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WWE 2K22: How Are We Feeling So Far?

Okay.. if you follow me then it’s really no secret that I love me some wrestling games. Like most I think the wrestling games peaked in the past with games like Here Comes The Pain, No Mercy and WCW/nWo Revenge.. but I think WWE 2K19 deserves its love too. It may be the best game all around that we’ve gotten in the last decade - I’ll listen to arguments on 2K14 but I think once you factor in how well creations evolved to the point that you could keep the game fresh (even still in 2022), 2K19 is just a notch above.

With how high I hold 2K19, it’s been a rough couple years. 2K20’s launch was outright bad. It was filled with bugs, and the only entertainment it provided was the hilariously bad clips people posted online to dunk on 2K’s efforts. They eventually fixed it up so it wasn’t littered with glitches, but even as a fixed game it felt a bit flat. Fast forward a year and 2K made the (right) call to not release a game at all. Instead efforts would be focused on rebuilding things from the ground up for the next release. Fast forward to October 2021, where a release would be expected - at this point it’s now known that the release was pushed off even more, and we’re now looking at a March 2022 release.

Needless to say, it’s been too long without a legitimate wrestling game. I’m cautiously VERY excited for this game. Probably too excited, and setting myself up for disappointment, but after 2K20 I’ll always have a small bit of skepticism going into every release. That said, not enough skepticism to keep me away. In fact, I locked in the top tier nWo edition. (I was going to just go digital deluxe, but I had a good bit of money on my PSN account so I figured why not?)



I’ll do periodic updates to this post and drop my takes on news as it becomes available..

Also, me and my friends are dorks who get way too into the game - creations, our own universe mode drafts, host tournaments, the whole deal. With the hype high, I’ve started a breakdown of what we know about the roster.


So how are we feeling so far!?

January 26, 2022

Roster:

This has pretty much been *the* talking point about the game.. long before we even had any news. With over 100 people (not all active wrestlers) people being released between 2021-22 you have to assume that’s going to impact some of the plans for the in-game roster. Hell, we’ve seen people in screenshots that have since been released (Jeff Hardy) - will we seen them in the game? Who knows. What about people who have asked for their release like Mustafa Ali?

With the uncertainty, my hope is that we get a legend heavy roster. Of the known roster right now, it looks like we’re at about 32% legends. Considering I feel like there’s more legends left to confirm than current talent, I expect that percentage is going to go up.

I like that they’re getting back to the concept of a daily roster reveal, but the execution kind of stinks. They have all these pre-recorded videos from before they finalized what people’s overalls we’re going to be.. the flow of the videos are just kind of.. awkward?
I see a lot of people complaining we’re only getting one a day - that doesn’t bother me.. but we used to get an entrance, signature, and finisher clip. The fact that they seem to be holding back any footage of gameplay is.. concerning?

Gameplay:

This is my key area of concern. We’re about 6 weeks out from a release and we haven’t seen a single bit of actual gameplay. I fully expect it to be a bit clunky. They apparently rebuilt it from the ground up so it’s not going to be perfect. I’m sure some are expecting perfection after such a long wait, but I think the majority understand the situation and adjusted their expectations accordingly.

If we go a few more weeks without them really getting into how the game plays then my concern levels are going to rise. If they’re not showing it, there’s probably a reason for it (and likely not a good one).

What we do know is there’s a new control system, and some stuff has changed from a gameplay perspective. Kickouts will now be a button mash system and reversals will now be “unlimited”. The new controls are seen below - obviously it would map similarly for PlayStation.



Showcase:

The fun in any Showcase mode is reliant on 2 things - 1) gameplay (which I touched on above) and 2) content which I’m optimistic about. I think Rey Mysterio was a PERFECT choice for the mode, and we’ll get a lot of fun content due to it. We have a few details on matches so far (as noted by SmackDown Hotel) and they’re all great choices. I’m wondering how they go about the rumble match, perhaps you just play the tail end of it. I am banking on them adding Halloween Havoc 1997 as well, it‘s one of Rey’s most iconic matches and they already have most of the items needed in-game (other than the attires for Rey and Eddie). 

GM Mode:

I can’t wait for them to get into detail on this. For NBA 2K they normally do a blog diving into the details of game modes prior to each release and I hope that’s the case here as well. Outside of knowing our GM options and that there will be an online co-op of some sort, the mode is mostly a mystery. This mode is important - it’s been a community request for a LONG time, and let’s be honest - if the in-match gameplay is outright bad & broken this is what could at least give the game some purpose.



MyFaction:

For years now I’ve toyed with the idea of a card based team builder mode in a wrestling game and what it would look like. I always assumed you’d have to work it into a revival of GM mode, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. 



Outside of seeing a few early cards, we don’t know much. I do wonder how many cars tiers there will be, and when people inevitably get multiple cards if it will be an avenue to include multiple attires. It would be cool if, for example, later on they drop an 87 overall Roman Reigns card that represents his Shield days and has the attire to go with it!

Creations:

The backbone of WWE games! Another area we don’t know a ton, but we know a little bit!

  • Community Creations will be cross platform
  • Images can be applied for character selection & matchup screen renders. What does this mean? No more 3D models matched up against people with actual photos. The menus will look a whole lot better for people who use a ton of created wrestlers
  • An interview seemed to suggest that there would be fewer parts in the character creation, but a bigger focus on making sure things look all around better for created wrestlers. How this breaks down, I have no clue. From what we’ve seen, the textures on the created models look good so far.
So… to circle back as of now I’m feeling cautiously optimistic. There’s too many red flags with them being quiet on things this close to release for me to not worry at all. 

How are you guys feeling? Excited? Expecting 2K20 levels of bad? Letting it play out and maybe picking it up post-release? (depending on reviews) Let me know on Twitter!

February 8, 2020


More has come out, including some game play! They posted what seems to be the first of many “Ringside Report” clips which dives into it. You can see it here. (https://youtu.be/BUqLR6Msvg8) I have no clue how often these will release, but hopefully we see one every few weeks as we build to the release.
I will say the gameplay looks smooth, but part of me worries about how the clip was edited down and shown in chunks. It makes me worried that there may have been some ugly stuff in there and they did what they could to his it. (simply based on how badly they surprised us with the gameplay on 2K20 when it launched)
I’m hoping that the next one touches on the creative options in game. Creations are, in my opinion, the backbone of the game. It’s what keeps it fresh and playable long term. That said, my expectation is the next showcase will be for the new MyFaction more or the return of GM Mode. We’ll see when the next report drops!

Also, how good goes Scott Hall look in the game this year!? Awesome job on his character model!


February 20, 2020


We’ve gotten a lot more news in the last bit, which… has been a double edged sword? The roster seems to be filling out nicely (*insert cheap plug for my roster tracking spreadsheet*) but some YouTubers with advance copies have confirmed some stuff. A lot of it not great.

The Good:
  • It seems that slow pin meter we saw in earlier gameplay is going to be sped up to a more realistic pace
  • Gameplay overall looks pretty smooth. Full matches have been posted and they seem to have a fine flow to them
  • We have at least some legends that are new or returning - Farooq has been confirmed and that’s a massive win for me. Having shown him in APA attire it has me optimistic that we get Bradshaw/JBL as well
  • Roster confirmations have give us an idea of range of who may have made some theoretical cut-off. From what I’ve gathered Lana is the known inclusion that has been out of the company the longest, which could make it safe to at least guess that anyone released after her *MAY* have a chance at making it into the game.
The Bad:
  • Backtrack #1: they seemingly went from talking about online co-op MyGM to saying it would be local only. Backtracking is a big red flag for me, it makes me think they don’t even have a good enough idea of what can or can’t make final release which seems.. bad?
  • Backtrack #2: I’ve seen a few things saying custom renders for created wrestlers will not actually make it into the game. That’s a big let down for creators/users of created content if true.
  • MyGM seems to be a shell of what it should be - no mid card or tag titles, only able to book one on one or tag team matches, a general lack of any customization.. just all around incomplete, seemingly.
  • We’re 16 days away from release and there’s still a lot we don’t know about - we haven’t seen much for creations, MyFaction is a mystery, we haven’t seen how titles look, and too much feels like we’re gearing up to find out on release date
I’ve adjusted expectations - I’ve gone from super excited to having the same level of caution about the game that I did before WWE 2K20 was set to release. Hoping for the best, preparing for another train wreck!

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