REVIEW

WWE 2K18 Review

by Martin Kerr, October 28th, 2017

I have always loved wrestling. Always, I love the art of it all. The story telling, the incredible levels of athletic prowess and most of all, the production values (and how different companies will display and showcase their product). So, I learned at a pretty young age to “say my prayers and take my vitamins” and that I wanted to enter every room I walked in to in a sparkly robe to my own entrance music. I had to make do with pretending to make my character entrance wearing my dad’s dressing gown and playing my theme music on cassette on the family stereo, much my mother’s amusement/dismay. So when the chance to review WWE 2K18 came up, I leapt at the chance faster than Shane O’Mac at a pay per view event.

The first 10 minutes of the game was attempting to head into Singles matches but it took longer than expected, mainly due to the fact the roster is enormous. If you’re old enough to be a wrestling historian you’ll notice a lot of familiar faces of the veteran big boys. Mainly, thanks to WWE having many different types of shows all having their own roster, I found myself pleasantly surprised and amused that Jack Gallagher could face off against Johnny Gargano, ‘HBK’ Shaun Michaels and Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat at the same time. The only downside really was the lack of consistency in player models, as some of the more popular characters looked a lot better than others.

Character models aside, this year’s instalment is absolutely stunning. Every single year we are told that this year’s game is the best looking yet, but typically those statements can often be an overstatement. Technically it is probably true as games engines and character modelling does look better but that increase is normally extremely small. However, this year the difference was startling, looking at the top members of roster the visuals are jaw dropping. Every entrance feels great and that’s a really key sentence, feels great. Yuke’s and Visual Concepts have harnessed the feeling of WWE’s larger than life big fight feel. That twinned with overhauled character models and some of the best use of lighting I have ever seen in a sports title WWE delivers visual authenticity by the truck load.

This year’s game play remains largely unchanged, if you played last year’s game you are going to feel at home pretty much straight away. Depending on your view that’s either a positive or a negative, for the most part I enjoyed the game play. Strikes and slams felt weighty and damaging. High-risk dives feel exciting and clobbering your friend with a steal chair then throwing them through a carefully propped up table is still an absolute blast. Wrestlers when tired will use the ropes to aid them returning to their feet. The stamina system does a fantastic job making you pace the match to deliver a real feeling wrestling match and when you go the distance in a longer match every move feels laboured and potentially the final blow.

That is not to say everything between the ropes is perfect, in fact far from it. My number one gripe with WWE games is that the commentary always feels wooden, sadly this is the same again this year with games like EA sports’ NHL delivering the goods commentary wise it makes me crave that level of polish in wrestling games. Over the years the commentary team have made some of most memorable moments unforgettable so to hear tired, pained commentary in game feels jarring. This isn’t the only issue. The A.I can feel dumb, it’s mostly serviceable but there are times where it feels like the CPU has downloaded the mind of a drunken jobber. Tripping and clipping through the ropes, missing punches and sometimes just staring blankly out in to audience with an almost overwhelmed “I cannot believe I’ve made it to Wrestlemania aura”. That being said grab a couple of pads and friends and WWE 2k18 is hugely great fun.

Playing solo the game can feel a little lacklustre, MyCareer, although overhauled is still far from perfect. As per every sports career mode MyCareer sees you climbing the ranks in an aim to become the greatest of all time. The mode is lessened by lengthy load times. Which make it all the more frustrating when you are rewarded for waiting through the load times only to have to do one the promo sections. I am a self-confessed promo fan boy. I love them in the real world but in game they actually lack what makes their real-world versions so enjoyable. Heart, soul and individuality. Most of the interactions with a character in MyCareer is cookie cutter with the only variance seeming to be are they good or bad. Also with the women’s division being in the best place it has ever been would it be too much to ask to be able to do a women’s career? MyCareer has also fallen fowl to loot boxes you unlock customisation options throughout the mode but confusion came when I realised there was no way to purchase them, think about that for a second. They are loot boxes for no monetary gain?! This is made all the most confusing when you bear in mind WWE 2K18 has possibly the most powerful and limitless create a character suit ever. If you are a create a wrestler fan you are going to be more than happy with this year’s game it feels great with a no holds barred approach to freedom.

In the lonely world of wrestling games WWE 2K18 is the champion. Though I feel like we need a number one contender to force innovation. Here’s looking at you New Japan Pro Wrestling, or Ring Of Honor. Overall, WWE 2K18 is a better game than last year. An incredible roster of wrestlers. A huge number of match types. Solid net code for online play and visuals to die for. Best enjoyed in exactly the same way as any PPV, with friends and an understanding that not every match is going to go how you want it to.