It feels like the game has been fine-tuned, rather than systems completely overhauled. Reversals still involve tapping the trigger at the right time, though it felt like the system was a little more forgiving when it came to timing. Pinning and kicking out works the same as it did before. You still have to manage your stamina and can’t go flailing your way through a match. The submission mini-game remains the same, though it now has an alternate option.
WWE 2K17’s matches are rather similar to the ones found in WWE 2K16, albeit with some minor tweaks. This game is extensive, offering all sorts of options. You can take them through 13 kinds of One on One matches, six sorts of Two on Two matches, seven Triple Threat match types, seven kinds of Fatal Four-Ways, six different Six-Man matches, two types of Handicap matches, two types of Tournaments, and three sorts of Royal Rumbles. To compare, last year we had about 120 characters. Including DLC, over 150 characters are available. In addition to the My Career and WWE Universe simulation modes, where you’re actually participating as an original wrestler or orchestrating shows, there are tons of standard matchups that let you immediately begin playing the game as characters you’ve created, unlocked, and (sadly in the case of Shinsuke Nakamura) bought. Of course, the game isn’t just large in terms of file size. It’s a nice feature to help you kill time while you wait, and one I appreciated. As it downloads, you can actually play Normal One on One matches with AJ Styles, Brock Lesner, Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns.
Fortunately, it has a neat feature to keep you occupied while you wait.
If you’re going to be downloading it to, say, your PlayStation 4, you’ll need 58GB free for the game and day one patch. This means a game with a larger roster and more customization and management options that fine-tunes a number of issues, but doesn’t offer any huge alterations to the WWE 2K formula.įirst, WWE 2K17 is a rather large game. Yuke’s and Visual Concepts clearly realize WWE 2K16 did a lot of things right and have taken an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to this year’s game. These, in turn, lead to the iteration that fixes everything after huge mistakes were made and entry that does its best to make minor improvements while not ruining a good thing. You have the installment that shakes things up and makes things much better as a result, as well as the one that experiments and falls flat.
Yearly entries in established series usually fall into four categories.