When I was younger I used to love WWE. Like so many others the attitude era hooked me, with its larger than life characters, over the top action it is easy to see why people got so hooked on it. Again like many others I slowly tuned out of it and got on with my life. There was no particular reason, I just stopped watching. However over the last few years I have started watching it again, and while I don’t think we will ever see the same entertainment level as in previous years, I have found myself enjoying watching it again.
Now in gaming terms, bar a few of the Smackdown v Raw games back on the PS2 I’ve never really been able to get invested in any of the WWE games. And with more recent games under the 2K banner, I’ve found the gameplay a bit of a turn off. I was hoping that with my recent interest in the televised product, and a few years of experience from 2K I’d find a game that I’d find enjoyment in. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find that enjoyment.
If I had to use one word to describe WWE 2K17 it’d be ‘sluggish’. Either that or ‘awkward’. And those words capture my feeling about the game across the board. Let’s start with the gameplay itself. Now while I can appreciate that 2K have applied a more in depth control system in place from when I played the games back in years gone by. But the requirement to focus on reversals and timings make the game a lot less accessible to casual gamers, and those just wanting to have a bit of fun with the superstars they call their heroes. This is a game that should arguably be aimed at, and easily playable for anyone 8 and up. The reality is that WWE have a huge amount of young fans who would love to be able to play as John Cena, or Seth Rollins, but the inconsistent nature of the gameplay that frustrates someone like myself, would surely make the youngsters turn off.
There is a new feature to this year’s WWE games - the ability to perform promos. The can be with existing superstars in the WWE Universe mode or with your created superstar in MyCareer mode. This could have been a fantastic addition, if it wasn’t an awkward text based affair with dialogue choices that at some points don’t really ‘flow’ well with what was said previously. And when you have a promo with another superstar, the least that could have been done would be to make the dialogue text represent the type of wording that would be used in real life. This is unfortunately not the case. This feature could have been fantastic with voice overs for both the created superstars and their real life counterparts. There are some voiceovers in the game in general, but not enough to avoid needing to read text the vast majority of the time. You’d think with being an officially licenced game more effort should have been put into this, but it just feels very half assed.
This half assed effort rolls into a lot of the rest of the game aswell. None of the recent changes to the WWE after the drafts have been implemented into the game. The theme songs to both Smackdown and Raw are old, the rosters for both are also now incorrect. The game feels dated on day 1, which is not really acceptable. If any other sporting game was released with the new season with last season’s squads, kits etc. there would be uproar. It is hugely disappointing that 2K have decided to release with it feeling so dated in that respect.
And it’s not just there it feels dated. The visuals and audio also feel old. Graphically, this isn’t the best looking game. It is ‘fine’ at best, but some of the wrestlers barely resemble their real life counterparts. And there is something really weird going on with their eyes. They look very ‘bulgy’. Strange word to describe them, but that’s the best I’m going to do. Seriously, have a look at how Big Cass’s eyes look in this game, it borders on terrifying. The commentary also sounds, well just wrong. It is clear that words are recorded separately and thrown together to form a sentence. And the way it has been done has made it sound so unnatural. And there is too much use of generic phrases or description that made is repetitive and tiring.
The lack of 2K Showcase also hurts the game. There is a lot of enjoyment to be had playing through the history of big name wrestlers. Without in in the game it feel like they have taken a big chunk away, but continued charging the same as they have done previously. Through all the negative that the game has, its saving grace is the customisation options. There is a great amount of depth here to creating a superstar, from the appearance, to move sets, to their entrances, and being able to create your own WWE schedule in WWE Universe mode.
For me, this is a poor outing for a WWE game. There is so much more that can be done, and this could be a franchise that the WWE fans deserve. But this is a poor effort, hat will no doubt still sell well due to being an official licenced product. And unfortunately, this is the best option that is currently available in the wrestling game market. Personally, I would suggest avoiding this if you can.
**Thank you to PREMIER for providing us the review code to this game**