Wish List – WWE 2K15

This fall will see pro wrestling's debut on new-gen consoles, with WWE 2K15 scheduled to release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. I've enjoyed the last couple years of the product, but would love to see a few things be shaken up with 2K's first full development cycle in the franchise. Here's my take on fantasy booking WWE 2K15:

Original Story – The Invasion, Done Right

With the last two installments, 2K (and before them, THQ) focused on two of the most important historical happenings in wrestling history – the Attitude Era in the late 90s, and the history of WrestleMania. A mode focusing on the "Ruthless Aggression" or "New Generation" time periods would feel like a step back in terms of historical importance, so I'd propose a different idea entirely.

In my opinion, one of the most mishandled events in company history was Vince McMahon's buyout of WCW. What should have been a dream scenario involving WWF going to war with their longtime rival turned into a massive disappointment. Instead of waiting for huge stars like Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Goldberg, and many more to be ready to move over to WWF, the company pulled the trigger way too early. Instead of dream matches like Steve Austin vs. Goldberg, we were supposed to care about mid-to-low carders like Shawn Stasiak, Mike Awesome, and Chuck Palumbo (the only truly big stars that WWF brought over at this early stage were Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T).

Thanks to the magic of video games and the fact that many of WCW's big names are now working for Vince McMahon, some VO work and an original script can allow gamers to play a rectified version of this pivotal era. Imagine if the NWO, Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Ric Flair, Curt Hennig and more invaded an episode of Monday Night Raw without warning, sparking a months-long storyline. The only way we could see something like this at this point is via a video game, and I'd love to see it in 2K15.

Alternate Story Idea – Follow The Career Of One Superstar

Another option for a cool story mode would be to follow the real-life path of one veteran superstar. To make things easier in terms of copyrights, it would need to be someone that came up primarily in the WWE system (for example, someone like Daniel Bryan would be difficult because of his work in numerous independent promotions). The two best options I can think of would be The Undertaker and John Cena. Both have long, storied careers, and the majority of their time has been spent firmly under WWE branding. It would follow along with 2K's sports games that have recreated the career of Michael Jordan or focused on a player-created basketball star. Highlights like WrestleMania matches and title wins would be playable as the player takes the superstar through the many years of his career.

Better VO For Story Mode

If a new WWE game is going to feature an original story, then an increase in voice-over quality is critical. Previous Road To WrestleMania storylines have featured VO work from actual superstars, but the delivery has been mediocre even when coming from skilled mic workers like Triple H. Recording VO work in a booth is much different than playing off of a crowd of 18,000 fans, and it shows in the final product. How 2K chooses to go about this is an issue for the development team to work on, but something needs to be done to make the single player mode's dialogue sound more authentic.

Introduce NXT

One of the most exciting things about the current wrestling landscape is NXT, WWE's developmental system that puts on weekly shows based out of Full Sail University. It's a huge collection of highly talented young workers, and it's been fascinating watching their new characters develop before they're brought up to the main roster. The last couple of years have seen the grooming of current main roster stars like The Shield, Big E, Summer Rae, Emma, Alexander Rusev, Xavier Woods, and the Wyatt Family. Still down in Florida are potentially huge stars like Sami Zayn, Paige, Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze, and more. It's nice to see NXT logos and the like in the Create An Arena mode, but I'd love the ability to select the actual superstars and battle in the actual NXT arena at Full Sail. 

Improved Striking Attacks

Recent years have seen many improvements to the series' control scheme and the overall flow of matches, but one annoying element has remained. No matter how much you mash on or hold that X button, your punches and kicks feel like they're thrown by Linda McMahon even if you're playing as Brock Lesnar. These games are based solely on an industry that consists largely of dudes punching each other, and it's important that changes are made that make it feel like these strikes are actually doing damage.

A More Realistic Crowd

A common complaint in the last generation of WWE titles revolved around the stiff crowd. It frequently consisted of oft-repeated character models performing the same canned animations in sync with each other. With next-gen hardware at their disposal, I hope that the team at 2K Games can create a more dynamic and realistic crowd. I love the idea of making Daniel Bryan do the "Yes!" taunt in the ring, followed by the crowd joining in with the motion and audio.

Don’t Limit The Roster

While I'd love to see the story mode focus squarely on a retold Invasion in 2001, I'd prefer that the roster not be limited to those that were active at the time. In the last two entries in the series, we've been able to select everyone from Bruno Sammartino and Big John Studd to Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. Being able to put together dream matchups is one of the best elements of WWE video games, and it also opens up plenty of fun fantasy booking for WWE Universe mode. There are obviously some personalities that can't be used for one reason or another (Chris Benoit, Chyna, The Dudley Boyz, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, etc), but the development team has impressed in the past with some wide-reaching rosters.

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