WWE 2K15 (6)

Another year, another leap over the top rope and into the ring with a new WWE game. But this year is supposed to be different. The teething period is over, and with long-time developer Yukes now partnered properly with 2K Games, the WWE franchise has a chance to shine again as it marries legacy with new-gen. And much like the actual TV show product, it’s a complete mess, a stale product that has no idea how to innovate and taps out before it can even reach the main event.

Instead, we’ve got a game that falls flat as an ugly transitional title between old and current-gen versions. WWE 2K15 will feel familiar to anyone who has invested time in any of the previous games that developer Yukes has had a hand in. You’re still squaring off with an opponent, utilising a selection of strikes, grapples, submissions and extreme rules in order to pummel your competition into a concussion that will keep them down for several seconds so that you can pin them and win the match.

WWE 2K15 (4)

To get into the swing of things, involves using a new grapple mini-game, that works like Rock-Paper-Scissors, if such a game were on anabolic steroids. From there, players can chain wrestle into various moves, recreating the aspect of the WWE product where wrasslers feel one another out as they court fists and leg-locks in a grotesque peacock display of alpha male machismo.

It’s a great idea, that should work well with the game. Except it doesn’t.

WWE 2K15 (3)

Instead, it quickly becomes a grating mini-game, offering no actual boosts to the game or any advantage to the wrestler who uses the mode properly. It quickly becomes a frustrating exercise and a hindrance to the flow of the game. One other new addition that does hold rather spectacularly however, is the stamina gauge.

It’s been said that a WWE superstar needs a thousand minutes of gym-time in order to last one minute in the ring. With this system in place, I can believe that. Now, your superstars expend proper energy in order to pull off death-defying slams and dives through the ropes. Smellin’ what the Rock is cookin’ takes up valuable energy, with wrestlers quickly tiring after performing a trio of German suplexes. And there’s a damn good reason for having this system in place.

Firstly, it prevents players from spamming attacks, and secondly, it helps build up momentum as superstars feed off of the crowd and get a second wind that allows them to drop a five knuckle shuffle on the faces of opponents. It gives WWE 2K15 the necessary amount of realism that it strives for, without crossing that line. Watch a player stagger back up to his feet, only to be hit by an RKO outta nowhere, is magical and in the right vein of where the franchise should be heading.

I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news!

WWE 2K15 (8)

And yes, the wrestlers look far, far better thanks to the extra grunt of console horses under the hood and 2K’s facial-scanning technology. But that all comes at a price. While John Cena, CM Punk, Bad News Barret and various other wrestlers look phenomenal, the same can’t be said for characters who haven’t been scanned in. Triple H’s current COO appearance looks uncanny, but his model from the feud with Shawn Michaels in the early 2000s looks a tad too eery. Vince McMahon looks like an automaton in a suit, while custom wrestlers veer towards the side of the uncanny valley.

Hustle, Loyalty and Respect

WWE 2K15 (5)

It’s a catch-22 situation. Yes, the you’ve got superstars that look like they’ve stepped out from the pay-per-view and onto your console. But when you create a contrast between cover stars and non-scanned wrestlers, the results look terrible. Brother. And then there are the glitches. So, so many damned glitches.

And this was after the 4.5gb patch. I’ve had numerous matches go nowhere thanks to a rival pacing the outside of the ring, unable to get in for who knows what reason. Limbs jerk and flail in a random spazz attack. Championship belts possessed by the ghosts of Eddie Guerrero and Owen Hart I assume, judging by how they hover in the air. Grapples time out thanks to the AI getting stuck in an animation loop. The excellence of execution, has yet to be found here.

And that extends to the matches themselves. While the current patch has made a difference, there are still some lingering bugs lurking under the ring.

Feed me more

WWE 2K15 (4)

Last year’s WWE 2K14 took a trip down memory lane, revisiting the great matches of Wrestlemanias past, like a wrasslin’-obsessed Charles Dickens Christmas Carol. It was a fantastic idea and mode, dripping in nostalgia that was complemented by archive footage and matches designed to emulate what had actually gone down those many years before. This year, the 2K Showcase mode focuses on two specific rivalries: John Cena vs CM punk and Triple H vs Shawn Michaels.

Whether you were a fan of Sweet Chin Music or you had bought into the cult of personality of CM Punk, there’s no denying the impact that those two rivalries created in the industry. They’re once again bookended by archival footage of the backstage slams, showdowns and Irish Whips that created those titanic contests between the best in the business, but they’re also bloated with unnecessary padding.

WWE 2K15 (2)

WWE Universe also returns, but its a former shadow of itself, much like Terry Funk every time he makes a comeback match. Rosters can be shuffled, new rivalries created and event cards set up for an evening of slams, but without any option to really create any stories, it feels like a hollow quick fix.

And then there’s MyCareer, WWE 2K15’s other new mode of note. You’re a fresh-faced rookie, a noob with muscles and a burning desire that is either athletes foot or ambition to go to the top. And you’re going to work your way up from the bottom. Unfortunately, the game mode has no intention to follow you upwards as it fails downwards.

Here comes the pain

WWE 2K15 (1)

There’s a monotonous slog that creates a sense of progression, with a lengthy grind that has few story highlights as you work yourself up from WWE’s development territory into shows such as NXT, Raw and main event pay-per-views. It takes hours and hours to get anywhere, as the mode does a terrible job in explaining itself. If there’s any one mode in the game that had me on the verge of locking a Cobra Clutch onto my TV, it had to be MyCareer.

But let’s say you’re not into that. Let’s say you just want to set up dream matches and throw a referee that vaguely resembles your boss through a table. You’re still able to have traditional matches, Extreme Rules bouts or a round of Hell In The Cell. I still think there are plenty enough options here. But looking to further specifiy what kind of match you want, results in a painfully poor selection that strips these events to a vanilla core.

WWE 2K15 (2)

At least when it came to creating a superstar, WWE games have always had a heavy hand in the options. But this year, the transition if felt more than ever with a stripped-down creation mode. You can only edit male superstars, with no options for Divas at all, showing just how little WWE thinks of that division.

WWE 2K15 (1)

The system is also slower than a Great Khali steel cage match, with loading screens popping up for every little part of the process. In fact, creating an entrance or a move-set is more detailed than creating an actual superstar. And all of these problems go even further, with the core gameplay not being up to standard either. Hit detection is poor, ringside commentary and wrestler information is clearly recycled and out of date. Matches just lack any sense of flow, due to the reversal system requiring a quicker snap than Owen Hart’s harness.

Take those problems online, and the problem with lag makes pulling off any near-escapes or reversals all but impossible.

WWE 2K15 (7)

Last Updated: December 12, 2014

WWE 2K15
WWE 2K15 is a slick product, but on closer examination it hides numerous problems and flaws. It’s the game of tomorrow with the problems of yesteryear, a transitional game between platforms that feels like very little care has gone into crafting the ultimate simulation in sports entertainment. And that’s the bottom line.
4.9
WWE 2K15 was reviewed on Xbox One
56 / 100

36 Comments

  1. Sad panda 🙁

    Reply

    • Lardus-Resident Perve

      December 12, 2014 at 13:16

      Extremely sad 🙁

      Reply

  2. Lardus-Resident Perve

    December 12, 2014 at 13:16

    Thanks for the review, Bad News Bonthuis indeed. I really like Career Mode – that is the reason I am still playing NBA2K14! With it not being good, a large patch and some of the other issues, I’ll give this a skip.

    Reply

  3. Raptor Rants A Lot

    December 12, 2014 at 13:19

    Unrealistic and over the top representation of men!

    Reply

    • boondocksaint87

      December 12, 2014 at 13:21

      That’s why only Darryn can review it

      Reply

      • Raptor Rants A Lot

        December 12, 2014 at 13:22

        lol

        Reply

    • Quo Vadis?

      December 12, 2014 at 13:29

      Agreed!

      Reply

    • CAE9872

      December 12, 2014 at 13:39

      MANKINI TIME!!!

      Reply

      • Spaffy

        December 12, 2014 at 13:40

        o_0

        Reply

      • Lord Chaos

        December 12, 2014 at 13:40

        And… Closing browser… 😛

        Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 12, 2014 at 13:41

      Speak for yourself. I have the adonis-like physique of a Bray Wyatt.

      Reply

      • Ryozuo

        January 5, 2015 at 18:24

        Lmfao! I was gonna give you a cookies but I don’t think that Adonis-like physique of a Wyatt is made by eating cookies

        Reply

    • RinceThis

      December 12, 2014 at 13:50

      GG!

      Reply

  4. Splooshypooh

    December 12, 2014 at 13:19

    You know, in SA this games score would be a pass? 33.3% being the passmark? 😛

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      December 12, 2014 at 13:21

      AND… Now it can get a job in “guvment”

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        December 12, 2014 at 13:32

        lol

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

        December 12, 2014 at 13:36

        VIVA

        Reply

      • Skyblue

        December 15, 2014 at 22:47

        I LOL’ed at “it”

        Reply

  5. RinceThis

    December 12, 2014 at 13:28

    4.9? Not 4.8? Fuck this review. I say Darryn was paid off.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 12, 2014 at 13:35

      EVERYONE HAS A PRICE FOR THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN! HAHAHAHAHA!

      Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      December 12, 2014 at 14:50

      Or he was fucked by a girl called Anita?

      Reply

  6. CAE9872

    December 12, 2014 at 13:43

    One genre I don’t get. I tried one game once way back in 2000…it is the only time I have ever returned a game! Everyone else thought it was brilliant. I was possibly trying to perform combos and clearly that didn’t work.

    Reply

    • Spaffy

      December 12, 2014 at 13:44

      Yea, nerds don’t play sports, right?

      😛

      Reply

  7. Brandon van Reenen

    December 12, 2014 at 14:38

    I own a copy of this game for PS4, and sure it’s not FANTASTIC, but 4.9 seems a little bit low. I’d give it a 7. It’s missing core features like custom soundtracks and more CAW parts. But the gameplay is an improvement over the previous games. Beautiful models as well. It’s 2K’s first real WWE game, next year should be a better game where they can learn from their mistakes from this one.

    Reply

  8. Dutch Matrix

    December 12, 2014 at 14:55

    Bad News Bonthuys looks like he got some Bad News of his own.
    Why the Sad Face?

    Reply

  9. Sir GIF Sexy

    December 12, 2014 at 15:50

    It’s okay, Da-Rry. It’s okay. It’s over now, man. You’ve been through hell with this… game… but it’s over, man. Your fight saved many a wallet from its inferiority. Godspeed, soldier.

    http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbved20z431r6jhq9o5_400.gif

    Reply

  10. Blahzay

    December 13, 2014 at 01:49

    I was diggin My Career, until I won the WWE title then skipped to the end of my career automatically. Wanted to defend the title and finish my career but nope. Creation suite is so limited. Cant even find an online match, does anyone play this?

    Reply

  11. Don

    December 14, 2014 at 19:54

    Damn this game keeps getting panned on all these critic websites lol

    Reply

  12. Scyn

    December 16, 2014 at 13:03

    Dont make fun of the owen hart joke. Asshole

    Reply

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