From WWE 2k15 back to WWE 12, and here's why

[kfrye89]

Short answer: custom music, amazing CAWs

I've played SVR2011-WWE 2K15 (xbox one), and I think my fondest memories were from WWE 12.  The improved Universe 2.0, fantastic CAWs with renders, and of course the ability to use custom entrance music, all contributed to my joy with this game.  The community was flooded with awesome CAWs, and you could have almost any wrestler you ever wanted.  The only real reason I coveted the future games was more Universe customization, but I've come to find that to be as much as a downfall as it is an enhancement.

Fast forward to WWE 2K15: the CAW community is poor, and it was entirely the fault of 2K and their limited creation suite.  While some CAWs were beautiful, the white-powder-face bug ruined them and made them basically unusable.  Custom music was removed- thank you Xbox One (and PS4 for that matter) for ruining this.  The bugs, such as not being able to do ANYTHING except an eye-rake when outside of the ring in a HIAC match, were maddening.  If you watch a simulated tag match, no one ever wins...it goes on forever and every single pin is broken up without one team successfully protecting themselves during the attempt.

And now WWE 2K16 is here.  And for all of the improvements over WWE 2K15, which is largely just bringing back the stripped-out features, there is still no custom music.  In 15, I turned off all entrances by default because I couldn't stand the generic themes I was forced to use for CAWs.  I imagine I would feel the same for WWE 2K16.

As strange as it sounds, wrestler entrance themes are one of the most identifying aspects of them.  They create so much drama and immediately trigger emotions when the music hits.  It's honestly my favorite feature of all of the WWE games that allowed it.  It also makes the game that much more update-able when you can customize the music to match any changes that occur in any wrestling product.  You can even customize the music for current wrestler; i.e. I'm using "black or white" for Randy Orton with his Legend Killer entrance.

Couple this with the fact that I was able to obtain the "Promoter's Dream" game save (let me know if you want it!) with an incredible roster.  The roster is so good that I don't need to customize shows.  Both SmackDown and Raw are oozing with talent.  And frankly, WWE 12's Universe is very interesting if you just let it play out and don't interfere.  I think it works better than any of the installments thereafter in that regard.  Just as an example, my most recent Wrestlemania played out like this: US title: Shelton Benjamin vs Ted DiBiase vs Dolph Ziggler. World Title: Kurt Angle vs Alberto Del Rio. IC title: AJ Styles vs CM Punk. Tag titles: Lance Storm & Chris Jericho vs Edge & Christian.

Admittedly, this was kind of random, but I figured I would encourage anyone who is thinking about going back to "an old game" to do so.  WWE 12 really is a gem among WWE games.  If anyone has any feedback at all, I look forward to reading it :-).

[Cerb]

Custom music really isn't that big of a deal, and 2k16 has some of the best CAW features in years.

I would say WWE '13 is an upgraded version of WWE '12, so I would rather play that.

All in all I think 2K16 is a great game, probably the best one since HCTP, its just flawless in every aspect.

[DrJoeyMagnum]

Custom music really isn't that big of a deal, and 2k16 has some of the best CAW features in years.

I would say WWE '13 is an upgraded version of WWE '12, so I would rather play that.

All in all I think 2K16 is a great game, probably the best one since HCTP, its just flawless in every aspect.

Absolutely not true 

[Cerb]

"That's my opinion", like it wasn't obvious

[DrJoeyMagnum]

Don't hide behind the "That's my opinion" card that's a cop out, the game has flaws and that's a fact

[kidsampson]

What system is that promoter's dream save for?

[kfrye89]

For Xbox 360

 

[SassySlothh]

WWE 12 was probably one of the last WWE games i ever truly enjoyed. WWE '13 had a weak roster (especially for divas, which is frustrating for diva fans like myself), WWE 2K14 was so glitchy and felt so rushed, the CAWing was fun but matches were too messy and online was full of modded movesets, i didn't buy 2K15 because it didn't appeal to me at all and i'm still deciding if i like 2K16 or not.

plus WWE '12 had Maryse's iconic hairflip so i can't complain.

[kfrye89]

WWE 12 was probably one of the last WWE games i ever truly enjoyed. WWE '13 had a weak roster (especially for divas, which is frustrating for diva fans like myself), WWE 2K14 was so glitchy and felt so rushed, the CAWing was fun but matches were too messy and online was full of modded movesets, i didn't buy 2K15 because it didn't appeal to me at all and i'm still deciding if i like 2K16 or not.

plus WWE '12 had Maryse's iconic hairflip so i can't complain.

I couldn't agree more.  The only thing this game is missing is some guys I wish were carried over from SvR 2011, like Shelton Benjamin.  You're dead-on about the glitchiness of 2K14 and beyond.  WWE was actually something that THQ did quite well, and I think the crown jewel is WWE 12.  One thing to note too is that since WWE 12 is the successor to many games on the same platforms, you get all of the great preset entrances and movesets at your disposal (Hogan, Sabu, Shelton Benjamin, Lashley, even non-WWE talent like Austin Aries, etc, etc).  Since WWE 2K15, all of these are lost :-(.

Edited November 18, 2015 by kfrye89