the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/28/wwe-2k15-review LIGHTWEIGHT PRETENDER WWE 2K15 Release Date:November 18, 2014 Reviewed for: Xbox 360 by: Dave Rudden October 27, 2014 The world of pro-wrestling is a fast-moving one where yesterday's champs can be today's chumps. WWE 2K15 on Xbox 360 is emblematic of that. Just one year removed from 2K14, which delivered the most comprehensive roster, the deepest history, and the biggest creation suite to date, 2K15's old-gen version takes significant steps backwards in each of those areas. The old-gen version of 2K15 doesn't have most of the new-gen additions you may have heard about. The revamped, more realistic match pacing is nowhere to be found here. The addition of a momentum meter is much appreciated though, removing the guesswork as to when signatures become available and when the window is closing to pull one off before it becomes a finisher. Aside from that, it's the same standard high-speed action that's become commonplace for the franchise over the last few years. The old combat engine isn't inherently bad, mind you. When it comes to standard matches with two to four combatants it's certainly enjoyable, though a bit too reliant on mastering reversals or spamming the unnaturally quick strikes. But get into five or six-man everything-goes matches however, and the fast-paced fighting ceases to approximate anything resembling an actual wrestling match. The 2K Showcase mode is the biggest chunk of new content in 2K15, and while it isn't quite the nostalgia farm that 2K14's 30 Years of WrestleMania was, it does provide a mostly comprehensive look at two major feuds; the Triple H-Shawn Michaels rivalry that ran from 2002 to 2004, and the CM Punk-John Cena feud that kicked off the modern "Reality Era" in 2011. There's a handful of throwaway DQ and no-contest finishes from Raw and Smackdown that probably didn't need to be included though, and the complete lack of WrestleMania bouts like Punk vs Undertaker, or Triple H vs Booker T is sad. Still, Showcase ultimately lands a little closer to the "every match matters" feel of last year's 30 Years of WrestleMania than the slew of forgettable recreations peppered throughout WWE '13's Attitude Era mode. Unfortunately, the Who Got NXT mode is little more than filler. It’s basically a list of four historical matches for each of the five NXT roster members in WWE 2K15. That's already a bit of a letdown, but more luster is lost when you consider that only two of the group are still in the developmental league. Additionally, none of the talent in their standout women's division are highlighted, nor are NXT favorites like Tyler Breeze and Aiden English. Where 2K Showcase managed to shine a light on matches I'd never seen with cutscenes and in-depth commentary, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole’s commentary fails to provide proper insight into NXT history, to the extent that I couldn't even remember matches in the mode that I'd seen on TV less than a year ago. It's partially because Who Got NXT doesn't give each feud a proper video package or even an in-engine cinematic during matches, but Lawler and Cole also lack the authoritative voice that the actual NXT announcers would have brought to the mode. The bigger issue, however is the mode's difficulty spikes. There's no set difficulty for Who Got NXT, so some trickier objectives like winning a ladder match without letting your opponent touch the title, winning by submission without using a finisher, or pulling off a move that requires three stored finishers are tougher than they have any right to be. While it's nice that you're given more context than ever before when it comes to performing specific objective, both Showcase and NXT modes occasionally fail to acknowledge when you've completed them, which adds to the frustration. With 63 Superstars, eight Divas, and three managers, 2K15's roster is WWE's smallest and least diverse in years. What new characters have been added generally look pretty good; particularly Goldust, Bray Wyatt, and the NXT Superstars. Little has been done to fix older characters, though, so Santino still looks like he's just come back from root canal surgery, and Dolph Ziggler's mouth remains twice the size of a normal human one. Collision detection is worse than ever, so expect even more physics-defying limbs, weapons, and ropes. In particular, every single time I picked up the ring bell to clock an opponent, it seemed to be grafted into the holder's wrist. On the bright side, the announcing outside of Who Got NXT is quite well-done. You can really tell that Lawler and Cole recorded a lot of new commentary lines together. In particular, their discussions at the beginning of Showcase mode matches show off their good back-and-forth chemistry, which wasn't really apparent in previous WWE games. Still, there is a fair amount of repetition due to dialogue from previous WWE installments. Prepare to hear "he's putting his educated feet to good use" a few hundred times more this year. Characters aren't the only absentees this year - whole modes are missing. While the create-a-special-move is a slight omission, there's a bigger cut feature sure to rankle fans of VGCW: you can't create stories anymore. The WWE Universe mode does have expanded story options that you can assign to rivalries, but it's tough to figure out the parameters to unlock them. It's barely worth the effort since they're still pantomimed, and rarely personalized to specific wrestlers. It's really a poor alternative to community creations. The Verdict WWE 2K15 is like seeing Brock Lesnar going from breaking the Undertaker's streak to losing to Hornswoggle during the pre-show in back-to-back WrestleManias. Not only is it surprising, it's also pretty sad. I would frequently grab my copy of last year's grappler with the intent to quickly check some changes, only to find myself reluctant to switch back due to the far better roster and single-player experience. Do yourself a favor, save your money, and buy WWE 2K14. The minor improvements to combat and commentary in 2K15 don't even come close to making up for what was lost. Edited October 28, 2014 by FGNJeffsdomain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMitch Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 literally just saw this .. not surprising .. though i find it a bit hypocritical that no websites are panning nba 2k15 on the current gen either .. .there is literally no difference between those two games except new cover art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedmisery666™ Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Wow lol ....thanks Jeff for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 no problem twisted, yeah ign must be pissed off over that whole 2k/ignfirst thing lol 2k embarrassed them and made them look bad, IGN just returned the favor 10 times over lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelectriccity Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 kinda feel the same way after all i've seen from 360/ps3 versions of the game. But of course all the best feats of 2k15 are mainly for X1&PS4 so hopefully it'll be a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 4th Doctor Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 IGN took the words out of my mouth 2k14 is superior 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 seems to me that 2k was way too quick to ditch last gen imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood165561 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 no problem twisted, yeah ign must be pissed off over that whole 2k/ignfirst thing lol 2k embarrassed them and made them look bad, IGN just returned the favor 10 times over lol Maybe, just possibly, it's a bad game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 4th Doctor Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 where 2k fails Ubisoft prevails I love how ubisoft is giving next and last gen two different ass creed games instead of just screwing last gen over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 no problem twisted, yeah ign must be pissed off over that whole 2k/ignfirst thing lol 2k embarrassed them and made them look bad, IGN just returned the favor 10 times over lol Maybe, just possibly, it's a bad game? yeah it's bad because stuff was gutted but i'm listenng to the dialect in the reviewers voice. Clearly he's pissed but it seems more than just the missing modes.. He literally said nxt mode was crap lol they are pissed over that IGN First debacle. i remember after it failed, people started calling Vincent Incognito IGN Last, and he started lashing out at them lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedmisery666™ Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Man it's crazy ya I'm getting the game for ps4 but I didn't want the 360 ver to suck worst wwe game release ever, nuts they do this to the ppl without next gens too. Edited October 28, 2014 by Twistedmisery666™ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman97 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I think 2k sabotaged the PS3/360 version on purpose forcing people to upgrade to play the better version. Way to early to dump on the PS3/360 community. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedmisery666™ Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I think 2k sabotaged the PS3/360 version on purpose forcing people to upgrade to play the better version. Way to early to dump on the PS3/360 community. ya i feel the same way its not right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Man it's crazy ya I'm getting the game for ps4 but I didn't want the 360 ver to suck worst wwe game release ever, nuts they do this to the ppl without next gens too. oh you're on ps4? awesome definitely would wanna dl your caws. And i can confirm that CC is still in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedmisery666™ Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Man it's crazy ya I'm getting the game for ps4 but I didn't want the 360 ver to suck worst wwe game release ever, nuts they do this to the ppl without next gens too. oh you're on ps4? awesome definitely would wanna dl your caws. And i can confirm that CC is still in hell yea man i just like to mod the 360 version thats all.. Edited October 28, 2014 by Twistedmisery666™ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Surprising since IGN always seemed to have "positive reviews" towards WWE games no matter how bad they were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fufu ÷ Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Well you can't positively review a yearly franchise game that doesn't make at least some forward steps, and rather takes many bacwards. They were right to criticise it, and I very much doubt it had anything to do with sour grapes, as some have suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMitch Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Surprising since IGN always seemed to have "positive reviews" towards WWE games no matter how bad they were. the cheque must have been a bit light this time around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMitch Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 i find it hilarious that on RAW Cole and Lawler were promoting 2k15's release on 360/PS3 for tomorrow and in the video package they were using next gen footage ... dat false advertisement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemonkeymagic Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 HHH is clearly burying Yukes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UndertakerWLF Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Every game series has its day...clearly this is that day... WWE2K14 was such a great game modding wise and roster wise for me, it was for the most part a complete package. WWE2K15...a little bit of a let down I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrblacksheep Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Sadly the WWE games series is one of those games where you need no secrets and need to know most info on the game before purchasing. 2k never revealed what they removed from the game until it's release and that's BS. Who the fuck's idea was it to remove the replay feature. Does 2k not see all the recreations and tributes made by people on youtube using that exact feature as well as some in story designer. No doubt these features and more are missing on the xone and ps4 but they have a new career mode and gameplay in defense. Who got nxt is just an nxt version of showcase mode. It is what it is. Edited October 28, 2014 by mrblacksheep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemonkeymagic Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 It still baffles me, a lazy update with just a few moves and roster would have been bad enough but surely it's taken work to remove those features? The next gen version better not be shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the King Lives Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 It still baffles me, a lazy update with just a few moves and roster would have been bad enough but surely it's taken work to remove those features? The next gen version better not be shit. but wait.. there's more! you can only download/upload 10 superstars at a time until you rank up lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOB. Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I've said it already on many forums, but this just cements my decision to wait until next-gen. I don't even have a console yet either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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