Road to WWE 2K14 - Part 3: Universe and WM Mode Revisited

[King of Kong]

Introduction

 

I've wanted to start a blog for a while now, mainly to imrpove my writing skills, but I've never really comitted to actually doing it. Well lately I've had a lot of time on my hands, and since we have a new WWE game coming out in a few months, I thought that now would be the best time to start. The Smackdown/SvR/WWE Games/WWE2K is a series that I have quite a bit of history with and thoughts on, and although I have spoke my mind on various things about these games through various forums, I've never really elaborated on my opinions. This blog will focus on being specific on my opinions of the various games and game mechanics in the series, however I will always connect it to WWE2K14 since for the most part these blogs will be in the WWE 2K14 section of the various forums I belong to. so if you've ever cared about my opinion or anything I've had to say on the subject of wrestling games, I invite you to follow this blog and give me feedback whether you agree, disagree, or just think I'm a terrible writer. Any tips on how I can improve or different perspectives you could give would be most appreciated. Maybe I can teach something or maybe I can learn something. We'll never know until we try.

 

Note: I will be refering to the series as a whole (every game from WWF Smackdown - WWE2K14) as the 2K series. I know it hasn't always been known as this, but that's what it's called now, and just to save time that's what I'm calling the entire series. I will at least update every week, but I'll probably do more than one post a week. The link to the newest post will be in the first post, so you can go there for every update.

 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[iamthedoctor]

One thing I do not want to see again is the game forcing you to ruin a CAW if you want to do story mode like WWE 12 did.

 

I think what annoyed me the most was that I had 50 CAWs yet it refused to let me play Trips Road.

[King of Kong]

Part 1: 29 Years of Wrestlemania

WWE 2K14 is coming out on October 29 in North America ( November 1 in Europe), and this year the theme is "Celebrating 30 years of Wrestlemania." In order to do justice to this theme, WWE 2K14 will have a 1 Player campaign where will get to re-live some legendary matches from all 29 Wrestlemanias (so I guess it's more like a 29 years of Wrestlemania mode), a roster that includes some of the greatest legends in WWE history (as well as The Miz and Alberto Del Rio), and all 29 Wrestlemania arenas. Some people might be a little disappointed that the theme wasn't "Attitude era part 2", "WWE Classic era", or "Ruthless Aggression era", but if WWE 2K14 had to have a nostalgia theme, this might be the best option possible.

When one looks at the Attitude era mode of WWE 13, it is very clear that the developers put a lot of thought and effort into capturing the look and feel of that era. That being said, the mode was not without it's problems. The main problems were key people from the Attitude era that were missing from the game, WWE's need to censor the more questionable moments from that era, and the fact that quite a few wrestling fans just weren't fond of the Attitude era (as a matter of fact some of them straight up hate it).

30 years of Wrestlemania mode doesn't have these weaknesses. For one thing the developers hand picked specific matches from Wrestlemania history, so if there is a legend that isn't in the game, for whatever reason(s), all the developers have to do is whatever keep whatever match said legend was in out of the game. Because the mode is match based, some questionable content that doesn't mesh well with WWE's current image can be easily left out of the game. And finally since this mode will represent all of WWE from 1985-2013, it can appeal to a wider audience of wrestling fans rather than the 20-30 somethings that make up the majority of Attitude era fans.

On August 17, WWEGames released the roster for the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. For what it's worth I think the roster is pretty good; WWEGames selected a wide array of people from many different time periods in the WWE, including people who haven't been in a WWE game in years or ever before. There are those who complained because the Dudleys, Hardy Boyz, and Kurt Angle were left out of the roster. If you're one of those people: maybe this is one of those moments where we should be thankful with what we have. Look at it this way: we have Hulk Hogan, a major executive and TV talent for a rival wrestling company, and Goldberg, a man who has expressed no interest in ever being involved with the WWE ever again.

One thing that's confusing is the Ultimate Warrior. Warrior is available as a pre-order exclusive, and if it's anything like the last few years, he'll later be available as DLC to those who didn't get him before. Warrior is also going to be in the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. Wait a minute... so he's playable in 30 years of Wrestlemania, but in order to use him anywhere else you have to download him? Huh? If he's playable in 30 years of Wrestlemania mode, shouldn't he be an unlockable character in the game? It would make more sense to have Goldberg as the pre-order exclusive, since the only Wrestlemania match he's ever had is widely considered to be awful.

There's still a couple of months before WWE 2K14, and there's still a lot about this game that has not been revealed yet, including the rest of the game's roster, so we haven't even scratched the surface of what this game is about. Will this game be a classic like Wrestlemania 3, a stinker like Wrestlemania XIX, or just meh like Wrestlemania 29? Only time will tell.

[Last Ride 123]

WWE 2K14 is coming out on October 29 in North America ( November 1 in Europe), and this year the theme is "Celebrating 30 years of Wrestlemania." In order to do justice to this theme, WWE 2K14 will have a 1 Player campaign where will get to re-live some legendary matches from all 29 Wrestlemanias (so I guess it's more like a 29 years of Wrestlemania mode), a roster that includes some of the greatest legends in WWE history (as well as The Miz and Alberto Del Rio), and all 29 Wrestlemania arenas. Some people might be a little disappointed that the theme wasn't "Attitude era part 2", "WWE Classic era", or "Ruthless Aggression era", but if WWE 2K14 had to have a nostalgia theme, this might be the best option possible.

When one looks at the Attitude era mode of WWE 13, it is very clear that the developers put a lot of thought and effort into capturing the look and feel of that era. That being said, the mode was not without it's problems. The main problems were key people from the Attitude era that were missing from the game, WWE's need to censor the more questionable moments from that era, and the fact that quite a few wrestling fans just weren't fond of the Attitude era (as a matter of fact some of them straight up hate it).

30 years of Wrestlemania mode doesn't have these weaknesses. For one thing the developers hand picked specific matches from Wrestlemania history, so if there is a legend that isn't in the game, for whatever reason(s), all the developers have to do is whatever keep whatever match said legend was in out of the game. Because the mode is match based, some questionable content that doesn't mesh well with WWE's current image can be easily left out of the game. And finally since this mode will represent all of WWE from 1985-2013, it can appeal to a wider audience of wrestling fans rather than the 20-30 somethings that make up the majority of Attitude era fans.

On August 17, WWEGames released the roster for the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. For what it's worth I think the roster is pretty good; WWEGames selected a wide array of people from many different time periods in the WWE, including people who haven't been in a WWE game in years or ever before. There are those who complained because the Dudleys, Hardy Boyz, and Kurt Angle were left out of the roster. If you're one of those people: maybe this is one of those moments where we should be thankful with what we have. Look at it this way: we have Hulk Hogan, a major executive and TV talent for a rival wrestling company, and Goldberg, a man who has expressed no interest in ever being involved with the WWE ever again.

One thing that's confusing is the Ultimate Warrior. Warrior is available as a pre-order exclusive, and if it's anything like the last few years, he'll later be available as DLC to those who didn't get him before. Warrior is also going to be in the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. Wait a minute... so he's playable in 30 years of Wrestlemania, but in order to use him anywhere else you have to download him? Huh? If he's playable in 30 years of Wrestlemania mode, shouldn't he be an unlockable character in the game? It would make more sense to have Goldberg as the pre-order exclusive, since the only Wrestlemania match he's ever had is widely considered to be awful.

There's still a couple of months before WWE 2K14, and there's still a lot about this game that has not been revealed yet, including the rest of the game's roster, so we haven't even scratched the surface of what this game is about. Will this game be a classic like Wrestlemania 3, a stinker like Wrestlemania XIX, or just meh like Wrestlemania 29? Only time will tell.

Next time: The use of nostalgia in WWE games.

Good read. Thanks for posting.

[iamthedoctor]

Some people might be a little disappointed that the theme wasn't "Attitude era part 2"

 

No. I was more annoyed it was just covering the golden era mania 1 - 13

[JcZ15]

I just want to say about the whole preorder deal, yes they say you have to per order the game to get the Warrior, and if you don't preorder it you won't be getting him, well I have notice that all those preorder guys really aren't preorder. Last year my brother bought the game about 2 months after it came out and still got the card for the code for Tyson. Now I dont know if 2ksports or WWE get something for the amount of preorders are on record but no matter what you will still get Warrior. Now when it comes to store special preorders like last year with Punks ice cream bar t-shirt, you don't get the whole code card in the game box.

[Anno Domini.]

I just want to say about the whole preorder deal, yes they say you have to per order the game to get the Warrior, and if you don't preorder it you won't be getting him, well I have notice that all those preorder guys really aren't preorder. Last year my brother bought the game about 2 months after it came out and still got the card for the code for Tyson. Now I dont know if 2ksports or WWE get something for the amount of preorders are on record but no matter what you will still get Warrior. Now when it comes to store special preorders like last year with Punks ice cream bar t-shirt, you don't get the whole code card in the game box.

Some shops have the pre-order bonus copies on shelves a few months after release, for some reason. For instance, I was buying '13 on PS3 in January with my Birthday money and a few shelves over, I saw a Wii copy with the Mike Tyson bonus.

[Nickelodeon]

^ Same for me couple past years now. I bought The Rock WWE 12 copy from a store at the release date and same thing with CM Punk's Ice Cream T-Shirt and Mike Tyson copy last year. Hopefully this year Ultimate Warrior copy is on sale too, saves me the trouble of pre-ordering it

[LEGION]

Gamestop Germany only has the pre-order version^^

 

SvR'11, they only had the Bret Hart edition first.

 

---And all for the regular price

[King of Kong]

Part 2: An Ideal Universe

If someone who is not familiar with the WWE2K series were to ask me, "What is Universe Mode?", I really wouldn't know what to tell that person. It's not because I'm bad at describing things, (although sometimes I am), it's because the most honest answer would be, "I don't know." I realize most anybody else that plays this series would probably describe what you can do with Universe mode and/or how they themselves use it, but that's not really the same as defining it's purpose. Though there are various ways to use Universe Mode, it has never been made clear what purpose Universe mode was supposed to serve or how the developers expect us as players to use it.

I Respect You Mr. Bookerman

Based on conversations I've had on various game forums over the years, I was able to determine that most people use Universe mode as a fantasy booking mode. Using Universe mode, users can determine who is on the roster, decide who the champions are, set-up rivalries, allies, & tag teams, edit the weekly shows & PPVs, and create whatever match they want. That's all well and good, but what goals can we accomplish while booking in Universe mode? Are we trying to pop ratings, fill-up arenas, increase PPV buyrates, or sell merchandise? Such goals are not in the game.

Compare Universe mode to GM mode. GM Mode was a fantasy booking mode in Smackdown vs. Raw 2006-8, and it was very much like Universe mode. It differed by limiting your role to only booking one weekly show (though I guess you could book two with another controller), giving you limited finances that you needed to use to pretty much do anything, allowing you to set-up promos, interviews, and commercial spots rather than just matches, and actually having the goal of trying to pop ratings, fill-up arenas, and increase PPV buyrates (I don't remember if selling merchandise was one of the goals, but I think you could at least make extra money that way) in order to win against your rival GM and keep your job for another year. If anything, the only goal in Universe mode is trying to actually get it to do what you want it to do, because despite having almost unlimited power over everything else, there is one aspect of Universe mode users have no control over: the random cut scenes.

The random cut scenes take place before, during, and after matches in Universe mode. These cut scenes have varying effects from an already set-up match being changed, a wrestler going from a fan favorite to a heel (or vice versa), or a tag team breaking up. There's no way to control them, and they can really undermine your authority. For example, let's say that I have Roman Reigns and Seth Rollings vs. The Usos as a match. Right in the middle of the tag team match, a cut scene generates where Jimmy Uso leaves Jey Uso high and dry forcing Jey to finish the match on his own. If I really didn't want the Usos to split up, and in fact had plans for them, that would be a disaster. Some of you may be thinking, "If you don't wanna split up tag teams, you can turn tag team break ups off in the options." That is true, in theory, but these scenes have been known to happen even if you do turn tag team break ups off. In those situations such a cut scene will still happen, but the team just won't break up. Thus creating a scenario that makes no sense, lacks continuity, and leads nowhere.

Blast from the Past

The second most popular way people use Universe mode is as a season/career mode. It's understandable because Universe is actually quite similar in style to the season mode from Smackdown 2: Know Your Role. Just like the Universe mode, season mode has rankings for every major title (which can be edited by the players) and even had cut scenes that would activate randomly between matches. Unlike Universe mode however, one could not edit the matches in season mode nor could one just give anybody a championship. In Smackdown 2 every wrestler had to earn his/her title. These minor distinctions make all the difference in the world because Smackdown 2's limitation made it more meaningful when a wrestler started from the bottom and worked his way up to becoming WWF Champion than it does in Smackdwon vs Raw 2011, WWE '12, and WWE '13.

Going Back to the Origins

Conceptually speaking, Universe mode hasn't really changed at all since it was first introduced in Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 as exhibition mode with a sense of continuity. Back then while Universe mode was switched on, you could either play the matches that the CPU generated or you could just play the matches you wanted to play in exhibition mode and they would still count. This early version was greeted with mixed reaction. Some people loved it, while others complained about Universe mode constantly turning back on after they turned it off, not being able to play title matches whenever and with whoever they wanted like they could with older games from the franchise, and injuries causing certain wrestlers to be unusable until they recovered (there were complaints that some people never recovered, thus causing some players to never use Universe mode again). The developers addressed fans' complaints by separating Universe mode from exhibition mode completely in WWE '12, but they didn't really change the overall feel of Universe mode. It was still just exhibition mode with rankings, random cut scenes, and a rival/ally system. WWE'13 had a rival/ally system for exhibition mode that was completely separate from Universe mode, so now Universe mode is just exhibition mode with rankings and random cut scenes. I don't know about anybody else, but that seems to me like a flimsy premise for a separate mode in the game.

You're Only Smoke and Mirrors to Me.

Some of you may think that I'm unfairly bashing Universe mode, but the reason why I wrote this to begin with is because for the longest time, I've had unfair expectations for Universe mode. I thought that with Universe mode I could set up the rivalries and allies, edit a few matches at first, and then the CPU would somehow pick up on what I was thinking and somehow do most of the heavy lifting itself. I was disillusioned with how much micromanaging I had to do in order to set up the universe I wanted. Now I realize that these were always unrealistic expectations. Comparatively speaking my new expectations should be more reasonable: communication and execution. The developers of the WWE2K series should give the fans a clear and concise answer as to what Universe mode is and how we're supposed to use it, and they should design it around that identity. It seems as if the developers just created a loosely defined mode, put a bunch of options in it, and left the gamers to do with it what they will. Even sandbox titles, known for having an open world for gamers to play around in, have plots and mission objectives. Add all the extra options you want, but until Universe mode has an actual identity it will only be smoke and mirrors to me.

[Last Ride 123]

If someone who is not familiar with the WWE2K series were to ask me, "What is Universe Mode?", I really wouldn't know what to tell that person. It's not because I'm bad at describing things, (although sometimes I am), it's because the most honest answer would be, "I don't know." I realize most anybody else that plays this series would probably describe what you can do with Universe mode and/or how they themselves use it, but that's not really the same as defining it's purpose. Though there are various ways to use Universe Mode, it has never been made clear what purpose Universe mode was supposed to serve or how the developers expect us as players to use it.

I Respect You Mr. Bookerman

Based on conversations I've had on various game forums over the years, I was able to determine that most people use Universe mode as a fantasy booking mode. Using Universe mode, users can determine who is on the roster, decide who the champions are, set-up rivalries, allies, & tag teams, edit the weekly shows & PPVs, and create whatever match they want. That's all well and good, but what goals can we accomplish while booking in Universe mode? Are we trying to pop ratings, fill-up arenas, increase PPV buyrates, or sell merchandise? Such goals are not in the game.

Compare Universe mode to GM mode. GM Mode was a fantasy booking mode in Smackdown vs. Raw 2006-8, and it was very much like Universe mode. It differed by limiting your role to only booking one weekly show (though I guess you could book two with another controller), giving you limited finances that you needed to use to pretty much do anything, allowing you to set-up promos, interviews, and commercial spots rather than just matches, and actually having the goal of trying to pop ratings, fill-up arenas, and increase PPV buyrates (I don't remember if selling merchandise was one of the goals, but I think you could at least make extra money that way) in order to win against your rival GM and keep your job for another year. If anything, the only goal in Universe mode is trying to actually get it to do what you want it to do. Because despite having almost unlimited power over everything else, there is one aspect of Universe mode users have no control over: the random cut scenes.

The random cut scenes take place before, during, and after matches in Universe mode. These cut scenes has varying effects from an already set-up match being changed, a wrestler going from a fan favorite to a heel (or vice versa), or a tag team breaking up. There's no way to control them and if you're supposed to control Universe mode, they can really undermine your authority. For example, let's say that I have Roman Reigns and Seth Rollings vs. The Usos as a match. Right in the middle of the tag team match, a cut scene generates where Jimmy Uso leaves Jey Uso high and dry forcing Jey to finish the match on his own. If I really didn't want the Usos to split up, and in fact had plans for them, that would be a disaster. Some of you may be thinking, "If you don't wanna split up tag teams, you can turn tag team break ups off in the options." That is true, in theory, but these scenes have been known to happen even if you do turn tag team break ups off. In those situations such a cut scene will still happen, but the team just won't break up. Thus creating a scenario that makes no sense, lacks continuity, and leads nowhere.

Blast from the Past

The second most popular way people use Universe mode is as a season/career mode. It's understandable because Universe is actually quite similar in style to the season mode from Smackdown 2: Know Your Role. Just like the season mode, Universe mode has rankings for every major title (which can be edited by tthe players) and even had cut scenes that would activate randomly between matches. Unlike Universe mode however, one could not edit the matches in season mode nor could one just give anybody a championship. In Smackdown 2 every wrestler had to earn his/her title. These minor distinctions make all the difference in the world because Smackdown 2's limitation made it more meaningful when a wrestler started from the bottom and worked his way up to becoming WWF Champion than in Smackdwon vs Raw 2011, WWE '12, and WWE '13.

Going Back to the Origins

Conceptually speaking, Universe mode hasn't really changed at all since it was first introduced in Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 as exhibition mode with a sense of continuity. Back then while Universe mode was switched on, you could either play the matches that the CPU generated or you could just play the matches you wanted to play in exhibition mode and they would still count. This early version was greeted with mixed reaction. Some people loved it while others complained about Universe mode constantly turning back on after they turned it off, not being able to play title matches whenever and with whoever they wanted like they could with older games from the franchise, and injuries causing certain wrestlers to be unusable until they recovered (there were complaints that some people never recovered, thus causing some players to never use Universe mode again). The developers addressed fans' complaints by separating Universe mode from exhibition mode completely in WWE '12, but they didn't really change the overall feel of Universe mode. It was still just exhibition mode with rankings, random cut scenes, and a rival/ally system. WWE'13 had a rival/ally system for exhibition mode that was completely seperate from Universe mode, so now Universe mode is just exhibition mode with rankings and random cut scenes. I don't know about anybody else, but that seems to me like a flimsy premise for a separate mode in the game.

You're Only Smoke and Mirrors to Me.

Some of you may think that I'm unfairly bashing Universe mode, but I was being unfair before. The reason why I wrote this to begin with is because for the longest time I've had unfair expectations for Universe mode. I thought that with Universe mode I could set up the rivalries and allies, edit a few matches at first, and then the CPU would somehow pick up on what I was thinking and somehow do most of the heavy lifting itself. I was disillusioned with how much micromanaging I had to do in order to set up the universe I wanted. Now I realize that these were always unrealistic expectations. Comparatively speaking my new expectations should be more reasonable: communication and execution. The developers of the WWE2K series should give the fans a clear and concise answer as to what Universe mode is and how we're supposed to use it, and they should design it around that identity. It seems as if the developers just created a loosely defined mode, put a bunch of options in it, and left the gamers to do with it what they will. Even sandbox titles, known for having an open world for gamers to play around in, have plots and mission objectives. Add all the extra options you want, but until Universe mode has an actual identity it will only be smoke and mirrors to me.

Love it. Good read.

[King of Kong]

Hey guys! I wanted to thank anyone who took the time to read this thread and especially the ones who commented. Part 2 of Road to WWE2K14 took longer than I expected, but I'm glad I was able to finish it since I've been meaning to speak in length about Universe Mode for a while now.

 

In response to my "29 Years of Wrestlemania" post, people pointed out that you would most likely not have to pre-order the game in order to get a copy with a Warrior code. I already knew that; it's really more about the principle of the matter. I just don't think you should have to download a character who's playable in WM mode. I still think it would make more sense to have Goldberg in as DLC and leave his match with Lesnar at Wrestlemania XX out.

Some people mentioned that Mike Tyson was in Attitude era mode in WWE '13, but you have to download him in order to use him outside of Attitude era mode. Well Tyson was a NPC in Attitude era mode, plus he never wrestled a match in the WWF. It made perfect sense to have him as someone extra you need to download in order to play.

 

Part 3 of Road to WWE 2K14 will be in the WWE '13 sub-forum because I'll be talking about the 13 things about WWE '13 that I liked the best. Until then, take care guys!

[WWE2k14isBest]

Hey guys! I wanted to thank anyone who took the time to read this thread and especially the ones who commented. Part 2 of Road to WWE2K14 took longer than I expected, but I'm glad I was able to finish it since I've been meaning to speak in length about Universe Mode for a while now.

 

In response to my "29 Years of Wrestlemania" post, people pointed out that you would most likely not have to pre-order the game in order to get a copy with a Warrior code. I already knew that; it's really more about the principle of the matter. I just don't think you should have to download a character who's playable in WM mode. I still think it would make more sense to have Goldberg in as DLC and leave his match with Lesnar at Wrestlemania XX out.

Some people mentioned that Mike Tyson was in Attitude era mode in WWE '13, but you have to download him in order to use him outside of Attitude era mode. Well Tyson was a NPC in Attitude era mode, plus he never wrestled a match in the WWF. It made perfect sense to have him as someone extra you need to download in order to play.

 

Part 3 of Road to WWE 2K14 will be in the WWE '13 sub-forum because I'll be talking about the 13 things about WWE '13 that I liked the best. Until then, take care guys!

 

very nice articles. One thing that you just brought to my attention is Online passes (made me think of this coincidently when you mentioned the warrior preorder). Now, 2K sports as far as i know doesn't have online passes so i'm wondering if you would actually have to get a pass or anything for online/cc etc

[King of Kong]

I've already spoken about Wrestlemania mode and Universe, but since then a lot more information has been released about both modes. In light of the news, I felt that it was worth taking another look at these modes and offer my two cents. Some of the news is good, some not so good, but all of it is worth discussing. So allow me to tell you why I think Wrestlemania mode is not up to par and why there still might be hope for Universe mode.

 

Wrestlemania Mode commentary is severely lacking

Truth be told, I really don't have much love for the focus of nostalgia the series has taken over the last two years; it doesn't do the current guys any favors to be out-shined by the legends of yesteryear and it takes away the focus from important gameplay and A.I. changes that could be made. That being said, I believe in giving credit where credit is due; Attitude era theme was done very well last year. They didn't get everything right but when you look at the roster, the old school arenas, and the one player campaign, it's very obvious that a lot of thought and effort was put into making the Attitude era theme work. WWE 2K14's theme of re-creating the best matches and moments of Wrestlemania history doesn't seem to have anywhere near as much thought or attention to detail. If you wanna see the difference between Attitude era and Wrestlemania mode, just listen to the commentary. Both AE and WM mode have JR and King as the commentators, but they are much better in AE mode for a couple of reasons:

 

1. The team of JR and King was the most iconic brodcast team of the Attitude era, so it would make sense to have them commentate the matches for AE mode. If you want a story campaign that covers all 29 installments of Wrestlemania, you have to have more than just JR and King. There were so many other iconic commentators like Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse the Body Ventura, Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, and even the boss himself Vince McMahon. Obviously there are some you can't get because of sickness or death, but they could have at least tried to get talented voice actors to emulate them. There might be some complications with that plan, but it would be interesting to find out whether they even attempted such things. The lacking broadcast team is the least of the announcing problems for Wrestlemania mode.

 

2. I'm not a big fan of commentary in a wrestling video game, but it seemed like more of an effort was put into making sure all of the voice work (including the commentary) in AE mode was on point. No such care was put in WM mode's voice acting, because the commentary I've heard thus far sucks. They don't emote properly, there is no sense of greatness or majesty in these legendary moments the game is trying to simulate, and it literally sounds phoned in. Some people may think that it doesn't even matter, but there's not much that depletes my enthusiasm for this game more than hearing JR and King soullessly drone out words off a script.

 

The match selection for Wrestlemania mode is a mixed bag

Well if the commentary isn't any good, what about the matches? Some of the choices of what matches to include and what matches to exclude are obvious, but some are just bizarre. For example, a match like Rock n Sock Connection vs. Evolution would be excluded, despite every participant of that match already in the game, but a match like Cena vs. The Miz, arguably one of the worst main events in 'Mania history, would be included. Another strange decision was leaving out the main event of Wrestlemania 22, Cena vs. Triple H. What makes it stranger is apparently Cena still has his Wrestlemania attire in the game. It was reported that there will be an Off-Script portion of WM mode that will have extra matches, so maybe the Cena vs. Triple H match might be included there. I'm not saying that's impossible, but it certainly doesn't make sense. Why have that match as something extra in the Off-Script section, when it was one of the Wrestlemania main events?

 

Universe mode might be better (I guess)

This year Universe mode has quite a bit of additions that fans have been wanting for years including, but not limited to, the ability to determine how many matches each show will have, set an alternate attire as the default attire, create an all diva show, and make a King of the Ring themed show. A year ago I would have been ecstatic to see all these changes, but now that I've gotten to the root of the problem with Universe mode, my reaction is closer to "meh". One thing that does give me hope is the new rival system. Instead of having up to five allies and rivals like in previous games, the current system focuses more on a 1v1 or 2v2 feud. This modification could mean that angles that play out in Universe mode will actually make sense, and we won't need to constantly fight against the CPU making random matches that don't make any sense. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure that this new system really will improve things. Someone expressed fear that this new system will just cause the CPU to book the same matches every week. After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, that does seem like a real possibility to me. If that's turns out to be true it will be unfortunate, because that means we'll still have to do micromanagement in or to get the Universe the way we want it. I guess we won't know for sure until the game comes out.

 

One thing about this game that's different from other games in the series is I don't know what to think about it. Usually around this time of year, I have some basic understanding of whether I'm interested or not. Right now I'm conflicted, and Universe and Wrestlemania mode has a lot to do with my befuddlement. Wrestlemania mode and the questionable decisions made there gives me the feeling that this game is very skipable, but possible improvements with Universe mode leads me to believe that there might still be hope. I think I might have a clearer idea after watching the creation suite livestream. Speaking of which, that's what I'll be covering next time on Road to WWE 2K14.

[xXxButtabooxXx]

i'm usually listening to music while i'm playing, so i don't notice the commentary. good read though.