WWE 2K15 Gaminformer Article

[Ballard]

"Last year's WWE 2K14 was too far along when 2K Games took on the license from THQ for it to make many big changes, but now there's no holding back.

 

WWE 2K15 will be the new-gen debut of the series on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (in addition to PS3 and 360). Developer Visual Concepts is taking on a much bigger role this time around alongside longtime developer Yukes. Visual Concepts is incorporating its impressive scanning tech made famous in its NBA 2K games. The team has hounded WWE's roster of wrestlers during their nonstop travel schedule and already has 90 percent of the in-game roster scanned in. Interestingly, I saw a photo of Hulk Hogan getting scanned. While a classic version of him is in the game (alongside announced wrestlers John Cena, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, and Cesaro), it's unclear what role today's older Hulk would serve. Maybe he shows up for a hosting role as he did for the recent Wrestlemania XXX.

 

This new tech is already showing impressive results. I saw side-by-side character models for wrestlers like John Cena, A.J. Lee, and Daniel Bryan, and they all looked leaps and bounds closer to their real-life counterparts. Hair, skin, faces, and ring gear are all majorly upgraded. VC is capturing a variety of facial expressions so that wrestlers will express more realistic emotions in the ring. A John Cena facial rig demo showed off lifelike expressions of pain, excitement, and exertion.

The ultimate goal of all this is to closer match WWE's TV presentation. I couldn't get any specifics on actual game mechanic changes, but Visual Concepts is working toward more realistic match pacing and flow. The key to all of this is a new mo-cap studio that contains an actual WWE ring set up by a real WWE ring technician. This will result in five times the number of animations than 2K14. A new months-later cutoff date for inclusion of the latest WWE content will help ensure that the game is that much closer to the latest roster and storylines.

 

Audio is getting a complete overhaul as well, with five times the sound of last year's game. For the very first time announcers Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole will be recorded in tandem, creating more natural conversation threads. I heard a sample clip of the two discussing Undertaker's Hell's Gate submission and it already sounds much improved. There will be a massive 30 to 35 hours of commentary per announcer to keep things fresh and prevent hearing constant repeats.

 

2K is not discussing what the overall theme of the game is this year (previous years included Wrestlemania and the Attitude Era), nor did it show the full game in action. All of the details I heard sound promising, but it's tough to fully accept without further along footage. WWE 2K15 is set to launch on October 28, which doesn't leave a whole lot of time for all of the ambitious advances the team is planning. Despite these reservations, I'm looking forward to the next 2K15 reveal to see how the total package comes together."

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/wwe_2k15/b/playstation4/archive/2014/06/10/wwe-2k15-new-gen-first-details.aspx?utm_content=buffer969f0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Edited June 11, 2014 by Ballard

[best in the world]

IF all of this is true, I couldn't be more thrilled.  Everything from the animations, to facial expressions, and commentary needed to be overhauled and I have been saying this on these forums for months.  I hope VC can innovate the already impressive Yukes system and create a totally new game experience that resembles past games but takes these WWE games to the next level.  I await more info from the 2K live streams from this year but if all of this is indeed real I will definitely be trading 2K14 for this year's game.  Hopefully with the new changes also comes massively reduced glitches because while I loved 2K14, I absolutely hated the numerous glitch and freezing issues.  Maybe E3 will confirm all of this and bring us more specifics.....

[Ballard]

Gameinformer is about as credible as it gets. It sounds very promising though. Scanning, 30+ hours of brand new commentary, a new cut off date, and 5x the animations that 2K14 brought in are huge steps.

[Bob_Van_Dam]

Sounds awesome tbh, can't wait to see the models.

[SassySlothh]

Looking forward to it anxious to see what modes there are though

[Yin Yang Bought In]

Sounds like a good improvement from 14. Interested to see how it changes between generations. (XBone and PS4 to PS3 and 360)

[JwabHDTV]

I'm looking forward to seeing the first trailer (Soon pls)

[TheMightyFunk]

This is very very promising. Looking forward to knowing more about the game! 

[UndertakerWLF]

Theme wise I would like to see them visit Summerslam or Survivor Series. Or maybe there is going to be a mode similar to last years 30 years of Wrestlemania but just conecentrating on various matches that happened in each era, say like a mania match, summerslam match etc....

 

It would be great to see an old school Summerslam or Monday NIght Raw included.

[the King Lives]

there's no reason to think it's not true.. Game Informer was/is at E3 and they wouldn't post something that's not true.  Think about it, everything they published covering 2k14 last year was true.  It was all the IGN Threads that were misleading what with all the fake roster leaks etc lol

[the King Lives]

@UndertkerWLF as much as i love legends and all, i just don't want another historical mode.  Cause all that will mean is universe will once again get neglected...

[w00ody]

All 2K need to do is show a bit of gameplay and a few models and i'm sold, i'm just hoping all this isn't talk and is actually in the game unlike branching storylines which i'm still am yet to get in universe mode. 

Edited June 12, 2014 by w00ody

[the King Lives]

I got branching storylines in 13 not in 14 but you really can't count that since 2k didn't really have much to do with 14 and we had a crappy community manager to boot.  I think this year it will be good.  I know i say that every year but 2k really has me intrigued especially what i read from polygon about how lawler and cole both commented on undertaker's entrance

[AgeofSandow]

2K games:

"I was hacked"