Yuke’s, Visual Concepts, and 2K released the new WWE 2K17 on PC sometime back and we received a promo code to test drive the game. WWE 2K17 is a video game starring wrestlers you ostensibly like. It features more than 135 playable WWE and NXT Superstars.
Superstars include Superstar Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Andre the Giant, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, A.J. Styles, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Finn Bálor, Dean Ambrose, Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Samoa Joe. Upon booting into the game, you are greeted with the familiar WWE logo with 2K17 slapped onto it.
The game gives you a greater control of the action, including the return of playable backstage and crowd areas. Primary gameplay enhancements include increased responsiveness, updated game systems such as Ladders, Taunts and a new Secondary Submission System, as well as thousands of new animations.
We would have loved the animation to be better, but I have to say that WWE 2K17 is definitely a better video game than its immediate predecessors. For one, singles matches have seen some incremental refinements that improve the ebb and flow of each contest. While the reversal system, pin/kickout mechanics, stamina management, and submission mini-game remain relatively unchanged, there’s some welcome fine-tuning sprinkled throughout.
WWE 2K17 also packs in a Creation Suite that allows you to customise, build and share their own unique WWE Superstars, Arenas, Entrances, Shows and so much more. If you are a WWE aficionado, you will appreciate these small additions and refinements. New features also include the full Highlight Replay system, which allows you to record video highlights from your matches and use the footage to design custom entrance videos in Create-a-Video and Create-a-Victory.
The game has modes, as is customary with sports games these days. You’ve got “MyCareer,” where you bring a rookie up from the Performance Center to the main roster. There, you slog through week after week of WWE programming, engaging in rivalries and slumming around the lower card.
WWE 2K17 also comes with a Universe Mode, which is actually a cross between the MyCareer mode and the “be a GM” modes from other sports games. You are given a year of WWE programming, and you can either simulate it and let the AI play it out, or decide for yourself how WrestleMania 32 will play out.
The overall gameplay itself is perfectly fine. Once you get used to it, you shouldn’t have any problems. Just about everything about the action inside the squared circle is customisable – you can make it so your opponents will literally never counter your attacks or you can turn even the weakest character into an unstoppable monster.
For the first time in a few years, you can now take the fight backstage, as well. There’s the gorilla position, a hazardous hallway, locker room, and Authority office ready to be demolished. There’s no denying the joy to be had power-bombing your opponent onto a sturdy oak desk while Vince McMahon stands by, undeterred.
WWE 2K17 is a very tiny leap forward. Sure, the in-ring action is still serviceable, and refinements to various aspects of its combat make for a more enjoyable game than in previous years. But that’s about it. There are still a myriad of niggling issues such as latency issues with online gameplay, poor animation at places and so on. However, if you are die-hard fan of the WWE gaming franchise, WWE 2K17 does prove itself to be a notch above earlier installments.
Price: AED 145