Years ago, a video game made by WWE called “WWF SmackDown” became a household name. It seemed every time a new one would come out, people would flock to it.
Personally speaking, I probably played WWF SmackDown 2 for hours every day after school was over. Homework be damned!
It was so awesome during this time period. Eventually better versions of the game series came out. One of those versions, “SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth” really broke ground in the WWE game genre. While the “Just Bring It” version really changed how things were done, in that it was made to be more 3D based, Shut Your Mouth added more than anyone expected.
No one expected it to do so well. The critics claim it is still one of the most fun versions along with the “Here Comes The Pain” version. This is the first game that involved the Bra and Panties match for historians.
WWE Games really hid their stride however when “SmackDown vs Raw” started. Not only did the 3D base look even better, but the move-sets massively increased. The rosters also kept getting bigger and bigger.
Eventually the SvR series became THE game for WWE game critics, and to this day, all are still very good when played.
This is the series that introduced other match concepts that were popular in the past. And some that were in the late part of the SmackDown series. The issue with SvR to most, was that no one knew if they could get any better with the game. The story modes weren’t bad, but they weren’t impressive and ground breaking.
Also, the overall game didn’t feel like the greatest of fighting games. EA was putting out Fight Night all the time, and far surpassed THQ in the making of the WWE game series. While EA messes up a lot in games at times, they get gameplay right in many circumstances.
Fight Night has always been praised for its gameplay and fluid movements. To rival them, they had to improve. After going from late 2004 to 2011 with the SmackDown vs RAW series, THQ and WWE decided to rival the rest of the sports world.
They changed the name to simply “WWE”, then added the number for the following year. In the case of the first, we had WWE ’12. Randy Orton was the cover boy for the inaugural version . This was a take on all sports games having one or a few athletes on the cover with one simple name, along with the upcoming year.
For some, they did well in rivaling the sports games of the same year.
They rapidly improved the overall game did THQ, but by making the overall gameplay good, they removed several favorite match types. Many people loved the previous games for several reasons, but the several match types was the most common favorite among fans. This, along with the GM Mode of course. But let’s not get crazy.
Gamers were both outraged and excited about the new WWE series. It seemed that THQ was lazy with a lot of features while trying to improve the in-ring gameplay. No better example is in the game from this past year where they had a Special Guest Referee match, but the ref didn’t have a ref shirt.
Hilariously, in previous WWE games where a Special Guest Referee match was in place, a shirt was always on the person refereeing the match. So why could it not be this time around?
The reversal system became quite annoying to some when it came to the in-ring work. You couldn’t do anything if you were fast on the trigger. Online, it was almost impossible to do anything right in reversals.
It seemed THQ was experiencing some financial issues from bad business over the years, and as a result, closed up shop this past year. As a result, the WWE Game rights went to Take-Two Interactive. Who famously are known in the sports world by their sports division known as “2K Sports”.
Gamers everywhere did a backflip in excitement. Because 2K Sports really knew how to do things right when it came to games. There are some who still play the last NFL game they developed years ago. It was so in depth for it’s time, that EA is just now catching up to some of the features it had in it.
NBA 2K along with MLB 2K were considered great by fans over long periods too. But 2K has also done entertainment games well on top of that.
Games such as Max Payne, BioShock, Red Dead Redemption, L.A Noire, Spec Ops: The Line, and Grand Theft Audo were done by Take-Two. So to say they cannot work on the entertainment side would be inaccurate. As they have surely proved they can.
In addition to that, they are very in depth on their sports games. They make the details of the game a high priority. Meaning yes, ref shirts will be there this time. On top of this, they are creating an all new gameplay.
Like the last few, the move-sets will be vastly improved. But not only that, we will experience a far more real game from the start of it.
The look of the wrestlers will be a noticeable difference. To some, it may seem too high grade game.
To others, it’ll feel like watching it on TV. If you can think of how players are created in the NBA or MLB games, you can pretty much assume how the wrestlers will be done. Early game-play pictures indicate that 2K outdid themselves on the look of the WWE talent within the game.
Like the last few WWE games, there will be a gimmick with this version too. Instead of going to the past Attitude Era, it seems they have decided to go old school 80’s/Early 90’s style. Randy Savage is already confirmed for the game. Ultimate Warrior is confirmed to be playable only by pre-order.
There is a rumor that they would like to get the NWO in the game. This would bring Kevin Nash back and bring in Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan. Hall would make sense, but I’m not sure if they’ll give Hogan the nod. So this could be a false rumor.
Scott Hall is quite popular and has been wanted in the game for a while by fans. He was a great singles star before joining the NWO, so it would be moronic to think he couldn’t be in there as a stand-alone, Razer Ramon.
Of course Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold are in the game as we know they would be.
The full roster will not be revealed most likely until Summerslam time however. Sorry for the wait. But what I can tell you is what I know, in that gimmick wise we can expect them to give us period before the
Attitude Era, known to many wrestling historians as the first WWE PG movement.
This means that stories will be focused on past events like before. So if Hogan is in the game, could a Mega-Powers story be involved? Maybe so.
Yokozuna could be in the game with Mr. Fuji. Andre the Giant could be along with Bobby Heenan.
I could see Michaels in his early days with his partner Marty Jannetty.
Bob Backlund, Dynamite Kid, Sid Vicious/Justice, Captain Lou, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, Sr., Demolition, Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy, Doink, Lex Lugar, Kamala, Curt Hennig, Brutus Beefcake, George Steele, Iron Sheik, etc. are all possible names.
While none of those people are confirmed of course, if 2K goes with the rumored idea, I’d expect all the people mentioned to be involved among others.
On top of this, they have brought back GM Mode and kept the Universe mode. Making the best of both worlds for this gamer.
If it couldn’t get better, the move-sets are deeper and they are allowing certain finishers like Ryback’s and John Cena’s to finish off two people at a time like they have done in real life. The OMG moments are back with more cool moments.
Senior WWE Game Developer Bryan Williams said, “I, honestly, in my heart of hearts, think this is most complete wrestling game I’ve had the honor of working on”.
Obviously he wants to sell the game and will do whatever he can to do so. But the man has worked on several WWE games. So if this is the best, can we really afford to not be excited?
Unfortunately, because 2K got the rights so late, the WWE game will only be available on the current consoles. I’d expect them to add the next version to the Next-Gen consol. Playstation 4 may allow you to play the PS3 version of the game. However the X-Box One will not allow any previous X-Box game to be used on it, even Halo.
They could possibly have it available for Next Gen consoles near April, but that is not confirmed sadly.
While we can speculate all day on what we hope will be in the game, we will have to wait. But knowing what we do know however, I think it’s a safe bet to say we could be getting the best Wrestling game ever made come this October. I fancy myself an Autumn for sure.
But what do you think? What do you want the game to feature? And who do you want in the game? Let me know in the comment section below.
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