WWE 2K14 Trailer Thoughts - Wiggy's Blog

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WWE 2K14 Trailer Thoughts Stuck

Posted on June 25, 2013 at 04:42 PM.

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With 2K releasing a new trailer for the upcoming WWE 2K14, we now know a little bit more about the next game in the long line of Yukes-developed WWE products. If the trailer is any indication, the game seems to once again be playing up the nostalgia of the brand, with The Rock as the cover athlete and lots of lingering shots of Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels.

The likely scenario is that we'll get some kind of "Be-A-Legend" mode, with the new breed (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback) mixed in with the old (Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, Stone Cold). This could be cool if proper effort is put into the presentation and structure of the mode, but the overall look and vibe of the gameplay on display seems to indicate more of a quick and dirty upgrade to quickly cash in on the new license for 2K. I'd like to believe that they're putting in enough time to make some meaningful changes, but the rapid turnaround time on this game from last year leads me to believe otherwise.

What would be more interesting, in my mind, would be to leverage the history of the brand and these "legend" wrestlers into a mode similar to last year, where we could relieve memorable stretches of each guy's career. Randy Savage, for instance, had so many interesting matches and sections of his career that you could honestly design an entire mode just around him, but that might not be in the cards here. People like Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold could also have their careers explored in a similar mode, as last year's "Attitude" stuff only scratched the surface of what they've done in the last 20 years.

The gameplay on display in the trailer looks solid, but it's mostly unchanged from previous versions. It's nice to see HBK hitting a mid-air Sweet Chin Music or Ryback Shell Shocking two opponents, but nothing in the animations looks drastically different than before. All of the character models show the same amount of detail as WWE '13, and the faces and hair seem pretty much as they were. I hope there are some new reversal and chain animations, and it would be nice to see some additional high spots and OMG moments for the game. Those are areas where the developers could likely make changes rather easily, so I'm hopeful for some innovation there.

The fact that The Rock is the cover athlete for this game also shows that the 2K just wants to capitalize on as wide of an audience as possible, since The Rock connects with fans of today as well as 20 years ago. It's a prudent move, to be sure, but it kind of indicates that the game might be thin on innovation this time around. I'm honestly more interested in the devs taking a year off to leverage next-gen tech and to get some new ideas in the room, but I'll keep an open mind for this upcoming game.

We also don't know anything about improvements or changes to creation features and online support. Will the content sharing be as robust as it is now, and will it have better server support? Will the online play be stable and smooth for at least four players? What kind of innovations do they have planned for match types or tournaments or leagues in the online space? All of this info will be doled out over time, but it would be nice to get a sense of these features fairly soon, as release isn't far away.

Final Thoughts

I'm interested to hear more about WWE 2K14, but it would be nice to see some actual gameplay tweaks and new features rather than just the same cash-in on nostalgia. If the legend stuff ends up being executed in a fulsome way (proper video packages, new voice samples, recreated matches), ala Attitude Mode from last year, then this could be a really cool feature. Ultimately, we need to see more of the game and the features to really judge how 2K is putting a spin on the WWE brand.

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Comments

# 1 willh313 @ Jun 25

The games look and animations being similar to last year game were to be expected, due to the fact that as of THQ's closure; Yukes was already making this game. I honestly would NOT expect 2K's input or implementations on this series to take effect until WWE 2K15 or the next-gen iterations at the earliest. Even then the game will be made by Yukes but with more input (perhaps) from the publisher (2K).

# 2 Detroitfan4life1993 @ Jun 25

As long as the game is fun and they fix the 1 count crap ill be happy. I expected the game to look like wwe 13 but just make a game that isnt broken and ill be good with it.