WWE 2K18

PLAYING NOW

Choreographed pain is the norm in wrestling – but WWE 2K18 delivers it all too literally BEN WILSON

PUBLISHER 2K GAMES / DEVELOPER YUKE’S / VISUAL CONCEPTS / FORMAT XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE OCTOBER 2017

The heel turn – where a beloved wrestler embraces his nefarious side with no prior warning, usually by introducing his onscreen best friend’s spine to a steel chair – has been a storytelling staple of the pretend-fight game for decades. It’s perhaps appropriate, then, that every time WWE 2K18 teases all-time-great status, an unexpected gut-punch blindsides you back into reality. Appropriate, but also infuriating.

I’ve been playing this daily for six months and still can’t decide if it’s the most accomplished wrestling sim ever, or a buggy mess. Can I label it as both? Each patch – and as of March they’re almost into double figures – has fixed some elements while breaking others, with certain issues downright bizarre; for two weeks it became impossible for me to whip an opponent into the turnbuckles, an invisible wall shielding him or her from damage. Universe mode, in which you create shows and feuds, is especially WTF-worthy. I routinely have entire match cards disappear, and can’t deliver a promo – wrestling parlance for a self-aggrandising soliloquy – without an AI character interrupting.

The biggest issue is one of transparency. Ever sat on a train and found yourself annoyed not by the half-hour delay, but the lack of any concrete information as to when the problem might be resolved? It’s been the same for 2K18’s recent ‘fixes’. Patch-release notes have spiralled from obscure to virtually non-existent – four short, vague bullet points for version 1.07 – and the more fans demand answers on social media, the more publisher 2K retreats into its shell. That attitude only serves to fortify claims that 2K has essentially scrubbed its hands of this year’s game, instead choosing to focus on WWE 2K19 – an unacceptable situation given that its latest DLC pack, costing £7.99, only emerged in January. Slider meal While the developer’s actions warrant constructive criticism, its community deserves huge credit for keeping the game alive, and brilliantly playable, despite those bugs. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed tinkering with the in-ring fundamentals using slider sets found on sites such as caws.ws and Operation Sports, and as a result can piece together match cards (when they actually save) that build naturally from fastand-furious opener to finisher-andreversal-heavy main event.

User input is especially welcome where roster accuracy is concerned. There are no FIFA- or Madden-style weekly updates here, meaning it falls onto the fanbase’s shoulders to upload new additions to Raw, Smackdown and NXT. Tech established by Yuke’s and Visual

“After three encoura in years on current- en question marks now hover over the franchise’s future” Concepts makes that possible in the first place, so perhaps it’s unfair to paint them as villains with zero redeeming features. But there can be no doubt that, after three encouraging years on current-gen, question marks suddenly hover over the franchise’s future. If those studios can’t comprehensively

WHAT IS IT? fix a live product that’s had hundreds of thousands effectively ‘testing’ it The latest entry in the series which began as over a half-year period, what faith WWF SmackDown! 18 should the same audience have years ago, and has been regarding the stability of WWE 2K19 under 2K jurisdiction upon release? For half a decade this since THQ’s 2013 demise. series has been considered Rock solid. Now it’s in grave danger of turning its fanbase Stone Cold.