Franchise D-Generation!
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports
Genre: Sports/Simulation
Release Date: 18 November, 2014
Platform: PS4(reviewed), PS3, Xbox One, XBox 360
Price: ₹2499 (PS3, X360), ₹2999 (PS4) ₹2,781 (XB1)[divider]
When 2K Sports asked us to wait for an entire month for the next gen breed of the annual WWE game that was already out on old gen, it got me interested. What was it trying to do next? Is it taking WWE to a massively nerve wrecking, sweat breaking stage of showmanship? Or is it the next level of raw wrestling, taking notes from UFC’s brilliant physics system? For a lot of reasons, WWE gets the same nod in the society like gaming. It is not sports, well hell yes it is, what’s wrong with you?! And my love for this so called drama saga is as strong as my faith on the LOL event aired on ESPN. And so when I first saw the WWE 2K15 gameplay reveal trailer on a forum, Kid Rock slamming the lyrics of Bawitdaba as Hulkomania tore his shirt apart, it got me jumping and hissing. I badly wanted to beat the game before I could write a review for the same, and so here I am, on an awkward December day, telling you why you should think twice before buying WWE 2K15.
WWE 2K15 took a long time to reappear on the next gen consoles. Expectations were huge, and the result follows in this review. As soon as you step inside the menu screen of WWE 2K15, you are greeted by an impeccably confusing OST that features savvy country numbers and pop songs alongside the likes of Knife Party’s badass ‘Bonfire’ and Avenged Sevenfold’s loud ‘This Means War’. Turns out 2K likes its stars to curate music for their sports games, as Pharell William’s tragic OST for the otherwise glamorous NBA 2K15 gets rivaled by the John Cena curated WWE 2K15 soundtrack. I’ll eat my earlier words, WWE 2K15’s soundtrack is perhaps worse, as I repeatedly felt I was sitting next to a teen driving his new car for the first time and tuning in to whatever music he got on his CD. No wonder I can’t C him.
The menu and HUD of WWE 2K15 look very basic and doesn’t pose next generation colours at all. There’s a slight chance that the wrestler selection menu might hang your controller up for a short period of time in between matches. At times there is too much information on the menu HUD, especially when you are in a lobby with an online friend, even the most basic of tile placements lack aesthetics. WWE 2K15 made me use the Options button on my DS4 more than any game in the world, Start? Options, Ok? Options, Select? Options! Too freakin’ many options in life. And the most important thing about WWE 2K15 Online, don’t bother playing it. The combat system of WWE 2K15 rests on quick counters, open spaces left by the opponent, ready to be abused. With the lagged online experience, both you and your opponent may end up not reversing on those counter situations. Each move set responds in its own way, the lag merely kills the fun.
However, all these disheartening drawbacks will be all gone once you are inside a WWE match, fist fighting against an eternal rival, for that Heavy Weight Championship belt that can change the course of your rivalry. One of the high points of WWE 2K15 for next gen shows 2K’s expertise in presenting a match, just like a real match. Less generic faces and placards are showing up on this annual WWE game, as every entrance feels as epic as the real deal. Whether it’s Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson returning to a match in his hometown Miami, or The Undertaker going to toss someone out of his righteous Wrestlemania moment, every moment feels truly choreographed. With motion capture, the 3D artists actually morphed all the body movements and reflexive behaviors of all the top drawn wrestlers, making it little more immersive for the gamer.
WWE 2K15 isn’t the weekend game it used to be. The game is being redesigned every year to add more hit points to the overall body frame of the wrestler, and judging by 2K15, I’d say they’re moving in the right direction. The highlight of the transition is the early grapple and lock move that leads on to a round of Rock, Papers and Scissors between the two offenders. It is not a hardcore UFC move, but borrowed from the same title, the early grapple takes a massive toll on the opponent’s health if you can knock off all the three phases of grapple and hit. The first grapple is a matter of luck, but the next one is sheer skill. The action looks intense, thanks to some of the newly implemented moves and counters by each superstar, it looks to be a part of the same combat flow. Unless you are sprinting at each other and chest butt, or miss grapple points, continuously, yes these flaws take away the action immersion completely. There are minor timing errors in reversing a move, including a slow R2 prompt text that can disrupt the sweet flow of the match. Loads of new moves await you in 2K15, brand new apron DDTs, clothesline and suplexes with accurate impact.
Between all these points of high flying, opponent ramming, action, there is what we all hate the most – Quick Time Events. I still do not get it why does every single game, that we take up religiously, have to end this way. Don’t they trust us with our skill? Or is it the new way of leaving a memorable mark on a video game? Well, clearly, you don’t tell me how to Comeback as The Undertaker and by pressing a few buttons that you highlight. In a Royal Rumble match, to make it more interesting, WWE 2K15 pits 30 odd wrestlers against each other, abiding by RR rules (i.e. throw your opponent off the ring) and making the eliminating job degrees tougher than it actually is. Through a series of successful quick time events, you can either eliminate someone off the ring or save yourself from being eliminated. Whoever thought of putting a QTE in a 40-50 hour Royal Rumble Match has to be kidding me!!
The Roster is a personal problem that every WWE fan face every year, and my major concern has been with the Roster itself. Not only is the skill of superstars like Roman Reigns and Ryback a little beefed up than the usual, but there’s nothing about selecting a beast like Batista or Kane, in that case. Even though the likes of Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin make a return to the fray, it is the classic selection of wrestlers that kind of put me off, with only the Ultimate Warrior and Sting (bought through DLC) to choose from. Andre the Giant was a huge offering in WWE 2K14, and I was wronged to have expected at least The British Bulldog this time around.
Even in a forgettable WWE annual, there are some amazing clashes and moments, with the epic drama that WWE is most capable of churning. Thanks to the WWE Showcase, the story mode of reliving a famous WWE rivalry. If you are a kid from the ‘90s then you’re definitely going to love every bit of the D-Generation X breakdown between Shawn Michaels and his then best friend and partner Triple H. The story mode takes you through HBK’s return to the DX clan in 2002 and the ultimate betrayal living some of the high points of the story like the Summerslam Elimination Chamber and the Sledgehammer beat down by Triple H. The other side of WWE 2K15 Showcase features the grand rivalry between John Cena and CM Punk and the battle for the WWE professional contract extension. Through some grand events, WWE 2K15 captures the best of these two stories.
One of the key assets of this WWE is its character modeling and body motion/reaction capturing. Adding to the already real looking wrestler; is sweat and blood stains throughout the fight, and once you seep into those tiny details, you will enjoy every bit of the current gen boosted visuals. On the flip side, the faces of some of the wrestler look absolutely fake when in extreme closeup, Shawn Michaels and the old Chris Jericho that is.
2K Sports blew my brains off with the distinct and dramatic Career Mode in NBA 2K15, and wished the same would brace WWE 2K15, since drama meets its wrestling equivalent in WWE. But somehow, WWE 2K15’s Career Mode is one of the worst career modes I’ve ever played. Not only is the time taken from being a Mr. Nobody to being the ultimate fighter long, but it is also boring and your only source of motivation is a text/social media based news feeder covering your mentors like Triple H, William Regal and Vickie Guerrero. Gone are the epic brewing of rivalries and legend killer moments inside a 20 feet Hell in the Cell cage, and now you will jump from one event to another, wherein every match is analysed as per the tension you and your opponent created. The career mode is surely to fizz out in days, and you will be back thrashing a friend on a Friday evening.
WWE 2K15, till this far, may sound like a joke that needs to be immediately averted. But if you are without a wrestling game for your current gen console, I’d recommend purchasing WWE 2K15 purely for the visual thrills and robust body impact engine that WWE 2K15 brilliantly exhibits. In case you want to hold on till the most fascinating WWE is in the making, you may want to wait up a few more years, as the advancements in WWE 2K15 surely seems to carry on to the next 2-3 WWE titles. Wrestling on the next gen looks beautiful, and if you pair up with a skilled opponent, it can brew a party scene.
What’s iLL
– WWE Showcase
– Great Visuals
– Some gameplay advancements like early grapple
What’s Not
– Career Mode
– Soundtrack
– Online PVP
– Overall look
