Developer: Yuke's, Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sport
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4 PC, Nintendo Switch
Tested on: Xbox One
WWE 2K18 – Review
Wrestling games have always been a mix of throwing punches and performing grapples to ultimately pin your opponent into a submission or, worst case, knock their lights out. Because WWE is a show that has received many positive but also negative comments about being staged and totally made up, but if you do watch a match in real life it is one of the more impressive things you will see. Luckily you can now experience those epic moments in the comfort of your couch. As this is a more tactical fighting game you will not win by just spamming buttons.
Story
The red thread of the game begins with a personal created character that you may adjust to your liking and this will be the main protagonist from now on. This persona will visit a recruiting day for a wrestling branch, now it is up to you to prove your worth and make it big in the industry. Rome wasn’t built in a day and so isn’t your career. Play your cards right and you will get a shot at the little league, then it’s all about creating the background around your character and how you want everything to play out.
The story goes nicely in depth about how you made it to the selection and how you want to proceed in next events, each person talks very detailed about the things that go around and how you best adjust yourself to become the best. Because of this, a high concentration during these parts is a must if you want the story in a correct way that is. At first you will be a small fish making name, but sooner or later it will be you that is the king of pay-per-view.
Graphics
The WWE franchise has come far from the earlier days, because of its immense content on each game and hardware limitations on earlier consoles it was mostly the graphics that took a hit. Now in modern days where more disc space is available and downloadable content is a thing of the present, this allows for more content in higher quality.
The wrestlers are very detailed with even smaller texts clearly readable. Accessories look more real and are not stickered on anymore, many of these are even physically engineered so they swing around with movement. The animation of the player is also very organic and gives the impression that it is almost real TV you are watching. Overall the graphics are very nice and the tons of customization options are something that a sandbox gamer dreams of.
Sound
Fans of 2K will know that this developer loves to put in the best music tracks into their games. In WWE2K18 a very good soundtrack is present with many well-known songs and even famous old school rap songs. Another cool feature that audiophiles will love is the jukebox option where you can listen to each song and adjust the soundtrack to play on the main menu. You may choose from the menu music and the intro songs from all the wrestlers and teams.
Something that makes the whole battle extra amusing is the funny comments coming from the charismatic commentators. And these make a return like each year to tell you how the match is going and telling silly things to each other. One sad thing is that the wrestlers are animated while talking with moving mouths and all the works but no speech has been recorded, so this looks more like this strange vintage comedy show than a normal conversation.
Gameplay
WWE 2K18 is a wrestling game that combines the showmanship of the sport with an interactive videogame. This title starts a bit hard but when you master the combinations the gameplay will just feel as smooth as a baby’s behind. For a title that works with many button combinations and rules it is all very well explained in a tutorial mode. This is available at any time or when you start the career mode it is mandatory to go through. In the career you make a character that will become the next WWE Superstar, but it is a long road and not only by fighting. A cool new addition is the promo mini-game, in this you can decide in what way you want to show the world how your character is: Are you an aggressive intimidating kind of star, or a more charismatic fan loving type?
Creating a superstar is one impressive business, with customizations options ranging from full body sculpting to hundreds of clothing items and accessories. This allows the player to create the fighters of their dreams or even re-create real-life people for laughs. In addition there is also the ability to create special move sets, entrance animations, arenas, championships and much more. So content wise this title is really impressive and for those who like to build their own things will be able to spend hours upon hours in the creations menu.
To bring that entire user-created content to the playing field it is very appealing to know that there are more than a handful of modes available, from simple head-to-head and multiple amounts of fighters to extreme rules, TLC, Hell in a Cell and more. If you are up for the challenge the famous royal rumble mode searches for the ultimate survivor.
A good game needs to rely on its engine, you can polish a turd all you want but it stays a pile of garbage. This year the game does really want to bring out the simulator factor of wrestling and will take many things in consideration such as height/reach and weight. You also notice this in the animations and how the characters react as reversals are less predictable because of the smooth transitions.This also means that the fights are a bit slower but the added realism makes up for this. Now for being a game that relies on great strategy and good reflexes you will need to make wise decisions and have a truly sharp timing, this is so essential because without the right reversals battles can turn on a dime and before you know it your upper hand can be lost.
The controls will sometimes feel a bit unresponsive, for example you try to execute a move and your character does something unintended. Maybe this will get fixed later but it is not really game-breaking. It is a known downside to the titles as the previous iteration struggled with the same issue.
Conclusion
WWE 2K18 is a welcome title to the long WWE Smackdown VS Raw fans, when some titles where not always as good as they should be and might lost a fan or two, 2K has finally stepped their game up to create a title that is both realistic and beautifully made thanks to an advanced modern engine and graphical setting. The characters and scenes look good, clothing looks realistic and is physically animated and the soundtrack is powerful and enjoyable. Simply said, if you feel like throwing some people around while yelling ‘his name is John Cena’ this game could give you hours of fun, laughs and creativity.
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