WWE 2K16

[MalaCloudy Black]

Comes to PC March 11th, $49.99 on Steam, all console DLC will come with it. Hopefully the port won't be anything like what @Mick experienced with 2K15.

[Mick]

It honestly made me consider the Serious Parody game for a brief moment  . 

 

Seriously though, right now for wrestling games I'm debating the original SvR or an English mod of VPW2. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

I might pick up 2K16 on Steam, depending on how early reviews are. I don't have a console anymore, so my options for PC gaming are limited and from what I've seen of 16's career mode, it seems pretty cool. I can't wait to make a doughy fatass who runs through NXT and gets on the main roster.

Shit, am I just making Kevin Steen?

 

[Mick]

1 minute ago, Cloudy said:

I can't wait to make a doughy fatass who runs through NXT and gets on the main roster.
 

If it's like 2K15, you'll be waiting when it takes like a minute and a half to load a pair of briefs . 

[Just Joe]

8 hours ago, Cloudy said:

I might pick up 2K16 on Steam, depending on how early reviews are. I don't have a console anymore, so my options for PC gaming are limited and from what I've seen of 16's career mode, it seems pretty cool. I can't wait to make a doughy fatass who runs through NXT and gets on the main roster.

Shit, am I just making Kevin Steen?

 

You shall call him, Tub-tub.

[TMM]

Hall of Fame Showcase is released on 23rd February. That's something to get me back into the game.

[Noah]

I remember playing the first smackdown and trying to create a character as close to my real weight as possible. I ended up looking like I'd eaten Yokozuna.

[BuddyAwesome]

I loved the career mode at first but grew so bored of it. Takes forever to improve ever so slightly and I can't make my main trait then agrees I've no matter what I do. Excited for the HOF showcase though! 

[Schlitzbrille]

6 hours ago, Noah said:

I remember playing the first smackdown and trying to create a character as close to my real weight as possible. I ended up looking like I'd eaten Yokozuna.

Don't remind Ruki of his problems doing the same.

[Gabriel]

I may have given up on career, as I've now had two NXT Title shots disappear because my rivalry with the champ ended the NXT prior to the NXT Special, so my match against Kevin Steen was non-title, both times. I'm going to play Fallout instead.

[stokeriño]

Even when Career is working it settles down into a rather formulaic pattern rather quickly (get a rival, play random TV matches of which two will be against said rival - one of which seems to always be the show immediately before the PPV, for some reason - and then a third on the PPV itself. Rivalry evaporates, start again).

I wouldn't mind so much if I weren't winning all my matches and still stuck 7th in the WWE title rankings for what seems like forever and ever. I think at this stage I'm basically relying on winning the Rumble to escape this funk.

...Watch the game now refuse to enter me into the Rumble.  

[Gabriel]

23 hours ago, stokeriño said:

Even when Career is working it settles down into a rather formulaic pattern rather quickly (get a rival, play random TV matches of which two will be against said rival - one of which seems to always be the show immediately before the PPV, for some reason - and then a third on the PPV itself. Rivalry evaporates, start again).

I wouldn't mind so much if I weren't winning all my matches and still stuck 7th in the WWE title rankings for what seems like forever and ever. I think at this stage I'm basically relying on winning the Rumble to escape this funk.

...Watch the game now refuse to enter me into the Rumble.  

Wait, so when I get to the main roster finally, it's the same formula as in NXT? Blah.

How difficult would it really be for them to program in a set amount of stories that you can trigger for any rivalry at any given time, provided that you are not currently involved in something? Why not set up a system where when you start, you get a month of exhibition matches against guys in NXT... and then month 2 starts with you choosing a program from a list of options provided. Each one has it's own difficulty, which affects the rewards that you can get, but sometimes taking an easier one and not moving forward as much is the better way to go, because it would create the more interesting story for your character.

Just keep doing that, with some programs lasting a month, some lasting a full year (but only at the top level, and those programs would come pre-written with other side-programs to keep you from wrestling the same guy four times a month for an entire year.)

They keep talking about taking career mode in a more RPG direction, and I think that's the way to do it, while making career fun at all levels because of the plethora of story ideas that can come from it. They can re-use old storylines from WWE-past and add in a few written specifically for the game.

But, for instance, you're in NXT as a fresh faced rookie coming off of a surprise win over Finn Balor at Arrival... the next month starts and you're given three options for your program:

1. Turn heel and prove to Finn Balor and the world that it wasn't a fluke that you defeated him, by any means necessary.

2. Form a tag team with Finn Balor and go after the NXT Tag Team Titles, because he respects you now.

3. You're targeted by Baron Corbin, who sees you as a threat to his spot that is still green enough to squash out now.

Option 1 would be the hardest, with the most rewards... but requires a heel turn. Option 2 would be the easiest because you are now teaming with a main player in NXT and learning from him, so your rewards would be skill based mostly and maybe even move-based. Team with Finn, learn some of his moves. Option 3 would be the middle option, which isn't overly dangerous either way. You get a normal amount of reward for completing the story, and its difficulty is standard.

What you choose and how you do during the program affect your next choice and opportunities. I would keep NXT programs to one month at a time, unless you're challenging or defending the NXT Title, in which case you could have 2 month options pop up as well. Have the programs stay at a 1 month minimum no matter what level you are at, with the total possible length increasing as you get higher up the rankings.

This could also add to replayability... because there will be specific programs that you can only trigger at certain points. You want to trigger the Road to Wrestlemania? You must win the Royal Rumble to earn the Mania title shot, and then choose the 2 month program with the Champion. OR, you could choose a one month program with someone else, hope you don't lose your shot in the meantime during a match or something, and then choose a one month program with the champ heading into Mania. Or there could be year-long programs that build from the first Raw in April to Wrestlemania at the end of March, and those naturally are only available then. The only problem is, that if you choose a one year Mania program, either you or the man you are feuding with will need to win the WWE Title before Mania. Even then, it just triggers different things in the story.

So you choose a one year program with Brock Lesnar... and then Lesnar gets a chance at the belt at Survivor Series. Do you run in and cost him the match, leading to a non-title contest at Mania? Or do you run in and help him win the belt, but only because you want it, which would force you to win the Rumble for a one on one match, or force you into a Three Way with the Rumble winner at Mania.

They talk about it being an RPG, but it isn't yet. They should make career mode an RPG, and use those elements inside of Universe, giving over more control.

[apsham]

20 hours ago, Gabriel said:

How difficult would it really be for them to program in a set amount of stories that you can trigger for any rivalry at any given time, provided that you are not currently involved in something? Why not set up a system where when you start, you get a month of exhibition matches against guys in NXT... and then month 2 starts with you choosing a program from a list of options provided. Each one has it's own difficulty, which affects the rewards that you can get, but sometimes taking an easier one and not moving forward as much is the better way to go, because it would create the more interesting story for your character.

 

This was basically the career mode from Legends Of Wrestling II. You'd choose a territory, you'd get a cut scene with that territories promoter and then you would spin a wheel, a random storyline would be selected and you'd be slotted in. It was kind of neat to be honest - and it was entirely random who you'd get slotted in with.

[=BK=]

Decided I wanted to play a WWE game with a good storymode.

 

Sidenote, maybe we should have a general wrestling game thread. This was about the only somewhat fitting thread.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I think it was HCTP, but there was a move in one of those games where your guy would duck a clothesline attempt and then dropkick the opponent in the back. All of my CAWs were cruiserweights, and I'd give them all that move. And it frustrated the hell out of my friends when we played, because I'd use that move so often and use it as a set-up for their finishers, which were usually the Shining Wizard.

[=BK=]

I decided to run through SYM with rookie Randy Orton. I changed some moves and music. I go into the area and go to my first match and it's with...

[Tyrone]

Never really cared for Just Bring It, but I spent a ridiculous amount of time with SYM and HCTP. I think the HTCP story mode is held in very high regard, but I actually really liked SYM's, too, with stuff like JR asking you to do UK PPVs and the neat dramatic PPV intros.

It'll never happen, but I'd die if I was able to play those, Fire Pro Returns, Kings of Colosseum, even Smackdown 2 on my PS4. I'll keep dreaming

[Meacon Keaton]

I was just searching the other day if there was any chance of Fire Pro being available on the PS4. Doesn't look good.  

I'd kick a kitten for a NJPW PS4 game. I feel like that's something that could possibly, maybe, perhaps happen in the future. Probably not if they keep losing all their talent to WWE, but it could happen! 

[=BK=]

Oh, I was about to say FP is available but then I realized you were talking PS4 not PS3.

[Gabriel]

That there hasn't been a company trying the EA Sports MMA approach to a Wrestling game boggles my mind.

If they want creative licensing, there are a bunch of promotions throughout the world who would probably sign on for little to nothing (plus exposure, obviously), and you can use New Japan Pro Wrestling as the backbone.

Or even, take a non-licensed approach to the game, but openly allow content sharing and make everything customizable. I'd take a game with good mechanics and content sharing, with a roster filled with Aki Man, Hannibal and Saladin any day of the week. As a kid, I always thought it was cool that the WCW games added legends under different names so that they could be in the game, and I loved that about Fire Pro, as well as the ability to edit their names to match their likeness.