With WWE 2K15, the developers at Visual Concepts and Yuke’s tried to make virtual wrestling as authentic as possible. The first game in the series to hit next-gen consoles provides a refreshing an exciting foundation for what’s to come, but still feels like a work-in-progress.
The first thing you’ll notice about WWE 2K15 is that it looks phenomenal. Character models look true-to-life, and the various camera cuts that occur during a match give the game the feel of television production. You might find yourself sitting through entire entrances even after playing countless matches, simply because they look so good (particularly Bray Wyatt’s).
The core gameplay of 2K15 has seen two big changes, and they both help give the game the depth it needed. New to the series is chain wrestling, a glorified game of rock-paper-scissors at the beginning of every match that helps set the tempo for what’s to come. Upon your first lockup with an opponent, you’ll enter a minigame and wrestle for control.
Chain wrestling sounds and looks complicated at first glance, but it’s really a quite simple system and players should feel comfortable with it after a few matches. Winning the chain wrestling minigame gives the victorious player an early advantage in momentum, meaning they will likely be the first to perform a signature move and take control of the match. You can turn off chain wrestling if you want, but the small tactical battles help to pace the match – you can’t just start powerbombing opponents left and right like you could in older games, because that would almost never happen in an actual WWE match.
Another welcome addition is the return of the stamina bar. Each and every move you do, from punches to grapples to simply picking your opponent up off the canvas, costs a bit of stamina. Once you run out of stamina, your wrestler’s movement speed will take a huge hit, and you’ll be unable to perform moves until stamina is regenerated.
This prevents opponents (particularly online) from spamming the same animations over and over, or from endlessly running around the ring, and slows down the action considerably. Once you get a few minutes into a match, you have to use your stamina wisely, or your character will simply be too tired to perform any moves. This has some drawbacks, though, as the stamina system seems a little too unforgiving with default settings. In longer matches, you’ll often perform a signature move or finisher and be unable to follow up with a pin because your character’s stamina is too low. In these situations, it feels like the stamina system is punishing players for performing moves, but you can tweak how quickly stamina restores via a slider.
Success in 2K15 is often determined by how well you can time reversals. Every time an opponent tries a strike or a grapple, you are given a split-second window to press a trigger and counter the move. With some practice you’ll be able to predict an opponents movement and pull off reversals with some consistency – but there’s still nothing more frustrating than when the computer counters one of your finishing moves.
2K Showcase is the centerpiece of the game, and is a perfect example of the game at its absolute best. You play through two famous feuds – Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels, and John Cena vs. C.M. Punk – recreating some of the most memorable matches of the last decade. The Punk-Cena storyline begins at Money In The Bank 2011, where Punk left the building with the WWE title on the night that his WWE contract expires, and everything from Cena’s stoic entrance to Punk celebrating with fans at the end is presented with amazing attention to detail. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler deliver specific, informative commentary throughout (you can tell they put in work in the studio for 2K Showcase, though it doesn’t really translate to other modes) that makes each contest feel far more alive than the average match. 2K Showcase is the most polished aspect of the game by far, and it’s a joy to play.
WWE 2K15 introduces MyCareer mode, where you create a wrestler and try to advance through the ranks, from the WWE Performance Center to NXT to SmackDown, eventually culminating with an appearance at WrestleMania. If you’ve played MyCareer in any of the recent NBA 2K games, you’ll be familiar with the formula. You’ll slowly upgrade your wrestler’s various stats as you earn SP, and can spend virtual currency to buy things like managers or special traits. Unfortunately, WWE 2K15‘s MyCareer mode isn’t quite as fleshed out as NBA 2K15‘s offering, and it feels like more of a lifeless grind in comparison. MyCareer mode is a good foundation, but it needs the cutscenes and voiceovers that made NBA 2K‘s career mode so rich.
MyCareer mode also suffers from WWE 2K15‘s subpar creation suite, which has lost some of the customization options that previous games offered. As I do in every WWE game, I created Razor Ramon – but my finished product looked far less like Scott Hall than it did in WWE 2K14 or years prior. There’s only 18 hair options (one of which thankfully sufficed), no gold chains (!), and no option to give your created wrestler body hair (!?!). It’s easier than ever to make a custom logo in the game, as you can now import photos and logos that you upload to a WWE 2K15 website. The Community Creations section is already teeming with impressive designs you can borrow and apply to your own wrestler.
WWE Universe, the game’s sandbox mode where players can construct their own shows and storylines, makes a return, but is hindered by the game’s lack of match types. WWE 2K15 is missing more than 25 match variations that existed in 2K14, most notably ladder matches and handicap matches of all types, are mysteriously gone. The game’s roster is robust and features 58 wrestlers at launch (60 if you snagged the pre-order bonuses), but a good chunk of those have to be unlocked by playing through 2K Showcase or MyCareer. Some of the newer changes to the WWE aren’t reflected in the game, such as Cody Rhodes becoming Stardust or The Shield breaking up, and there are fewer WWE legends included this year than in 2K14.
Online multiplayer is a mixed bag. 2K15 introduces “background matchmaking,” which matches you with a steady stream of opponents while you’re in the menu screens. You can select a few of your preferred wrestlers and match types, and the background matchmaking system will decide what character you use in any given match, which helps give online matches a bit of variety. When multiplayer works, it’s a lot of fun, but the fast twitch reversal system is rendered somewhat useless with even a small amount of lag. Trying to kick out of a pin becomes nearly impossible if the meter doesn’t fill as you expect it to, so many matches are decided by who forces the first pin.
For better or worse, WWE 2K15 is the perfect digital representation of the WWE in 2014. There are a few moments of brilliance, and there are some mediocre matches in between – but in the end, if you love wrestling, you’ll probably coming back for more.
(WWE 2K15 was reviewed on PS4, and the score only reflects the next-gen version.)
