For WWE 2K Games To Improve, They Must Look To The Past

It’s fair to say that the WWE 2K games aren’t all that good. They have their fans, sure, but for many they represent an overall decline in quality not too dissimilar to WWE Creative over the past few years. Sluggish gameplay, more glitches than ever, weak single player modes and a frankly lacklustre netcode all contribute to an experience that underwhelms more often than it excites, which again is not too dissimilar to WWE Creative. Alright, I’ll stop with the snide comments.

With WWE 2K19 as inevitable as Roman Reigns beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 34, the franchise finds itself at a crossroads. To quote Evolution when they reformed back in 2014, it needs to “adapt or perish”. The series is known for overhauling itself every 5 years or so, meaning we’re almost due a fresh take on Vince McMahon’s Festival of Sweaty Graps.

So let’s fantasy book for a minute. If WWE 2K19 was the start of a brand new saga for the series, what form would it take? What lessons would it learn in order to improve upon the current formula? Personally, if WWE 2K19 and beyond is to succeed, they’ll have to take some ideas from the past.

 

Dial Back On The Simulation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9VhOJSgxF0

Notice how these suggestions were prefaced with “personally”. There’s plenty of advocates for the slower, more methodical action that takes into account stamina and reversal limits. As someone who was raised on a diet of Shut Your Mouth, Here Comes The Pain and SmackDown vs Raw, it just doesn’t sit right with me.

The core appeal of watching wrestling is the spectacle of larger than life characters doing extraordinary things, and playing the video game is supposed to act as wish fulfilment for that. It’s something that a game like WWE All Stars perfectly understood (more on that later this week), but the 2K games fly in the face of that notion. Instead, the majority of your time is spent lying on the canvas, gassed and defenceless as your online opponent spews racial slurs down the microphone. Story might have been inspired by real events.

If I’m playing as someone like Brock Lesnar or Braun Strowman, big lads who do bigger damage, I want to feel like I’m an unstoppable juggernaut, just like how they’re portrayed on TV. I don’t want to hit three german suplexes then take 30 second break to catch my breath. Conversely, if I’m playing someone more technical like Seth Rollins, I want to be able to counter anything thrown at me, instead of watching helplessly because of some arbitrary game mechanic.

The fast, arcade style that games like SmackDown 2: Just Bring It and others encapsulated that perfectly. The action was non-stop, which made things constantly exciting. The slower pace helps make WWE 2K feel more like a WWE broadcast, sure, but good presentation doesn’t make a game fun. In a debate between fashion and function, function wins every time.

 

Just A Career, Not MyCareer

The announcement of a MyCareer Mode in WWE 2K15 was a sign that the WWE series under 2K’s rule was going to be in good hands. The MyCareer Mode for the NBA series has been very well received with fans of that franchise, so for that to be applied to WWE felt like a match made in heaven.

We couldn’t have been more wrong.

What we got in WWE 2K15 was a shell of a concept that could barely be called decent, and despite three more attempts at the concept in subsequent games, 2K still haven’t produced the goods when it comes to MyCareer, and I think I’ve nailed down the issue: it lacks focus. The intent of MyCareer mode is that players are free to create their own destinies, which requires a level of procedural generation when it comes to feuds and storylines. Unfortunately, that means everything has to be generic in order to maintain continuity.

The MyCareer Mode seems to be created on a philosophy that it’s about the destination. “You get to win the Royal Rumble”, or “you can to cash in Money In The Bank”, or “you get to headline WrestleMania and enter the Hall of Fame”. Whilst it might feel good to see your created grapplelad go from NXT Prospect to WWE Champion, that’s all for naught if the storylines and feuds along the way are shite.

The funny thing is, the formula for MyCareer was actually nailed back in the PS2 days, specifically with WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth. If you compare Shut Your Mouth’s Season Mode with 2K18’s MyCareer Mode, you’ll find a ton of similarities. You can roam around backstage, talk to GMs to request title matches, build your rep and so on. What Shut Your Mouth did properly though was include several pre-canned storylines that you could interact with and shape as you saw fit.

However, the best versions of a Career Mode in a wrestling game came from the likes of SvR 2006/2007, the Road To WrestleMania modes from 2009, 2010 & 2011, and the three chapter saga from WWE ‘12. These iterations introduced fully voiced storylines penned by the WWE Creative team, who might have gotten some stick at the start of this article, but they were able to create interactive storylines that took away some control over outcome in favour of immersive and engaging plot points.

The full voice acting is a particular criticism levied towards MyCareer, and with good reason. Without it, WWE 2K18’s MyCareer Mode feels more like a really shiny PS2 game, and every wrestler you encounter is devoid of the charisma they’re known for. Obviously, wrestlers have very busy schedules, but Austin Creed’s YouTube Channel UpUpDownDown just proves that half the roster are giant nerds anyway. They’d probably jump at the chance to lend their voice and personality to the game.

For future games, WWE 2K need to completely rethink how to approach the MyCareer Mode, because something is clearly wrong. Whilst something like full voice acting for wrestlers would go some way to improve the experience, more needs to be done, and better storylines would be a great starting point.

 

Universe Mode Is For Show, GM Mode For A Pro

Fantasy bookers, storyline writers and YouTube content creators have gotten plenty of mileage out of the Universe Mode, which sees you play god over the dominion that is wrestling. You can create whole new shows, craft storylines and rivalries between wrestlers and essentially just do as you see fit.

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with Universe Mode, per se, it’s just easy to get bored if you don’t set yourself clear goals ahead of time (booking some jobber to win the belt etc). Think of it like a toy box: you open it up, and play with everything inside all at once, but without direction, you quickly become disinterested. That’s why GM Mode is the superior choice.

GM Mode only ever featured in two WWE Games, SmackDown vs Raw 2006 and 2007. It was merged with the Career Mode to create the WWE 24/7 Mode in 2008, before being scrapped completely. In GM Mode, your goal is essentially the same: book rivalries, put on great shows and so on. However, this mode took place during the height of the first brand split, so you were in direct competition with the rival show’s GM to create fans.

It was one of the most authentic experiences of actually booking, promoting and running a show, as you had to manage budgets, wrestler popularity, injuries, storylines and over-inflated egos, all while trying to keep up with what your rival is doing. It’s a delicate balancing act of trying to put on the best show within set constraints, which makes the mode much more satisfying in the long term.

This isn’t to say that Universe Mode should be scrapped in favour of GM Mode, because some people do enjoy the instant gratification that comes with it. However, there’s no reason that GM Mode can’t function as a kind of challenge mode within Universe; a hardcore mode, if you will. At least that way, everyone can get what they want. With WWE in the throes of its second brand split, the timing is perfect for a GM Mode resurgence.

Now, WWE 2K games aren’t bereft of good qualities. Far from it, even. The advances made with the Creation Suite have been excellent for the series, and the graphical and animation improvements made over the past few years have been nothing short of spectacular. If they can blend the good aspects with the parts of WWE games that people liked from the past, then the future of WWE 2K should be tremendous.

What are your thoughts on the current direction of the WWE 2K series? Got any suggestions of your own? Sound off in the comments.

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