Game Title: |
WWE 2K14 |
Publisher: |
2K Sports |
Release Date: |
01/11/2013 |
Tside Rating: |
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WWE 2K14 is the first ever game in the main WWE game series to have been developed by the new owners to the rights of WWE Games 2K Sports.
While its predecessor WWE 13 by THQ featured an immensely-detailed and fun-to-play Attitude Era story mode, it was hindered by constant glitches and terrible AIs.
But has 2K gave us a game that’s hit Rock Bottom or did the game prove itself to be a showstopper?
WWE 2K14 presents a 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode, which gives players the chance to relive 46 of the greatest wrestling matches to take place at the biggest event in wrestling – Wrestlemania.
While that’s quite a lot of matches for the players to go through, there are many more Wrestlemania matches that were omitted from the game that players would love the chance to relive.
But for the matches that were there, 2K did a great job in capturing the drama of these iconic matches with great in-match cutscenes which will take any wrestling to a great trip down memory lane.
However, the story mode for “30 Years Of Wrestlemania” was nowhere near as detailed and as long as the story mode for the similar “Attitude Era” mode from WWE 13.
So for those that played the old game, this game may feel as under-developed with its story mode as WWE 13.
A new game mode called “The Streak” has also been produced as part of the Wrestlemania theme to allow players the chance to defend or defeat the legendary 21-0 Wrestlemania streak of the legendary Undertaker.
“Defend The Streak” mode gives the player a chance to be the Undertaker and fight of an endless amount of wrestlers who dared to challenge him.
This game mode gives players a really good reason to keep playing the game as the element of competition to beat as many wrestlers as possible will have them try again and again to better their score.
Alternatively, you can do the “Defeat the Streak” mode in which you are actually FIGHTING Undertaker at Wrestlemania and trying to break the streak.
But this match is NOT an ordinary match in WWE 2K14 as 2K have cleverly gave Undertaker’s AI a difficulty so high that players will have a tough time defeating the streak.
WWE 2K14 is based on the gameplay mechanics of WWE 13, with a few adjustments.
Firstly, 2K fixed an issue that ruined WWE 13 for so many wrestling fans last year and actually made it possible for players to get a two count in this match.
An error like this shouldn’t have even been in a game like WWE 13, but 2K have ensured that they didn’t make the same mistake twice.
2k also gave us the addition of catapult finishers, where a wrestler literally lifts up a wrestler in the air and catches him for a lethal finisher.
While it’s a nice touch and something new for the game, some of the finishers look incredibly unrealistic and takes away a bit of the legitimacy from the game.
But the game does give you quite a lot of new wrestling moves compared to last year.
The amount of wrestlers in the game including downloadable content is high.
However, a lot of them wrestlers in the game are actually duplicates of themselves with minor edits to the original which seems like a spot that could have been used to introduce other wrestlers like Rob Van Dam that were not put in the game.
Also, 2K did get a little lazy with is the wrestlers’ entrances with many of the wrestlers using the exact same entrances from last year.
Also, the dreary commentary that’s been recycled from the last two games is still present and lacks serious amount of enthusiasm from the commentary.
This takes away a lot of excitement away from the matches and makes it harder to appreciate the gameplay.
Creation modes in WWE has always been a key part of WWE games that made the game really fun to play and mess around with, and it’s obvious 2K know that.
They’ve improved nearly every creation mode in the game, with the amount of wrestlers that the player can create being doubled from 50 to 100!
Another cool addition to the game is that existing wrestlers like CM Punk and John Cena can have their attires and bodies complete edited with the feature of customizing the character.
So you can make completely new versions of your favourite and change them however you see fit!
What’s more is that with the online community creations, gamers have the chance to actually download content from other users or upload their own creations.
So if there’s someone that you can’t quite make yourself, you can download him/her from the community creation centre to help yourself out.
The returning Universe Mode from WWE 2K14 is as strong as it was in WWE 13.
The Universe Mode gives players the chance to create their own wrestling universe, given them the chance to make the matches, the shows and the rivalries for the games.
This didn’t really need much improvement from WWE 13, but 2K have done a good job in giving the player a lot more flexibility with what they can do and have even given them the chance to book all women’s shows for the first time.
WWE 2K14 really did suffer from the sale of WWE Games from THQ to 2K Sports in the middle of production, but what has been produced is a really fun game to play with many hours of gameplay for gamers.
While the game was sloppy in a lot of ways with the gameplay, it really did give the player plenty to do and a lot of fun ways to renovate their gaming experience.
While this game is obviously targeted at actual wrestling fans, this is a great game for any gamer to get their hands on.
So whether you trying to beat the streak or trying to win the King of the Ring, WWE 2K14 will be a great chance for anyone to lay the smackdown on somebody!
from Tside