WWE 2K15

For close to a decade WWE nuts have had to contend with late night runs of Royal Rumble, that one pack of half torn trump cards that were rediscovered in the corner of the shoe cupboard or rushes of watching Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson taking down cops in Pain & Gain. To cut a long story short, most of us have been stuck on WWE from 1990s, a simpler time when knowledge about it being scripted was scarce. Since then despite having an Indian competing (Khali) or WWE exhibition matches in India, the interest in WWE has waned, barring a week's time when news of Ultimate Warrior's death spread.

To fill the void, video game publishers have tried and tried again - so much so that nearly 16 WWE-based video games have been released in the last 14 years. The response for each of them, barring WWF Smackdown, WWE Smackdown! Vs Raw and WWE 2K14 has been luke warm to nonexistent. So its clear, WWE 2K15 has pretty massive boots to fill.

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In the normal gameplay, match modes like Steel Cage and Hell in the Cell have few upgrades. In Steel Cage, you now have a escape route, but it will depend on the stamina with which the player can escape. In the Hell in a Cell match, you will be allowed to use weapons hidden under the ring. However, these small changes do not take away the fact that there are many things which have either been scrapped or not upgraded from the previous version. The annoying and outdated character intros are still there, while the bugs (game freezes during certain matches, rivalries in universe mode become motionless to name few) that hindered gameplay in the 2014 version continue to exist. There have also been very few changes in the WWE roster which is even thinner than 2014 and has even fewer legends.

There is no creation mode this time around. The ability to create a diva, new arena, theme song and title are all missing from 2K15. A few changes in combat and commentary don't live up to the hype created by the game's developers Visual Concepts and Yuke's.

The saving grace for the title are its two new features: 2K Showcase and Who Got NXT. 2K Showcase has detailed visuals of some of WWE’s most epic moments, rivalries and in-ring encounters with authentic voiceovers and historic footage. There is also a lot of unlockable content as well as the opportunity to have dream match-ups between WWE superstars of the past and present.

In Who Got NXT, the player can develop and grow an amateur WWE star and lead him to greatness. There is an assortment of talent from NXT programming and the user can help them graduate through modes like WWE Exhibition and Universe. And if the player can go all the way, and complete the NXT star mode, an even greater surprise awaits.

The problem however is that once you’ve explored 2K Showcase and Who Got NXT, there is very little else to do. The small roster and lack of options means that regular users would prefer to build their existing careers on 2K14 rather than start all over in the latest version. In retrospect, the visuals of 2K15 are nothing to write home about either.

VERDICT: You always expect the new version of a game to be better, but at a premium price, WWE 2K15 is a huge let down! Guess we'll have to wait for the next.

From the December 2014 issue of FHM India.