounds does exactly what it sets out to do: provide some quick, easy wrestling fun. While clearly lacking the depth and production values of the core WWE series, Battlegrounds is accessible and entertaining – and I am generally good with that, despite a handful of shortcomings.
I’ve been a big fan of the mains WWE series for years now. I thought 2K17 and 18 were both a good deal of fun, even if they were at times frustrating and unapproachable (seriously, those Royal Rumble storyline missions just got on my every… last… nerve…). Then 2k19 came out, and it was an unmitigated disaster. The bugs were numerous, the polish was missing and the series lost a ton of goodwill with its fans last year. That change in developers went poorly, to say the least.
When I heard that 2K Games would be bringing on Sabre Interactive to take the NBA 2k Playgrounds approach to the WWE universe, I was curious to see how it would go – but the potential was evident to me immediately. The development team took a very similar approach to WWE in cartoony, yet recognizable characters with over-the-top antics in unusual venues. Just like Playgrounds is a spiritual callback to arcade basketball titles like NBA Jam, WWE 2K Battlegrounds struck similar notes for me as the old Midway Wrestling titles I played back in the arcade years ago.
The mainline WWE games have for years been getting a bit more cumbersome in their control schemes as they try to do a bit too much of everything. There are so many different wrestlers and combat styles that trying to merge punching, grappling, weapons and high-flying acrobatics in a single system made the series very unfriendly for newcomers. Here the opposite is true. While there are a handful of different wrestling styles to be had here, from powerhouses to brawlers to technicians and more, they are all functionally pretty similar. Their move sets have variety from one another, but the general way of pulling them off is the same from wrestler to wrestler. Sure, a powerhouse is going to have an easier time picking someone up and chucking them, but your acrobatic little guys can do that too. I will say that I felt as though the gameplay favored the big bruisers by and large. I just had an easier time with them when the bodies started colliding.
The WWE is known for having some pretty out-there stories and over-the-top characters, but Battlegrounds definitely takes that a step or ten further. You can throw your opponents up into the air and deliver completely unrealistic but visually exciting double uppercuts to your opponent’s body. You can pick them up and toss them into the waiting mouth of a nearby alligator to be chewed on. You can take control of a ram and use it to enter the ring and attack your opponents (yup, you read that right). Even the weapons range from typical WWE fare (kendo sticks and metal folding chairs) to slightly more ridiculous (motorcycles that you pull out from under the apron, or large inflatable hammers that make squeaky sounds when they strike someone). Gone are the fully voice acted motion cutscenes the primary series has used in recent years, and instead we have a comic book style storyboard at certain points in the campaign mode.
This zany style is evident in the brightly colored visuals and squat, chunky character models. Similar to NBA Playgrounds, I am amazed how easily recognizable stars from the WWE are here, because of the overly exaggerated cartoon appearance they have here. If anything, I think they’re easier to recognize here than in NBA Playgrounds, in part because in the NBA players are generally wearing the same thing – shorts and shirts that are somewhat uniform. Here you have everything from distinctive hairstyles to masks and costumes that reflect the wrestlers’ real-life counterparts. While the characters look okay, the animations can get a bit weird at times, especially with weapons (I got motorcycles hung up oddly on the ropes a couple of times, and there were times collisions didn’t actually look like they were… well, colliding). The action is hard-hitting and fast, and the visuals and sound effects support that. Even Jerry Lawler’s familiar voice is part of the commentary - though many of his quick remarks get repetitive somewhat quickly, which is always a problem in sports games but even more evident in something like this where there is a lot less diversity in the action than simulation titles.
The campaign mode deserves credit for actually being pretty lengthy. I sunk some good time in during the first night, several hours, and got through about a third of what it has to offer. I think it took me about two fairly solid days of playing to get through it all. It is smartly designed, with different types of matches and changing up which wrestlers you use along the way at regular intervals to change up the pacing a bit. You unlock new power-ups (more on that in a minute) that you can equip along the way as well, which helps keep things somewhat fresher. However, with all of that being said, I really found myself doing largely the same thing in match one hundred as I was doing in match three.
There is a bit of depth to the wrestling, but with the accessibility comes some tradeoff as over time everything begins to feel somewhat same-y. Progression also is not nearly as interesting with the lack of a true career mode, and while the story told in campaign is fine, it’s not going to be remembered as a great one either. You earn some currency as you play, which is nice because you have the option to unlock additional wrestlers. It’s great to see so many classics such as Jake the Snake or Andre the Giant or Undertaker hitting the mat with current wrestlers – and as long as you have the patience to grind for the currency, you can unlock the ones you want. With a roster of more than seventy available overall, that is probably the biggest carrot being dangled in terms of progression. This adds a major amount of grinding if you plan to unlock all of them, but if you only have your heart set on some specific ones? That happened pretty organically for me. Still, given the $40 price of the game, the microtransactions as an option will likely still rub people the wrong way. I appreciate that the game is discounted compared to the usual sixty dollar price tag we see for a main WWe title, but it still feels like it could be about ten dollars cheaper on launch given the compromises made along the way.
There are options for creating characters and battlegrounds, but neither one really seemed all that robust. They get the job done, but there are just not a ton of options out there. It probably is more than enough for the quick pick-up-and-play mentality, compared to the more robust character creations found in mainline WWE titles that see your created character through a lengthy career mode.
Summary
WWE 2K Battlegrounds deserves credit for being the most fun a WWE game has been in a couple of years, but for better and for worse, it is clearly a budget title that cuts corners on depth as it attempts to provide a more arcade-like experience. It generally works, as Battlegrounds is fun in bursts of quick play – especially with friends, but for those with a career mode / progression itch, there’s a good chance that this title will leave you wanting for more. If you have expectations set appropriately, WWE 2K Battlegrounds is entertaining, though it may not have a lot of staying power beyond the first few weeks you get it.
Score: 7 / 10
Smackdown vs Raw 2010 - PlayStation 3 Review
For a sports title this old, I figure there is little reason to go ahead and do a full on review of it. Still, I picked it up basically for free awhile back and gave it a try. I will come right out and say I am not the designated market for this game. I haven't watched wrestling since I was a kid and Randy Macho Man Savage was a big deal. I always was a sucker for the actual wrestling titles on older systems like the NES then - like Pro Wrestling or Tecmo Wrestling. I also plunked a ton of quarters into an arcade cabinet and performed more than my share of DDT's with Jake the Snake.
Still, I believe my last wrestling game was probably 2005 or 2006 - so it had been awhile. The graphics on here were decent. Animations looked pretty well, and I was able to recognize quite a few of the wrestlers based on their appearances, so that was good. I did notice a ton of clipping though, where movement around the edges of the ring or with other wrestlers where things just did not look right in the middle of the action. Also the fans were pretty bland in the background.
There is a lot of voice work to be had here, though none of it struck me as particularly bad or good. It lent context to the action for the most part, whether it was coming from an announcer or a wrestler, but it never struck me as particularly moving either. It was interesting that I had not played a wrestling game in ages, but it took me a few minutes was all to familirize myself with the basics. That said, there is definitely some nuance to be had here and I got considerably better as I figured out how to best manipulate the controls and situation. That said? My hands were pretty tired from button mashing at times, which has long been a staple of wrestling games to help determine if you are going to pull off your grapple instead of your opponent. I usually won those moments, but I had some cramped hands at times too.
The best thing this game has going for it is a variety of modes. I had fun creating characters, uploading content, customizing your appearance, creating stories and plenty more. My favorite mode was probably taking my created character through the story mode, but i got frustrated with it as well. There were sometimes criteria to be met before moving on that was just frustrating in its difficulty, and I finally quit because I reached a part where I needed to KO an opponent using my special move. Problem is, I had a couple, and it had to be a particular special move, which would just never trigger.
All in all, the game can be had pretty cheaply now, and if you enjoy wrestling titles this one is pretty good, though it is a few years out and there are probably better, newer versions to try.
Still, I believe my last wrestling game was probably 2005 or 2006 - so it had been awhile. The graphics on here were decent. Animations looked pretty well, and I was able to recognize quite a few of the wrestlers based on their appearances, so that was good. I did notice a ton of clipping though, where movement around the edges of the ring or with other wrestlers where things just did not look right in the middle of the action. Also the fans were pretty bland in the background.
There is a lot of voice work to be had here, though none of it struck me as particularly bad or good. It lent context to the action for the most part, whether it was coming from an announcer or a wrestler, but it never struck me as particularly moving either. It was interesting that I had not played a wrestling game in ages, but it took me a few minutes was all to familirize myself with the basics. That said, there is definitely some nuance to be had here and I got considerably better as I figured out how to best manipulate the controls and situation. That said? My hands were pretty tired from button mashing at times, which has long been a staple of wrestling games to help determine if you are going to pull off your grapple instead of your opponent. I usually won those moments, but I had some cramped hands at times too.
The best thing this game has going for it is a variety of modes. I had fun creating characters, uploading content, customizing your appearance, creating stories and plenty more. My favorite mode was probably taking my created character through the story mode, but i got frustrated with it as well. There were sometimes criteria to be met before moving on that was just frustrating in its difficulty, and I finally quit because I reached a part where I needed to KO an opponent using my special move. Problem is, I had a couple, and it had to be a particular special move, which would just never trigger.
All in all, the game can be had pretty cheaply now, and if you enjoy wrestling titles this one is pretty good, though it is a few years out and there are probably better, newer versions to try.
