You’ll be guessing for hours how to do something like moving your opponent around the ring, how to use OMG! moments and everything else because the game never explains anything and there aren’t any manuals or tutorial modes anymore. Other than that everything else is the same. Stamina & reversal bars are still here and are as limiting as ever, the opening rock-paper-scissors chain wrestling and rest hold moves are still here and are more annoying than last time as the computer instantly knows how to one-up you at all times, and the god-damn submission struggle system is still here… But thankful you can switch it out for a less annoying button mashing version that is somewhat fair to both sides. The changes that were put into WWE 2K16 have remained.
To be honest, I’m not too happy to be talking about the gameplay this year. The characters have gone from realistic to plastic looking Call me the relic of a by-gone era, but I’ll always prefer to spend my time playing a wrestling match over reading a bunch of repeated scripted lines in my video game. To be honest, this is completely boring and I hated having to do it in both modes but I’m a fan of WRESTLING and this is SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT in allitss glory. This new mechanic gives you a chance to select lines and have them play out in a choose-your-own-adventure reading style while the crowd either boos or cheers your actions. This is shown more through the addition of the Promo Engine. It’s more about playing out TV shows than actual wrestling events.
WWE Universe mode isn’t much better as an alternative. Otherwise, you can continue in NXT and work your way through that brand before moving onto the main roster where you’ll battle John Cena and others in boring story lines. What do we have now? Nothing more than a M圜areer mode that gives you a choice at some point to skip NXT in part and become a Paul Heyman guy and then battle against John Cena and others in small and boring story lines. While the version of Showcase mode that was featured in WWE 2K16 wasn’t all that great, it still told us a great story and history of one of the best wrestlers of the Attitude Era.
The previous Showcase modes which have carried the WWE 2K series since it’s inception have been removed in favor of expanding the M圜areer and WWE Universe modes.
This year there is no story mode to speak of. Just want to see the review score? Click here! Release Date: Octo(North America) / Octo(Australia)
Platform(s): PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One & PC With 2K Sports pretty much perfecting their simulation change over for the game last year, I was expecting to see some new innovations that would bring the game forward into a new era – instead, I’m seeing nothing new and possibly less than offered in previous games. Sure, there are some small changes and additions to this years game, but it’s nothing more than restoring the game to the glory that it was when THQ was in charge 3-4 games ago. It’s no longer innovating, it’s no longer that creative, and it’s sure as hell not that exciting anymore. Why do I bring this up in the beginning of a video game review? Well, that’s because WWE 2K17 is just like the WWE itself. Back in the days of the Monday Night Wars, when WWE was forced to innovate against the popular WCW & ECW brands at the time, things were interesting, exciting and changed the wrestling world many times over. This lack of new changes and characters has brought on some boredom to the wrestling faithful, to the point where people have been turning away from the show in droves and finding something non-wrestling related to watch. The monopoly of Vince McMahon’s WWE has killed creativity and innovation on their flagship show WWE RAW (Not so much on their other brands Smackdown Live and NXT).
Professional Wrestling has become stagnant.