WWE 2K18 {Early Preview}
So it’s getting to that time of the year where the yearly sports franchise’s slowly begin to drop bits of info for us to try and get us to bend over again and this week it was the turn of 2K Sports WWE series.
Now before I get into the proposed changes, Just let me say I’m a massive WWE fan and a massive WWE Games cynic, Every year I tell myself I’m not getting the newest incarnation. Yet somehow I always do end up getting them , so yes glutton for punishment right here,
Last years game and the series in general has been a lot better since 2K got the franchise out of THQ’s hands; who were clearly phoning it in for years. However, baby steps haven't been enough. This week, executive producer of the series, Mark Little rolled out some of the proposed changes and improvements. For the first time in years I found myself wanting a WWE game on day one.
List of changes below;
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Changes to Gameplay
**In-Game**
* The max number of wrestlers in a ring has been increased to 8
* There is a new system called "fighting styles"
* *"Each wrestler in the roster is set up with a particular archetype, like high-flyer or giant, which reflects their physique, moveset, and physical prowess in the ring."*
* The core grappling and submission systems have been reworked. A new carrying system has been introduced, alongside an overhauled dragging system. There is also something called "Position Feeding", which allows players to launch a move from a groggy or ground position"
* Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves are the game's lead commentators
* JoJo is the new announcer
**Features**
* Create A Match has returned! Interactive items and win conditions can be set with it.
**Match Types**
* Mixed-gender match types have returned
* The Backstage Brawl will be triple the size of the original, with more interactive objects, and new locations such as a parking garage.
* The Elimination Chamber has been revamped, with new interactions and animations
##**Game Modes**
**MyCareer**
* This year, MyCareer "will feature a more serious story," and "will be more concise and narrative-driven than its predecessor."
* *"The main reason for this different approach to the story is the inclusion of the brand new Road To Glory mode, one of the new forms of online content for the My Career campaign. While the developers were tight-lipped on mentioning just what this offers, they stated that My Career's story is the lead up to Glory mode, which is the end-game of sorts for My Career."*
* You can roam freely backstage as some form of "hub"
**Universe Mode**
* An expanded story system has been introduced.
**Online**
* Backstage Brawls have been added to the online match type list
##**Creation Hub**
* Introduction of Create-A-Match
* Improved Create-A-Video system
##**Misc.**
* The graphics engine has been updated, with improved lighting and rendering. This is due to the game not being ported to last-gen systems, which frees up their man-hours.
**Pre-Order Info**
* Kurt Angle will be the pre-order bonus wrestler for the game
Now looking at that list there is a lot of stuff but the one that stood out to me immediately was the fact that we can now have 8 in the ring , now I know this might seem like nothing but that to me shows that a lot of work has been done under the hood this year as it’s been a max of 6 for all the games in the last generation and this finally looks like an improvement ,
It’s also great to see the creation suite upgraded with create a match now aswell ,this will make for some interesting stuff especially if you can download other peoples work and more improvements including create a video can only be good for the massive creation community that’s out there for these games.
The career mode improvements are a definite wait and see for me multiplayer with a friend locally or online is where the fun in these games lie most of the time , But offline story mode has also been pretty poor the last few years with rehashed moments from WWE history being overused , so hopefully it will be better.
Also another massive plus for me is the commentary team finally being overhauled and replaced if I had to listen to Jerry the King Lawlor for another year talking shit I’d think I’d be looking for a rope ..maybe the mute button would be better but I digress it’s great that we’re going to have new commentators and it’ll give the game an instant feel of freshness.
I won’t talk too much about the in game improvements till I actually get my hands on it, they say there improvements to the fighting styles and submission systems but I’d really have to see what it functions like in hand rather than make a judgement on.
Backstage brawls are back aswell and free roaming aswell, I don’t think these are massively nessecary in my own opinion but I know a lot of fans love this stuff so it can only be good and I’m going to finish on WWE having Kurt Angle as a pre order bonus ….I love Kurt Angle but having this as a pre order bonus is a pain in the balls he should be your cover star front and centre of the game you shouldn’t alienate the fanbase by making them pre-order to get to use this guy.
Small complaint but yeah I’m sure there’ll be another way to get himw when it comes down to it. Patiently for the 1st time looking forward to this series.
