I always find it incredibly difficult to write a review for a yearly sports franchise. To innovate and change something that has a real-life counterpart is incredibly hard because, well, the sport just doesn’t change in time for every autumn. Not only do I feel like I’m repeating myself, but it also must be really hard for the developers. Anyway, stop me if you’ve heard this one before… WWE 2K14 is a fantastic pro-wrestling title, probably the best in the Yuke’s-produced series. However, it is held back with bad AI and physics, as well as rough commentary. Yet, it does have the best story mode in a WWE game to date.
Platforms: PS3 (Version Played), Xbox 360
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Yukes, Visual Concepts
Genre: Real Rasslin’ Sim
Release Date: October 29, 2013
ESRB Rating: Teen
When I was in middle school, I invented a pen-and-paper WWE game, complete with dice rolling and coin tossing to get the outcomes of drafts and matchups. The thing about WWE video games, more than any other sports games, is the fact that not only do they give you a fascinating nostalgia-induced look into the past, but also allow you to play god with the roster and the WWE universe. It’s this balance that makes me adore the WWE titles. WWE 2K14 gives us the tools to make dioramic recreation of old memories alongside the creation of new ones, and you, like me, will spend dozens of hours doing it.
In the recreation department, 2K14 offers up “30 Years of WrestleMania” mode. Replacing last year’s Attitude Era mode, this time around you go through 46 of the best matches from the last 30 years of the industry-defining show. As the player, you must not only win the match but conform to certain historical objectives in order to relive the match properly. Following the objectives in order grants you a break in the form of short cutscene and some unlockable wrestlers, arenas, and managers, so there is enough to get you through some of the stages if you have no idea who King Kong Bundy or Big John Studd are. Jumping into the mode also allows for a change from the monotony of standard matches as it’s no longer just a race to the “One, Two, Three.” On top of that, Yuke’s has gone to great length to recreate the past, with extensive archival video and photos that give a bit of backstory to each match. This allows for older fans to have that nostalgic kick in the gut while giving newer fans a place to learn what they missed. Even the TV overlays are accurately represented.
Bundled in with these 46 matches is “Beat the Streak” mode. You can either step into the boots of The Undertaker, or take him on, while trying to defend or destroy ‘Taker’s legendary 22-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Playing as Undertaker, imagine a Horde Mode where, instead of fighting wave-after-wave of bad guys come, it’s one wrestler at a time until you get pinned. Trying to defeat the streak acts as a boss fight of sorts. It works fine, but just isn’t as fully-featured as it could be.
Overall, “30 Years of WrestleMania” is a fantastic mode that makes the game worth a purchase all on its own. However, WWE 2K14 has more going for it than that. The creation suite and Universe Mode are as fully-featured as they have ever been, but have nothing new to offer. Superstar slots have been upped to 100, so fans of Create-A-Wrestler can download the creations of others to their heart’s content. There are a few new moves and clothing options, and you can now use existing superstars as a basis for your creations.
Just because it isn’t bringing much new (which is likely due to the THQ-to-2K changeover), all the creative features you expect to see in a yearly WWE title are present and accounted for. That includes changeable options such as game balance, rosters, and venues. You can sync up camera cues with custom pyrotechnics for your Create-A-Wrestler’s entrance. You can give John Cena that badass face tattoo you always thought he should get. There’s improved rivalry management, pay-per-view options, and championship belt customization. Story Creator returns to round out the huge amount of creation options, giving possibly the best creation suite in any game, and providing more of a sandbox than many open-world titles. It’s the way all of your creations come together in the never-ending, randomly generated WWE Universe that will give you an endless stream of content – and creating new WWE memories for yourself – until later this year, when 2K15 is delivered to us.
Similar to the creation suite, not much has changed in the actual gameplay. Most notably, the reversal system has been tweaked to stop the infinite reversal loops of WWE ’13. Striking combinations have been sped up, which makes using them much more of a viable strategy in the ring, but does sometimes make it look like you are playing in 2X speed. Together, those two tweaks make the fights feel snappier and have more of an extended back and forth between the wrestlers, just like on TV.
Speaking of TV, the presentation also remains unchanged. With a minimal HUD, the developers strived to make the game look like the TV product. It works, as the game has a real sense of realism, the god awful commentary is a letdown. It’s so bad that I listen to music or podcasts while I play. I loved listening to the real world JR and King add so much to matches in the Attitude Era, but the combo of JR, King, and Cole is bad. It always has been, and probably always will be.
WWE 2K14 is fantastic tweak to the franchise. It only slightly fixes things in the ring, but adds hours and hours of awesome content with the addition of “30 Years of Wrestlemania” mode. The real question is, can I take another iteration of similarity? Probably not. Hopefully 2K and Yuke’s take what they have built on in this generation, and put it to work on a brand new game for the next generation.
Review Disclosure: A review copy of WWE 2K14 was provided by Take-Two Interactive for the purposes of this review.
