Could WWE '12 Be the Wrestling Game That Fans Want? - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 08 August 2011 / 18,482 Views
I play a lot of wrestling games, go to wrestling shows, and watch wrestling on TV. Even in an age when most people have jumped to the fad of watching mixed martial arts and slagging off professional wrestling as if it’s some sort of second tier form of entertainment, I’m still just as big of a fan. I jump at the chance to try any new wrestling games, even if they’re horrendous like the Nintendo Wii Version of TNA iMpact! Well, I can truthfully say I never touched that Simpsons Wrestling game, as everyone has their limit. It has been hard to get too excited for each yearly WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw game, as they have definitely become a tad stagnant as of late. When I played the 2010 edition on the Wii a few years ago, I loved it; I even gave it a pretty solid review score. Then I got 2011 for the PS3, and realized that despite a few new match types and a few new additions, it was basically the same game as 2010, and used a lot of the same assets. News has been slowly trickling out that the newest WWE game, simply titled WWE ’12, will be the best game in the series for a long time, and here is why.
For the past several years the guys over at Yukes have been struggling with exactly how “realistic” the game needed to be. Trying to avoid games with a handful of unique moves such as the aforementioned TNA game, Yukes has, in the past, clogged the game up with so many commands that one has to memorize moves utilizing both sticks, all shoulder buttons, and even the D-pad. This wasn’t a huge deal breaker for me, but games such as WWE Smackdown VS. Raw 2008 suffered greatly with these controls. The problem was, that for a while at least, none of the games were very “fun” after you finished the story modes and other single player stuff. I remember playing the last Smackdown game for far too long just so I could get a platinum trophy, only to completely stop playing afterwards; the incentive just wasn’t there for me to continue after I had basically done everything. After playing the far more “arcade” WWE All Stars, I realize that the games have got better for short term players, but lack the “fun” of older wrestling games, especially on the long term.
So how are they fixing this?
Almost looks real, huh?
Early previews have shown that the weak/strong grapple system from the past games has been removed. Characters now perform different moves based on their opponent's current physical state. This is good for a handful of reasons. While not a huge problem against the A.I. opponents, the online mode has been abused by “spammers” for the last few years. Whether it be folks using turbo controllers, or people that spam only a few moves over and over again, something had to be done. As a player attacks an opponent, his moves get heavier and heavier until they reach the point of doing finishing moves and such. On the other hand, getting the crap kicked out of you can lead to a momentum shift where you can fight back, and score some power moves of your own. A similar system was utilized in WWE All Stars to a good response from many critics, so here’s hoping that the early rumors turn out to be true.
One thing that signifies a games transition into the “next generation”, as it were, is a shift to a more realistic presentation all around. For years now the WWE games have essentially been slightly more polished versions of the previous year’s games, with a few shining examples of ingenuity such as the 2010 revamp. One thing that has ALWAYS bothered me was that certain moves could not be blocked. Of course you can break up a pin, hell you can break up a submission move, but some moves were so contrived that they basically became mini FMV sequences that were unblockable. This lead to annoying situations like having somebody preform multiple “Five Knuckle Shuffle” moves onto you by opponents leaving the player helpless as they watch an irritating movie. This is where the ability to Interrupt ALL moves comes into play.
Now if Cena is about to do the move to your tag partner, kick him in the face. All players have a small window of opportunity to attack in order to stop such shenanigans. This also works with royal rumble eliminations and gimmick moves such as climbing a cage. THQ is promoting this new physics engine as “Predator Technology" and it seems to be a real game changer. This option could be both good and bad. On the good side, exploits will be stopped and players can really turn the tables against cocky opponents, on the other there is always the possibility of the whole ordeal being a glitch mess. Let’s hope the former is true. Other smaller, but welcome changes include comebacks, less incentive to “spam” moves and generally better A.I. all making this as close to a full overhaul that we’ve seen since the series transitioned to HD consoles.
The "Depth of field" effects look nice
Aside from gameplay, the overall presentation of the game looks be finally be getting better after a few years of re-used assets and bland characters. Graphics seem to be greatly improved; there are dynamic cameras, and even depth of field effects. While I am not a graphics guy, I do feel that these games have been pretty lazy in that department as of late with fake looking fabric, hair and other things that look amateurish today. Let’s hope that early screenshots hold up and the games end up looking as good as the previews show.
Will WWE ’12 truly signify a shift in the genre, and end up as the game that we want to play? Could it win over casual fans and get them interested in a genre that has been kept going by die-hards? I really hope so, and hope we see a truly great offering this year. With all the “legends” contracts that go out to retired wrestlers, there is really no reason to not have the largest roster ever assembled, the best graphics of the genre, and best gameplay we’ve ever seen. Let’s just hope that THQ does a good job and we don’t end up at square one like three years ago!
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Quit after WWE SvR 2006. Got tired of the same old game every time.
I'm with ya, SPDK1. I buy the WWE games year after year but it's often hard to justify the price. I'm looking forward to WWE '12. I think the recent games are still decent/good but I'm ready to be blown away. Hope this game is the one to do it!
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Wcw/Nwo revegne is the wrestling game fans want and have.
WWF No Mercy, Smackdown: Know your role and Here comes the pain were the last wrestling games I ever gave my heart to. Wrestling on tv sucks. It doesn't have the spark and attitude that it used to. If its on tv and I manage to catch it, it would probably be coincidence today.
the true greatest wrestling games were the wcw/nwo revenge games those rocked and alot of people loved playing them. these new ones just dont do those older games justice.
When the first previews of WWE 12 were revealed, I noticed that practically all of the additions and improvements are things that had already been done in a 2004 game, WWE Day of Reckoning on the gamecube. Funny enough, DoR was also done by THQ so I don't understand why these features or just making their way to Smackdown now. Anyway, here's the thread I started to discuss this: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=129365&page=2#4
On second thought, there's two things that may totally stop me from buying this game altogether:
1.) For two years straight, the "Community creations" portion of SvR has been brokent. THQ promised it would be fixed last year and it wasn't. To this day, I still can't download created wrestlers without a problem.
2.) THQ promised that if we purchased their online pass thingy, they'd support the game with a year's worth of awesome DLC. I don't think the fulfilled that promise.
I'll miss out on the The Rock pre-order content but I'm not buying this game until I see some improvements in those two areas, AT LEAST.
Making the games in yearly iterations used to work before,butwith all the assets involved in videogames now, they need more time to make a truly improved product.
I hope this game plays more like Day of Reckoning 2, or else its a no-buy. Smackdown 4 was probably the best one; SVR 2006 was the last decent on IMO.
I have almost all the smackdown games... I bought last years game for the special Bret Hart cover >_<.... I think the last great game was 2006, where they had manager mode.... I played the hell out of it and when 2007 came out it was more of the same and they got rid of manager mode T_T... I think i'll skip out on the series for a while unless they bring back manager mode.. and change Hell in a Cell back!
This game is the best example of how to milk a franchise to death other developers get criticised for releasing their game with only some changes every year thq LITERALLY release the same shit every year with absolutely minute and worthless changes,thq are living in a delusion its time another developer took over.
Jesus, I stopped after Smakedown 2 and No Mercy for Nb4, That was the 32 bit era. I did purchase WWe Allstars and i love it. Reminds me of the those 2 games i mentioned. Like the author said, it just got to complex and i hate yearly updates
My favorite wrestling game was WWE No Mercy for N64. After that i lost all the love for wrestling games but still hoping there'll be one that can replace it.
i have no faith in yukes or thq
I had a lot of fun with Shut Your Mouth, that' kind of my favorite.
Smackdown: Heres Comes the Pain was the only Smackdown game I enjoyed. That said, nothing competes with No Mercy or the Fire Pro games.
i agree but i thought 06 and 07 where just as goodand brought elements of no mercy back.
