Gone are the glory days of WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw. The series was arguably the peak of wrestling gaming and it’s unlikely that we’ll see such a revolutionary run ever again. The 2K franchise is trying its best to garner the same goodwill as its predecessor, but WWE 2K19 proves it still has a long way to go.
You know how one of the common complaints about FIFA is how it’s basically the same game being released on a yearly basis with a new coat of paint? Well, it looks like 2K Sports lives by the same mantra as EA Sports.
The changes to the gameplay are so minimal that it’s almost criminal this is being passed off as a new title when it’s nothing more than a DLC masquerading as a fresh release. While the developers promised this would be less sluggish and faster than previous titles, it’s still the same. Remember that crappy reversal system where you tap R2? Still here. And the horrendous grappling system that makes you hate actually wrestling? Yip, also here. Undoubtedly, the worst – and most infuriating – aspects are the Hell in the Cell and the Royal Rumble matches, which are exciting spectacles to watch on TV, yet they’ll infuriate players to no end here as they’re mind-numbingly boring slogs.
Additionally, I don’t know what happened to the graphics as they’ve taken a bizarre step backwards. I swear that Brock Lesnar looked better in 2003’s WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain than WWE 2K19. Heck, when the superstars make fun of how they look, you know there’s a problem that needs to be addressed. It’s equally embarrassing that long hair in the game either stays glued to the player’s skull or moves around like it would in a badly programmed sixth-gen title. When you see other games with intricate water and facial features, it’s disappointing to see something so simple ignored here. Sure, there are uglier games around, but when you compare this to the likes of other sports titles, you’d expect something a lot better looking.
It’s not all bad news, though, as WWE 2K19 has included a whole load of new superstars – which you’ll need to acquire via VC, of course – to create an impressive roster filled with all the current and all-time greats (except CM Punk because of reasons). There’s also the 2K Showcase mode, which lets you experience Daniel Bryan’s journey with cool retrospective videos and task-centric matches, and the Mortal Kombat-esque Towers modes that provide different challenges. Universe hasn’t changed much, but that’s okay as its unpredictability and expansiveness are its biggest selling points. Additionally, the Create a Superstar feature will still be one of the most popular as you’ll love creating Kanye West purely so he can catch some hands from Braun Strowman.
In fact, from a modes perspective, WWE 2K19 shows that the developers are listening to the fans and what they want. This is the most jam-packed edition of the series, but you have to question if that’s enough for fans to dish out more money for effectively the same game as last year’s version.
It’s unreasonable to accept developers to overhaul the entire mechanics system of a game on a year-to-year basis. However, we can’t be forking out hard-earned money for a title that’s essentially the same as the one before it. EA Sports suggested that FIFA could be released as a subscription service in the future, and maybe 2K Sports should consider the same thing for its WWE games. If you’ve skipped out the last few years of wrestling gaming, this might feel fresh to you. For the rest, WWE 2K19 is more of the same – no matter how many paints of coat 2K Sports plasters over it.
The Review
WWE 2K19
WWE 2K19 is more of the same – no matter how many paints of coat 2K Sports plasters over it.
Same old crap, aimed at same old stooges. Once, I pre-ordered wrestling games, then I’d pick them up at some point. I haven’t purchased one since 2016 (which I returned) I’ll get the new Fire Pro as that isn’t aimed at 5 year olds.
Firepro isn’t that great either though. The creation suite allows you to create pretty much anyone but, the story leaves a lot to be desired and the game play doesn’t get you very far.
This review seems lazy, and somewhat biased. It comes across more as you looking at what others have been complaining about on the previous games that 2K has made, then putting that into a review to be released on the game’s release day just so that your review can get reviews. I’ll try to go over the glaringly obvious flaws with the review:
1. MyCareer and the new Payback system aren’t in this review, despite MyCareer being overhauled, now with voice acting, and the Payback system being a new gameplay feature. In the review, you said that the gameplay is the same, but if this is true, you would have explicitly stated that the new Payback system doesn’t add much to the gameplay. You didn’t mention it at all, so I find it hard to take your word on the gameplay being the same.
2. You mentioned CM Punk not being in the game, but not Tommaso Ciampa, the current NXT champion. A lot of people have been complaining about it, and there are multiple twitter threads about it, which adds to me believing that you guys were lazy with this review, and possibly didn’t even play the game
3. You really talk about anything that was added, and I’m saying ‘really’ because you did mention 2K towers, but you didn’t talk about the changes to Hell in a Cell, the changes to the Steel Cage match, the changes to the ring sounds, heck, you guys didn’t even state that we can create our own money in the bank now.
4. You spoke about the Smackdown vs Raw games being the glory days, but that doesn’t make sense in the context of this review. So you said that you didn’t like the reversal system being the same, even though they adjusted the timing which they do almost every year, but the reversal system is pretty similar to how it was back in the Smackdown vs Raw games. They had you reversing with RT for grapples, and LT for strikes, with both of them pressed to reverse a finisher until it was changed in one of them. I don’t remember off of the top of my head which one changed it, but I think it was SvR 2009, which would mean that it hasn’t been changed for 10 years. If you’re talking about the reversal limits, then you should know by now that you can turn it off in the options, since it’s been like that since it was introduced.
So overall, this review is dishonest, and it makes it pretty hard to believe that you guys even played the game. Updating the review would be the best thing to do, or you could leave it like that and potentially receive more emails like this, but releasing dishonest reviews in an attempt to appeal to consumers won’t work if consumers begin to realise what you’re doing.
you are obviously on the spectrum