WWE 2K16: Improvements to be Made from 2K15

Since 2K Games and Visual Concepts have essentially taken over the WWE franchise from Yuke’s, it is time for players to look forward to the future of the WWE video game franchise. WWE 2K15 was a decent start, but it had plenty of flaws. The game received a lukewarm reception among critics. In many ways, fans were disappointed with the lack of features and omissions from previous games. The main problem: WWE 2K15 was clearly a rushed game. The end product was essentially billed as a basis for bigger things in the future. As a result, the game did not live up to all that was promised. The next-gen version of WWE 2K15 was not truly a next-gen game. However, rather than wallowing in the negatives, here are some ways that the franchise can improve for the next installment. While WWE 2K15 was not all that it was cracked up to be, 2K Games and Visual Concepts should learn from this experience to make a much better game.

One significant issue for WWE 2K16 is that the Creation Suite needs a massive overhaul. WWE 2K15’s Creation Suite had some interesting features, but it was extremely stripped down. WWE 2K16 will need to implement new features. Players should be able to create WWE Divas. In addition, the number of Create-A-Wrestler slots requires a massive increase. WWE 2K15 contains only 30 empty CAW slots. So, even if players want to edit an existing WWE Superstar, that takes up a CAW slot. The next game should have at least 100 empty CAW slots in order to tinker and customize with created wrestlers. Other features that need to be restored for the Creation Suite are Create-An-Arena and Create-A-Championship. Since, WWE 2K15 does not provide fans with any WCW arenas or pay-per-view sets, fans should be able to create those environments. In addition, Create-A-Championship in WWE 2K16 should be added for perfect title re-creations.

MyCareer Mode needs a big overhaul. Fans have complained about the lack of difficulty changes for MyCareer. That could be a tweak for the game mode. I would also like to see the implementation of a current roster Superstars for MyCareer Mode. I have heard all the arguments against this practice. There is no excuse for not implementing this feature for a next-gen game. I prefer to use the more polished in-game models for the wrestlers. Unable to get voice recordings for all the stars? The game should simply use stock recordings, a default voice or have the Superstar remain silent. Plenty of video games have silent protagonists in single-player campaigns. The point is, the next console generation is in full swing. I am sick of hearing excuses for why things should be a certain way, when other games attempt ideas that are outside the box.

Improved parity among the character models for WWE 2K16 is necessary. WWE 2K15 was clearly rushed. So 2K Games should have no excuses for the character models in WWE 2K16. The problem with WWE 2K15 was that some character models were really impressive, while others looked horrendous. Diamond Dallas Page’s face for example. Hopefully, when WWE 2K16 rolls around, 2K Games and Visual Concepts have this under control.

WWE 2K15 was not a total loss. However, the release essentially played like a dry run and not a true representation of what 2K Games wanted to accomplish with the franchise. Hopefully, by WWE 2K16, Visual Concepts will have learned from its mistakes to make a much-improved game.