The pace of the action is still far too plodding, and the game is overly reliant on disconnected reversals dictating the outcome of each matchup.
Now, I'm not expecting this series to suddenly adopt the fast-paced, arcade-style sensibilities of its forebears, but something slightly more sprightly wouldn’t be amiss, either. But some nagging issues still drag down the overall quality of the in-ring action. Ladder placement is now restricted to specific positions dotted around the arena, which certainly makes things easier but does rob these matches of some spontaneity.Īll of these changes, however incremental, move the needle in a positive direction. Now, you'll never have to suffer the ignominy of setting up a ladder-only to climb it and find out it's not in the exact right position required to grab a dangling briefcase. Ladder matches have also seen some ease-of-use adjustments. A simple tap of R3 cycles through each wrestler involved in the bout, with the name of your target appearing above your wrestler's head for a short moment. Switching between targets is, thankfully, a lot less cumbersome this year, too. Mechanically, this gives you time to regain lost stamina, but you can also cut this process short if you want to get up early and try to stop someone else from getting a three-count. As damage is inflicted to various superstars, they'll roll out of the ring and lay on the outside to recover for a short time, making the in-ring action a lot less disorganised. Much like actual multi-person matches, the action is still mostly confined to two warring combatants. WWE 2K17 fixes this issue and injects a dose of realism into proceedings at the same time. With everyone stuffed inside the ring at the same time, moves were constantly disrupted, and matches would extend far beyond their expiration date as one pin after another was irritatingly broken up. Previously, these scuffles were a noxious mix of the chaotic and the frustrating.
Similarly welcome are some of the improvements made to multi-person matches. Sure, backstage brawls are nothing groundbreaking, but it's an anarchic addition that's entirely welcome. Raw, but there's no denying the joy to be had powerbombing your opponent onto a sturdy oak desk while Vince McMahon stands by, undeterred. With the gorilla position, a hazardous hallway, locker room, and Authority office ready to be demolished, this isn't as gargantuan a space as it was in the halcyon days of WWE SmackDown! vs. And taunting now provides mid-match buffs, which makes sense and gives these gestures the same measure of importance they carry on TV.įor the first time in a few years, you can take the fight backstage, too. There's also an alternative submission minigame that ditches the swiveling red and blue blocks for much more intuitive button mashing. While the reversal system, pin/kickout mechanics, stamina management, and submission minigame remain relatively unchanged, there's some welcome fine-tuning sprinkled throughout.Ĭounters, for instance, now feature a much more generous timing window and come in two flavors: minor and major-with the latter eating up two reversal slots but dishing out damage to your thwarted opponent. For one, singles matches have seen some incremental refinements that improve the ebb and flow of each contest. With that being said, however, I wouldn't hesitate to call WWE 2K17 a better video game than its immediate predecessors.
It's an acquired taste, for sure, and if you haven't enjoyed this deliberate style previously-and perhaps yearn for the days of old-2K17 isn’t going to change your mind. Much like last year, matches in WWE 2K17 have a distinctly measured pace, focused on capturing the look and feel of the current WWE product as closely as possible. It's clear that developers Yuke's and Visual Concepts want to forge their own unique path to a simulation style of wrestling video game, iterating further and further in this direction with each passing installment. Since the shift to current-generation consoles, 2K's WWE series has steered away from the arcade-style formula of its extensive lineage.