I dodge a hit by the opponent in the ring. I press the comeback button setting of a flurry of well placed hits. My opponent stands up groggy and woozy after the hits, I do not let him rest and I grab him and execute a perfect finishing move I have dubbed Original Sin. I pin him and smile as the referee counts to three and I win the WWE Championship. The new WWE game came out recently and it features a new engine and scores of other new features that bring improvements.
Like the previous games you can create your own superstar, give them an unique move-set, a finisher you create yourself, and an entrance with music, fireworks, the whole nine yards. In the most recent game before this one the game introduced something called WWE Universe Mode. In Universe mode you basically went through the WWE Calendar from show to show and paper view to paper view. Your custom superstar was brought into this mode where the game would make matches and organize ways to get your superstar into the title discussion. Unfortunately, the game was plagued by bad AI. The opponents were far to easy to destroy and beat. Title matches were a laugh and often left the player simply beating up the AI for fun without taking a single hit. There was a case of one player suplexing a computer controlled opponent 100 times in a row without the opponent hitting or reversing the move. Not to mention that 100 times didn't have any long term effects, the same wrestler was back next week and was in good health.
All of those issues have been fixed. The AI is much smarter and provides a challenge in matches. I actually lost a few matches whereas in the previous game I was 186-0 against AI. I found myself enjoying matches as I fought a foe that reacted to moves and targeted body parts that my created character was favoring. The body part targeting is also new. You can now target body parts on wrestlers. So if your opponent is power based, take out his arms. If they like to run around and jump, hit the legs. If they are balanced you can always just target their head. On the subject of targeting body parts, you can now injure the other wrestlers and put them out of action for anywhere from a few months to putting them out of action for good. The WWE Universe Mode had a few minor changes that made it better. The graphics and sound quality also saw marked improvement.
The game still has problems on the AI front though. They improved it but as times the AI is just too good. Countering moves is an essential part of the game in turning the momentum in your favor avoiding a hit. The AI seems far too skilled at countering at times. There are times when a woozy AI wrestler will be standing up swaying and you will run full speed at him from behind and he somehow knows when to turn and counter your move which is physically impossible unless you literally have eyes in the back of your head. Another change they made that many saw as unnecessary was the control scheme. They completely changed it an veterans of the previous games like myself found it frustrating and hard to learn the new scheme since almost every button (except for three of them) was changed.
I can accept the small problems considering they are using a new engine to make the game. The game is a vast improvement though and reminded me why I keep coming back this franchise time after time for some good hard hitting action.
Review
Grade-Harvest It!
Highs-A new graphics engine makes it pleasing and smooth. Better AI and good sound quality
Lows-Still easy at times and the generic comments are still there
ESRB Rating-T for Teen, Ages 13 and up
Kid Friendly?No, it still is violent and although it got a teen rating it still has some parts I think are a bit graphic
Overview-It is good, the $59.99 price tag is worth it, a good solid game and it has clearly improved.
