A little bit ago 2K Games announced they would be releasing their WWE console game onto both Android and the iOS platform and today the day has come. Let’s take a look at what you can expect to get for $7.99.
I would venture to say that 2K games weren’t able to take the entire console version of WWE 2K and squeeze it into the ~600MB Android(or even iOS) versions here. However, it does feel like the kept in the good parts while cutting out the excess bits. I haven’t’ played the console version so I can’t say for sure what the main differences are.
I will do my best to point out where I feel things have been trimmed away though.
When you first launch the game you will see the WWE franchise wrestler, John Cena, with the instructions to tap on the screen to proceed. Tapping here will bring you to the main menu of WWE 2K. Here you have options like Quick Play, Play, Create, Stats and Options. You don’t have very many options here. No difficulty settings, no graphics settings, just a place for you to look at your Achievements, the Leaderboards, the language setting, some audio settings and a way to reset your in-game stats.
Quick Play is just that, a way to quickly and easily jump into a match. Simply tap on it and you will immediately head to a loading screen before seeing two random wrestlers make their way to the squared circle. Create lets you create, edit or delete one of your custom WWE superstars. Stats will bring up a massive roster of all of the wrestlers and give you stats like time played, strikes, grapples, wins and the wrestler’s actual stats(for striking, grappling, agility, submissions, etc.).
Tapping on the Play option will bring you the main section of the game. Here you will find options for playing a Singles match(which can be a Standard match, a Cage match or a no DQ match), the Career mode, Multiplayer and Training mode. I think game modes like Career and Multiplayer will be the two most popular/played modes of the game. There will be some who go into the single match so they can pick and play their favorite wrestler, but I think the majority will be opting for the game modes with a little more depth.
My favorite game modes for WWE games, and it’s probably been 7-8 years since the last time I bought a wrestling game, has to be the Career mode. I remember one of them had a General Manager mode and that was really fun but for the most part I play through the Career mode and then dabble into the Multiplayer modes every now and then. To start a Career mode, you have to create a custom WWE superstar. This was the first sign of 2K Games cutting things down but then again, I don’t own the console version so I can’t say for sure.
I just assume that 2K Games would have added in more customizable features for these wrestlers in the full console version. You can’t change the face types here so they all end up looking like Randy Orton. You do get to change some things though. Things like hair and facial hair style/color, body size and height, a few wrestling attire options, the type of wrestler you will be(striker, grappler, etc) and a few ring entrance options. I can’t fault them for not putting in tons of options here but they could have at least let us customize the face.
Once you finish creating your custom WWE wrestler, you’ll begin the Career mode at week 1. You’ll see the match card listing on the right side for that week and your match will be listed there. At this menu you can also look at some things like your wrestler’s stats, your current goals and your current power ranking. This changes from week to week as you progress through your Career. I’m not sure how many weeks it will take to complete this since I only got it today and I’ve only been able to play a few matches so far.
During your rise to the top of the WWE, you’ll be given random(at least I assume they are random) goals. Just like you see in the image above, the main goal is to win a title. This will start off with one of the minor belts and you’ll progress your way up and try to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. You also have other, minor goals to complete during this rise to the top. Things like improving your rank to a certain number, winning a certain number of matches in a row, beating certain wrestlers. If this isn’t random, the replayability will be low but so far I think it is random.
Before you start your match, you’ll see who you are going to wrestle(and sometimes you’ll get to pick who you want to wrestle) and in each of these matches you will also have some conditions that you should aim for. You don’t have to complete these conditions but they are nice to have there so you can have additional goals to achieve. Going into a match with the mindset other than ‘I just have to win’ adds another layer of fun to it.
So here is the how the game looks. This just a cropped version, of course, but helps give you an idea of what to expect. I have to say that the graphics in WWE 2K for Android are pretty good for a mobile game. The actual wrestlers look more real than a custom-made one but that’s understandable. The entire game is controlled by touch and swipe actions. Heads of both wrestlers will be in the top left and right of the screen and they show you things like your current health, endurance/stamina and crowd hype.
If you get knocked down, and it will happen a lot while you are getting used to it, you’ll be instructed to swipe up time and time again to build up a meter. Once that meter is filled up then you will get up on your own. The more beat up your wrestler is then the slower that meter will fill up. This same system is in place for being pinned, being in a submission hold, etc. The more damage you have taken in the match the harder it is to get out of those predicaments.
You need to tap on the opponent in order to ‘highlight’ them. You’ll see they will have a blue circle around their feet when they are highlighted. You can still punch and grapple someone without doing this, but selecting them will make it easier to target them in case they move around. Just like you tap on someone to target them, you tap on various parts of the screen to move. Tap on the top part of the ring and your character will walk up there. Tap on the opponent and your character will walk toward them.
Swiping across the screen with one finger will do a dash/charge type attack. Swiping with two fingers across the screen(in the same direction) will make your character run in that direction. Swiping up toward a turnbuckle will instruct your character to walk to it and then climb in. Swiping toward the opponent while you are on the turnbuckle will make your character jump off and attack in that general direction. Doing a two finger inward pinch gesture on the screen will initiate a grapple.
If both wrestlers grapple at the same time then you will be instructed to tap on the screen multiple times. Whoever taps the most gets the upper hand and gets to choose which grapple move to do. When you initiate a grapple, you’ll see four arrows on the screen. Swiping up will do one grapple, swiping left will do another, swiping right will do yet another and swiping down will start a submission move. If you get grappled, you’ll see that same thing but this is your chance to reverse it. If you pick the same direction that your opponent picks, then you’ll get the counter.
Tapping on the screen once will command your character to do a single punch(a strike) and this goes for things like stomping them on the ground too. Tapping multiple times with one finger will do a three hit combo with the last hit knocking the opponent down. The whole thing confused me at first and I lost the first three matches I was in while I was getting used to things. Once you get the hang of it though, you start to learn the subtle things like timing and all.
To keep things interesting, 2K Games has included a game mechanism called a Comeback. As it says above, if you have enough hype and you are low enough on health, then doing a double finger swipe up while you are on the ground will instantly make you get up. This is basically like when a wrestler is down but the fans are behind him enough to summon that little extra bit of strength. I like this idea since it allows those who have built up some hype to bounce back and it keeps the game interesting once things get very close to the end.
All in all, I would say that WWE 2K is a pretty fun game. I barely stay up to date with the wrestling scene anymore and thankfully you don’t have to enjoy the game. I would have liked to see more story elements in the Career mode. I would have liked to see more customization options in the create a wrestler section. I would also have liked to see more match modes than regular, cage and no disqualification. The game is priced at $7.99(it was at $0.99 when it first launched for a couple of hours) but it doesn’t have any in-app purchases. For that reason alone I would recommend it.
Just know that it is limited when compared to the full console version. I kind of like the idea behind this. I would rather see it priced at something like $4.99 and we might see that a little later, but a lower price point like this(even at 8 dollars) is reasonable. It gives you a little taste of what the game is like and then you can opt for the full console version later if you would like. That’s kind of double dipping the customers but there will be plenty of people who just by the mobile version and are happy enough with that.
Did you pick up WWE 2K on your smartphone or tablet yet? If so, I’m looking to find out what you think of the game. For anyone who has both the console version and the mobile version, I am extremely curious to find out what the difference are between the two.
