*This review was completed playing the Playstation 4 (PS4) version of the WWE 2K16 video game.
WWE 2K16 is the latest edition of the annual WWE video game series, and the third one from publisher 2K Games.
This year’s game is the closest it’s ever been to a ‘true’ simulation wrestling game, very different from the button-mashing games in under the “Smackdown” banner from previous consoles. The UI is definitely polished and has that 2K Sports feel, and also achieves that grand look that WWE tries (and does) bring across in their television production.
The menus are dynamic and easy to navigate, the soundtrack is very good and diverse, and I had fairly short loading times which made starting a match really easy. One of the selling points in 2K16 was the roster size, and it definitely delivers. The roster is one of the most up-to-date in the series, and having the popular NXT stars like Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze is sure to please a lot of people. There will always be people who gripe about someone being left out (this year it was the omission of the NXT Divas) but this roster is otherwise really solid and has a nice blend of current stars and legends. On the flip side of that, however, is the detail in some of the character models. Many are really detailed and look appropriate enough for next-gen graphics (Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Triple H were stand outs), and some (Renee Young, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns) were either odd looking or just pretty poor.
There are several gameplay modes to choose from, including the 2K Showcase featuring cover athlete and WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. This mode does a nice job of not only celebrating Austin’s career, but recaps it with some nice video packages you’d expect to see on WWE programming. The matches included feature many big moments from Austin’s WWE career, and some lesser known ones (at least to WWE Attitude Era fans) like his WCW Bash at the Beach match against Ricky Steamboat, and ECW November To Remember match against Mikey Whipwreck. I would have liked to have seen a little more early Austin stuff, but I understand why it’s not there as his Stone Cold character was ‘born’ in WWE.
The MyCareer mode shows improvements, letting you build from a brand new created star that starts with NXT coach Matt Bloom and makes it through the main roster. This is a good starting point for anyone unfamiliar with the new controls as they let you repeat the move until you get them down pat instead of another mode giving an on-screen graphic and that’s it. There were a few matches (including parts of Showcase Mode) where I lost a match early on because I hadn’t learned something properly yet (like chain wrestling, for example.) Another thing that is improved is the match making system for the online portion of the game. This time out, you pick your match type and find an opponent, but this doesn’t always work. Picking a common match will get you an opponent quicker than a specialty match. Overall, it’s improved and gets you playing quicker than the old background matchmaker.
