The people at 2K very kindly sent me a copy off WWE 2K14 to review. This was 2K’s first wrestling game since obtaining the license from THQ.
There couldn’t have been a better developer to take over the WWE wrestling game franchise than 2K. They already had great sports game experience with their NHL, NFL and NBA series. So how did they do with their new IP?
Following on with the popularity of the Attitude Era storyline in WWE ’13 it was a smart move to keep the single player in a similar style. This years game saw the player run through the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. Starting back at Wrestlemania number one with the $15,000 body slam challenge between Big John Studd and the late, great André the Giant all the way up to Wrestlemania twenty nine with the rematch of John Cena and The Rock for the WWE championship.
It was a pleasure reliving all the great Wrestlemania moments through the years and it was a brilliant excuse to play as several of the biggest Superstars through the events history including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, HBK and of course the Undertaker.
The gameplay and graphics in the game are pretty much the same as they have always been however just with a few rough edges tidied up.
For example when doing The People’s Elbow or the Five Knuckle Shuffle, the superstar on the floor won’t float across the ring to be in the correct position. Much like a real wrestler he will shuffle himself to the right angle for the move and if he is too close to the ropes the wrestler doing the move just simply won’t try and jump over him.
Overall the AI seems to be a bit more intelligent. Previous games have had bad trouble with targeting which can be utterly match changing in some situations, in the new game that happens a lot less but will still occur occasionally.
There are a few more little features included this year such as corner finishers. This makes finishing moves like HBK’s Sweet Chin Music and Edge’s Spear much simpler to do.
My final conclusion for 2K’s venture in to the Wrestling world is that they have smoothed down some rough edges but there isn’t anything particularly new in the game apart from a different enjoyable single player campaign and the updated roster.
