The previous incarnation of the franchise was praised for its graphics and realistic gameplay, but heavily criticized for its lack of added features, match types, and weak roster. WWE 2K15 was the developers’ first crack at a brand new system on the latest generation of consoles, and it was rough around the edges.
It is beginning to sound like WWE 2K16 has been constructed to address those issues.
The biggest news is regarding the roster, which was already known to be 120 characters. What’s important to know is that WWE 2K16 will have 120 unique characters, meaning no repeats or different versions of the same superstar, an issue littered throughout the previous game.
The game will also include a significant number of NXT superstars, including one of the highlighted names in the video previews, Finn Balor.
The gameplay additions made to WWE 2K15 are not only still in place, but have been enhanced in a big way. Wrestlers will now have an even wider variety of chain grapples to choose from, based on their size and ring style. Chain grapples will be impacted by a characters attribute rating, and ties would result in breaks and cheap parting shots at the opponent. More interesting is the ability to lock up within the match to regain stamina, in a similar manner to clinching in boxing video games.
However, the most notable change to the gameplay within matches is undoubtedly to the reversal system. The reversals in WWE video games have been a pet peeve of many players for years, as certain superstars were capable of reversing every move possible, especially on the hard difficulty settings.
Now, players will have a limited number of reversals that wear out and regenerate over time.
If you use them all the time, you will be waiting for one to return as your rival suplexes you all over the squared circle. Furthermore, reversals can also be made mid-move, and although these cost two of your precious reversal points, they have the capability to do serious damage and swing momentum right back in your favor. These additions certainly make it sound more like a true wrestling bout, getting into the flow of what fans witness on an episode of RAW.
As for the remaining announcements, the creative suites that were notoriously absent from WWE 2K15 will now return, much to the delight of many. WWE Universe mode and MyCareer will return in a much more refined state, although we will reserve judgement on both until the game is actually released.
Online mode is also being overhauled, an improvement that was sorely needed, and there will be no loading screens in between entrances anymore. This will now allow the players to choose whether they attack the opponent during their entrance. It is cheap move that would prove effective, but hopefully that doesn’t translate over to the online mode, because that may become annoyingly exploitative.
Overall, WWE 2K16 looks to have taken the lessons and failings from their previous effort and crafted a game that looks more like a WWE simulation game. The reversal update especially remedies a problem that has plagued the franchise for the longest time, and, with any luck, 2K Game will return to championship form inside the ring.
