Review Update 21/12/14:For the second time now my WWE 2K15 data has been totally wiped clean. My Showcase data, match history, creations, everything! If you see the terms and conditions appear not for the first time when you start the game, then you’re in the shit. While not being a perfect game, it’s still one that I have enjoyed, but as all my data has been erased yet again, I have lost all enthusiasm to play this game in the near future.
If this had happened for the second time while writing my review, it would have reflected the score furthermore then the initial data loss (as reported), it would have perhaps had earned a score of around 6.0 at the most. I hope that 2K can fix this issue, because until they do, I do not have the confidence to start the Rivals mode or any other while I know I could lose my data again at some point.
Several weeks after WWE 2K15 released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, it finally makes its way over to the PS4 and Xbox One. After spending some time with the last gen version, the improvements to the new gen version are quite noticeable. But this may not be the leap forward that fans have been waiting for just yet, as it’s almost a case of two steps forward and one step back for the series.
Over the last two games, we had the awesome Attitude Era mode with WWE 13 and the amazing nostalgia trip/history lesson that is The 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode with WWE 2K14. We have no such mode this year that has one single focus, but we are in-store for a trip down memory lane with the Rivalries within the 2k Showcase and the MyCareer mode. In Rivalries you will play out selected feuds over the years. To be begin with (later Rivalries are to be added with DLC), you get to see the heated battles of CM Punk and John Cena between the years 2011-2013 and the intense feud between HBK Shawn Michaels and The Game HHH from 2002-2004, kicking off with that brutal match at Summerslam.
The Rivalries work in the same way as previous main campaigns from the series. You will play out a series of chapters (CM Punk vs. Cena being 19 chapters and HBK vs. HHH 14 chapters) with each match having main and bonus objectives. As always you must complete the main objectives to progress and by completing the bonus objectives, you will unlock extra content related to the match in question. All in all when you combine all the Rivalries chapters together, the campaign length is similar to that of the 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode, so in that respect you get just as much bang for your buck. However with modes such as 30YOWM, matches and feuds will change from one bout to the next. But in the Rivalries you will mainly be playing as the same WWE Superstars throughout, with the odd exception here and there. This for me got a little bit repetitive when I had reached the half-way point. I’m a big CM Punk fan and he will go down as one of my all-time favourites alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin, but even the awesome “Cult of Personality” grows a little tiresome and that’s not taking into account John Cena’s “bow ba ba bow”.
While it’s great getting value for money, and you most certainly get that in WWE 2K15 (and I’ve not even got on to the other modes yet), sometimes quantity is not always for the best. Personally I would have much preferred to see the Rivalries chapters being cut down to ten chapters and have three different rivalries in the initial retail release, rather than two.
WWE 2K15 also features another key mode alongside the Rivalries and that is the MyCareer mode, a mode that fans of 2K’s NBA series will be familiar with. In WWE’s version of MyCareer you will take your created Superstar, beginning your career at the WWE Performance Center, before moving on to the NXT development scene. You will then eventually hit the big-time featuring on WWE’s flagship weekly shows Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown, and partaking in various PPV’s before inevitably becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. As you perform well and (hopefully) will matches, you will earn the games version of XP points to improve your created upstart as you please.
A really cool element of MyCareer is that the story will develop depending on the choices that you make. Will you be a good guy Face or a bad guy Heel? That my friend is all down to you. The choices that you make will affect which enemies and alliances you make along the way and fitting how the crowd will respond to your presence. But being good or bad is not the only decisive factor to how the fans (or as their officially know the WWE Universe) will react to you, as you will also have to entertain them during your matches. Matches will be judged out of five stars, 1 star being the lowest. If you have a back and forth match, full of OMG special moves, signature & finishers, you will surely earn a respectable match rating and the fans will appreciate that. But if you continually have short lived squash matches, they will soon grow tiresome of your bouts.
I really like this mode and it adds something that we’ve not seen in a WWE game for many years and the influence from 2K’s NBA series is welcomed. The fact that you can go Face or Heel, ultimately gives you at least two fulfilling playthrough’s if you choose. One piece of advice that I would give when playing MyCareer, is that fine tune your created Superstar in the Performance Centre, inbetween NXT matches. This gives you an opportunity to earn more SP (XP) to improve your Superstar before each big match. The bad news for MyCareer is that this mode is exclusive to the PS4 and Xbox One consoles, so the PS3 and Xbox 360 version will have to just make do with the Rivalries mode unfortunately.
When it comes to creating your WWE Superstar, you can clearly tell that their textures and animations have been taken up a notch with this instalment. With previous games, no matter how well created your character was, you could always tell that they were a creation as they were not up to the detail of the real WWE Superstars that feature in the game. Obviously you can still tell that a character has been created, but the margin has certainly shorted this year. The only gripes that I have with the create features, is that there seems to be less options this time around and it’s a little more difficult to create a wacky insane looking Superstar this year. Speaking of creations, you may be disappointed that in this years instalment, there is no create a story features, I’m not sure why this wasn’t included, its an odd one for sure and something that I know some fans will be sad to hear. While its something that I did not use, I certainly hope its included in WWE 2K16 for the benefit of gamers that look forward to this creative feature.
Also there is a new feature with the new gen version and that’s the ability to upload your own textures such as your face, tattoos or any favourable art that you have lying around the house or PC. You then upload them to the WWE 2K Logo Manager Page, attach the account to your gamer profile and then they will appear in your game to use. This particular feature should be great (which I’m sure it is to those that can successfully use it), however for me it was a major ballache. Uploading and downloading was very easy, but when it came to applying my face to my create Superstar, it just looked wrong and out of place. I even edited the PNG file in Photoshop, tried various skin tones for my created Superstar, watched a tutorial video (which the developer in the video has obviously had a lot of practice) and I still had no joy. After several hours of trying, in the end I just gave up. If you can successfully apply the textures, then great, but it doesn’t quite seem to be the simple procedure that it’s made to be in the tutorial video.
Fans of previous games will soon become use to have WWE 2K15 plays. The WWE series did go through a stage some years back of unnecessarily changing the controls and often not for the better. So it’s nice to see that the controls have remained consistent with the last few instalments, which for me is great, because there’s no need to change something that isn’t broke. However there are a few exclusive subtle tweaks made to the new gen version that many WWE fans will appreciate. The first tweak (which isn’t all that subtle), is the grapping mini-game that appears at the very beginning of each match.
When you lock horns with your opponent, you will be required to press either X, Y or B, each representing a different grapple hold. In essence which grapple you select in comparison to your opponent, is kind of like a game of Rock, Papers & Scissors. Once the winning player has one a grapple hold, they will then have the slight advantage in the second stage of this mini-game. It is here that you will need to move the analogue stick around until the control pad vibrates, then you must hold the analogue in the vibrating position until your circle meter fills up with red. The grapple chains often last at around 3-4 exchanges and the winner of this mini-game will have first advantage with the first genuine move in the match. If this mini-game is not for you, thankfully you can deactivate it within the options menu.
The subtle changes that have been made in WWE 2K15 come in the form of mannerisms and animations. With previous games and actually come to think of it WWE 2K15 on the PS3/Xbox 360, a WWE Superstar could run to their hearts content, including aging Superstars such as HBK, even during the latter moments of the match. In the new gen version, the Superstars will tire, mainly due to the game having the returning stamina bars. Unlike previous games, the stamina feels less of a hindrance and actually makes sense and makes the matches feel more believable, however you can disable it if you choose.
With this stamina bar, when Superstars such as HBK is running out of steam towards the end and wants to perform his signature Elbow-Drop before hitting the Sweet Chin Music, he will struggle to climb through the middle rope, before he staggers his way up to the top turnbuckle. Likewise with all Superstars as they begin to tire, they will crawl across the ring in an attempt to reach the ropes to pull themselves up on their feet. Or after hitting a finisher or a move that involves your character being on the mat, instead of jumping on the opponent for the pin, at times they will crawl and stretch their arm over for the pin. The gameplay is now also a little slower, methodical paced, rather than the fast paced games of before. This slower pace naturally comes down to taste, but for me, along with all the other subtle factors, it makes the game that more realistic to its TV counterpart.
Graphically for obvious reasons the new gen version of WWE 2K15 is an improved game visually, but it’s not all as good as it should be. A big deal has been made of the facial scans during the games development and rightly so. You can certainly tell which Superstars have had the facial scan treatment, so to can you for those that have not. Superstars such as HHH, John Cena, Randy Orton and more look absolutely stunning. Though some Superstars such as HBK, Paul Hayman and AJ Lee at times look like they’ve been attacked by a Botox needle. Superstars that haven’t been scanned are also quite obvious and don’t seem to be up to the standard (for obvious reasons) as the likes of Orton and Cena, CM Punk is an example of that, as while the resolution is improved, his facial details are not leaps and bounds above last gen.
Also while the crowd in the arena’s look more active and seem to have more authentic t-shirts to pick out, their all very generic. I hope one day, the crowd in the arena will be done to a similar standard to what we see in FIFA 15, as that’s a game that has all members of the crowd acting ever so slightly differently and they are to a much greater visual standard. Another visual feature that I want to see improved in future games is the hair. I know that sounds like something minute, but HHH’s hair (before his crew-cut) looks absolutely wrong.
Not only does it look unrealistic and last gen, it’s the wrong bloody colour! An example of this is during the CM Punk vs. John Cena chapters, where HHH is playing his role as Chief Operating Officer and it was during the time that Kevin Nash attacked CM Punk. Fans will know that over the years HHH’s hair has been getting less blonde with age; even during the video highlight for this segment HHH has blonde hair. So why in the hell does he have dark brown hair? Even during the Summerslam match with HBK, in the game he has dark hair, when in fact he was blonde! Facial hair on Superstars such as Batista and Wade Barrett also look odd and kind of reminds me of a fake Velcro beard (if there ever was such a thing). Don’t get me wrong, not all the hair looks wrong, because the likes of the Wyatt Family look fantastic. It just irritates me somewhat with the inconsistency and at times lack of attention to detail.
One of the most repetitive elements about previous games was the commentary by Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. Dialogue had been recycled for years and if it wasn’t being repetitive, it wasn’t making much sense. Now don’t get me wrong, as some of the commentary in the new gen version can get repetitive and it does have some recycled dialogue such as Jerry Lawler saying “He’s putting his educated feet to good use!” But for the most part the commentary in WWE 2K15 is far less repetitive than ever before and it pretty much always makes sense to what’s going on in the ring.
This is largely down to the fact that Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole have recorded more than 30 hours of new dialogue and as we found out at a pre-release event, that dialogue was recorded with the duo actually commentating on the action while watching the game, much like they do in real life. Of course most of this new commentary takes place during the MyCareer and Rivalries, but that’s understandable. If I was to have one issue with the commentary, it would be that Jerry Lawler has his nose that far up John Cena’s backside, he’ll be picking peanuts out of his nose instead of boogies. But if you watch the TV shows, then you would know that this brownnosing is true to real life. One other addition that I would love to see (especially during the Raw and PPV segments), is a three man commentary team with JBL joining the duo of Lawler and Cole.
It would not be fair to bring up this point, as I had a very similar issue with Assassin’s Creed: Unity, but for reasons unknown, my progress for WWE 2K15 had been wiped clean. This happened just after I had finished all the chapters for the CM Punk vs. John Cena rivalry. When I say it was wiped clean, my chapters were at 0 (despite completing all 19) and even my data throughout the game had been lost, almost as if I had started the game a fresh. I’m not sure why this happened (fingers crossed it won’t happen again), but it certainly was a buzz-kill. WWE 2K15 is very much a case of two steps forward and one step back. It certainly plays better than any other game in the series, which gameplay is always arguably the most important factor. And while the vast majority of Superstars look fantastic, then are some odd-balls. I know that the MyCareer has been met with a mixed reaction, but considering I don’t play the NBA 2K games, the mode is new to me and it gives you extra life with a Heel and Face playthrough and its certainly something that 2K can build upon for next year’s instalment.
As previously mentioned, while I enjoyed most of the Rivalries, playing so much of the same Superstars, it did come quite repetitive at times. I would certainly prefer fewer chapters and more feuds. It’s a game that has plenty of life in it, if you’re willing to get the most out of the game and with the promise of further Rivalries added via DLC, it adds even more life into the game (of course as long as you’re willing to pay for it). With WWE 2K14, 2K didn’t really have the time to add their own stamp into the series, following the demise of THQ. But now with 2K15, 2K Games are making the first steps to assert their stamp and there’s something to build upon here.
During the pre-launch WWE 2K15 event, the representatives were aware that this was the first real opportunity to mould the game how they envision it to be. They knew that the game is far from the high standards set by their NBA series and to be fair, that’s a gaming series that they’ve had years to work on. The NBA series is their benchmark and they we’re very open to the fact that while they are proud of WWE 2K15, in the coming years they aim for it to be at the standard of the likes of NBA 2K15. This is very evident with WWE 2K15 on the new gen systems, it’s a better game in many respects and one that I’m really enjoying playing and I can’t wait to play future DLC for the game, but the game is not without its faults. Thankfully those faults are certainly fixable for future instalments, and in no way has affected my enjoyment of the game. Would I recommend this game to WWE fans? Most certainly and while it may not be perfect, it’s certainly very enjoyable and an excellent platform for 2K to build upon, and for the first time in years, I’m excited for the future of the series.