With the announcements of Seth Rollins as the cover wrestler and Kurt Angle as a pre-order bonus for WWE 2K18, the official hype for the wrestling title has begun. While the game has gotten progressively better since moving to 2K a few years ago, there is still much work the game needs to be perfect.
There are three areas the WWE 2K18 could improve on that will make fans happy. Over the last couple of years, fans have gotten less and less enthused about the game, to the point where many don’t even buy it. With these changes, past fans could return and improve its sales. Let’s start with the most obvious improvements that 2K must make:
More In-Depth WWE Universe Mode
This mode has big potential every year, and every year it never lives up to its potential because of lack of care (kind of like every NXT call-up). Moving wrestlers to their real-life shows or even creating your shows with the wrestlers of your choice is a great feature. Some of the best times I had with WWE 2K17 was setting up Universe Mode with the brand split that wasn’t in the game (wrestlers, pay-per-views, titles).
The issues with the mode surface when it comes to promos and cutscenes. Without any real-life sound during intense promos with wrestlers like Samoa Joe, the moment falls flat and becomes a watered-down RPG game. The selections that players are given to choose from should reflect more of the individual wrestler’s personality, and not just generic choices to players have to choose from.
The cutscenes also need more work as they are far and few in between during Universe Mode. This mode should be like WWE television, where things are constantly happening and the twists and turns are the draws of the show. The cutscenes of Universe Mode need to reflect that incorporate more turns into it.
Improved Career Mode
Career Mode is exciting, but it gets old and tiresome after a certain point. You start in NXT, but then you are on WWE Main Event, and finally, you placed into a tag team with no rhyme or reason. There needs to be more direction and a point to your career in WWE 2K18, especially in the early stages when you are starting in NXT and the WWE Performance Center.
The biggest issue that 2K should look at in Career Mode is character development. Some focus is put on promos and talking in the ring, but the rest is left up to XP points, which doesn’t add anything for players. You should not be able to put your created player at a high-level attribute while just a few matches into your career. 2K needs to up the difficulty and make an actual Career Mode, where the deeper you go, the better your wrestler gets.
2K Needs More Thought Put Into Wrestlers Included In Game
The wrestlers in the game have always been my biggest gripe with the game. Do we need four versions of the Big Show? Is Virgil available as downloadable content necessary? How is Papa Shango versus The Godfather a dream match? It seems as if 2K just pulls names of out a hat and whoever they pick out, that is whom players of the game get.
Not only does 2K need to think carefully about who will be in the game, but they need to think about whom players will play. With Kurt Angle being in the game, that is a good first step as many fans will play with Angle as soon as they turn the game on for the first time. They have to keep those good selections going for the rest of the unannounced additions to the game. If they do, the game could have more replay value than it does right now.
What do you want to see in WWE 2K18? Let us know in our comment section.
