WWE 2K

With the release of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 introduced a new game mechanic - a new control and grab scheme called the Ultimate Control Moves. Unlike previous games in the series, when a player needed only two buttons - capture and strike, in the new game, players were given the opportunity to choose a position to capture and continue to capture the attack, which depended on the position (for each position several punches and attacks were provided) . For example, a player could stand in the position for conducting a suplex, and after that hold any of several suplexes - the player chose it himself. ^{[1] [2]} Before WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 , players demanded that the developers develop a system of pain. The developers heard the fans of the series, and in the new game a new pain system appeared in which the player needed to move the analog stick on the gamepad to force the opponent to surrender, but the opponent would do everything possible to break out, or make you surrender if he holds the painful grip . ^[3]

In each game in the SmackDown vs. Series Raw a human figure was displayed on the screen, which showed what damage and in what parts of the body the wrestler received. The more damaged any part of the body, the more successful the painful grip on it will be. The color showed how serious the damage was - yellow showed minimal damage, orange - not very serious, red - serious damage. ^[4] In SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, this system was cut out, and damage could be found only by the look of a wrestler - if something was damaged, it would hold on to it with its hand or limp (in cases with damaged legs). In WWE '12 , the damage display system is back - when you click on the right bumper of the gamepad next to the opponent, you can see the damage, and also make a blow to the legs, arms or head. At the same time, you can see your damage only by the behavior of the fighter. The game has four main ways to win the match - hold, pain, knockout, victory on the countdown; there is also a draw. With the appearance of the referee in the ring at WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It , an opportunity to win by disqualification. By the way, there are several modes in which you can win in other ways - stair battles (these include Tables, Ladders and Chairs battles), where the victory is awarded to someone who removes any item that can only be climbed by stairs; a match with tables where you can win by throwing an opponent through the table; matches Inferno, where victory is given to the one who threw the opponent through the fire.

WWE SmackDown Release ! vs. Raw allowed players to choose between face (public's favorite) and heal ("bad guy"). Heal will receive a bad reaction in the hall, while the face will be received warmly. Heal will try to do dirty tricks - attack the referee, use illegal objects (chairs, sticks). Face will fight honestly, and increase his mood at the expense of the audience. All this will lead to one thing - the ability to use your own crown technique. There are also differences - the face will make an honest and beautiful reception, while the heal can strike between the legs, or try to strangle. ^{[5] [6]}

WWE SmackDown Release ! vs. Raw 2006 introduced an endurance system that displayed wrestler endurance in the form of a strip on the screen. During the use of a difficult technique or with fast movement, the endurance strip decreased. When the wrestler is in a "state of rest" (stands or does simple tricks), endurance accumulates. When the power supply of a wrestler is running out, the actions of that slow down greatly. If the supply of strength is exhausted, the wrestler falls to the floor from fatigue, and rises only when the supply of endurance increases slightly. ^{[7] [8]} The system was cut out and replaced with a standard one with the release of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 .

A new capture system came with WWE '12 . Characters now use tricks based on the enemy’s physical condition. There are new opportunities for attacking the enemy lying on the floor. The retention system has been redesigned - now it has become more difficult to break out to a badly damaged wrestler. The ability to "steal" the final tricks has returned. The "Return" system “Comeback” allowed you to use a set of specific actions, correctly performing which, the wrestler got the opportunity to use the crown and final techniques. ^{[9] The} system of pains has changed again - now it has become easier to choose a part of the body to be taken on, and to get out of the grip or make your opponent give up, you again need to quickly press buttons (this system has become more realistic). ^{[10] The} moments “OMG!” Were presented in the new WWE '13 - they include a breach of fences, a ring or a commentary table. Weight categories will also receive an update - now lightweights (such as Ray Mysterio) will not be able to lift heavyweights (such as the Big Show). Holdings will now depend not only on the total damage to the body of the wrestler, but also on the strength of the reception before holding. In the new game of the series, along with the choice of the arena, wrestler and the number of final moves at the beginning of the match (which will allow for short story matches), a battle tempo will be selected, which also depends on the complexity of the AI. Factors such as damage, aggressiveness, pulling out of deductions and frequent reverse actions will affect the pace.

Season Mode / Road to WrestleMania / Attitude Era Mode / 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode / 2K Showcase Mode

In the WWE series SmackDown vs. Raw player was allowed to choose a wrestler from the roster of the game and participate in a mode called "Season". In this mode, the players go along with the selected wrestlers the bumpy path to the top, earn the respect of fellow wrestlers and the popularity of the fans. Like real WWE stars, their protégé in the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw participated in various storylines that influenced a lot in their future journey. Starting with WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth , the so-called “draft” was included in the game, and several brands first appeared in the game. Now the player could defend and win the titles of the brand to which he is assigned, fight with those wrestlers that are present in the roster of this brand. By the way, winning the title gave the wrestler in the "Season" more popularity and more frequent appearances in the main fights ( "Main Event" ). The highlight of his career year is the match at WrestleMania , the main PPV event of WWE. After this PPV, the career starts anew (new seasonal year), with the same wrestler selected and the same settings. Then WWE Draft Lottery is held , as a result of which the wrestler is assigned to a particular brand. ^{[11] [12]}

The Season mode has been replaced by the Road to WrestleMania mode, starting with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 , and was included in every subsequent game, including WWE '12 . In this mode, players go through different storylines for several wrestlers. The passage of some stories has become possible to take place in a cooperative (that is, together). This mode has become less arcade than its predecessor.

The Road to WrestleMania has been replaced by Attitude Era in WWE '13 . In this mode, players go through several storylines that took place at one of the most memorable times in the history of professional wrestling - in the Attitude era, which lasted from 1997 until the beginning of the first decade of the twenty-first century (respectively, and the passage of the regime takes place at this time).

The career mode has changed in WWE 2K14 from “Attitude Era” to “30 Years of WrestleMania” in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the main show of World Wrestling Entertainment - WrestleMania ( Russian. Wrestlemania ). On the way to passing the mode, the player will have to participate in many WrestleMania, for example in WrestleMania III , WrestleMania XIV or WrestleMania 29 .

The 2K Showcase mode is a documentary part of the game, which will touch upon the most famous confrontations in WWE / F - naturally, with gameplay inserts. Confirmed confrontations were the battles (both verbal and fighting) of SM Punk and John Cena in 2011-2013, as well as the battles of 2002-2004 between the Player and Sean Michaels. In total, these two confrontations will be held over 33 matches. Each of the matches will be accompanied by a historical part, as well as authentic arenas, wrestling suits and types of matches.

Season Mode / WWE Universe Mode

Season mode ( Eng. Season or Career) first appeared with the WWF SmackDown! Series and continued to evolve with the WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw ”until 2010. ^[13] Unlike WWE Universe mode, it was impossible to schedule matches in Season mode, the computer did it for the player (the player himself could only choose which character he would play in the season). It was also possible to go through the regime together, three, and even four, each playing for his chosen wrestler.

The WWE Universe mode ( WWE Universe ) first appeared in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 , replacing Season mode. In the mode, plots, events and relations between wrestlers (from friendship to hostility) were built, which could improve or worsen as a result of a match or some kind of cutscene. The player in this mode can control battles and create cutscenes, feuds, storylines. A player can participate in every match throughout the regime with any wrestler. Unlike the “Season” mode, this mode had exact time boundaries and it was possible to play it only one game year (but it could be reset after passing and started over). Cutscenes could appear before, during, or after a match. In WWE '13, the mode was improved ^[14] , many options appeared, in particular, the options “Statistics” and “Reset WWE Universe”. In the mode it became possible to edit arenas, PPVs or home shows (like Raw or SmackDown!), Or create your own. Next year, the functionality was expanded with the ability to create pre-configured "Confrontations", improved tuning of shows and matches.

Demonstration Mode

In each game of the series, in addition to other modes, there was a "Demonstration" mode, in which all types of matches possible for a particular game are available. The basic matches for each game were considered regular 1-on-1 battles, where the player chose a wrestler and fought either with AI or with another player. There are team matches where a couple of wrestlers team up to fight with another team. Team matches can be either 2-on-2 or 3-on-3. ^[15] In addition to regular matches, the game includes non-rule modes - matches with tables, chairs, stairs and other items (guitars, sticks, garbage cans, barbed wire); matches in a cage (there are three types of matches in a cage - in one you just need to get out of the cage to win the match, in the second the cage is a little wider and does not set out to get out of there, therefore the methods of victory are diverse - hold, pain, knockout; the third type is called “Elimination Chamber” - two people start the match, after a certain time four more wrestlers join them in turn - the goal is to remain the only one in the cage (by the way, this mode first appeared in WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain ). ^{[16] [ 17]} Each game also has a Roy match al Rumble ”, based on existing WWE combat - the goal is to remain the only one among nine, nineteen, twenty nine, or thirty nine wrestlers (Royal Rumble for 40 people first appeared in WWE '12 ). ^[18] In 2009 the type of match Inferno was presented (the goal is to throw the opponent through the ropes; the “trick” of the battle is the fire around the ring), and in 2010 the Championship Scramble match. Raw 2010 mode has been renamed from "Demo" to "Play / Game".

Multiplayer

Network game first appeared in WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw , and was available to owners of Sony PlayStation 2 and a network adapter to it. The game on the network was very inferior - the players had only two modes for the game - the usual “1-on-1”, as well as the “Bra and Panties” match, in which, playing for Diva, you should remove as much clothing from your opponent as possible. ^[19] With the release of WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 in online mode there are more varieties of matches, there was a protection of the titles you created and support for four players at the same time. ^[20] WWE SmackDown vs. Output Raw 2008 on the Xbox 360 console (on PS3 this feature appeared only in the next game of the series), players could select music from the hard drive of their console and import it into the game, and then apply it to the wrestler / diva output to the ring. ^[21]

Roster

Each game in the WWE SmackDown vs. Series Raw included a real-life WWE roster, consisting of wrestlers and Divas. Every year, with the departure of the old and the advent of new wrestlers in real life, wrestlers changed in the game. With WWF SmackDown! until WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It wrestlers were not attached to any brand. And in 2002, WWE divided the brands into Raw and SmackDown! . ^[22] At WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth first appeared precisely divided brands. ^[23] In 2006, WWE launched a new brand, ECW , which was named after Extreme Championship Wrestling . ^[24] This brand first appeared in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 . ^[25] Since 2002, WWE has been holding an annual event - WWE Draft, as a result of which some wrestlers (selected by lottery) switch from brand to brand. The game enters the development stage after the moment the Draft takes place, which means that the Draft results are reflected in the games. At WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain first appeared WWE Hall of Fame ceremony . ^{[26] The} so-called Alumni and Hall of Fame participants were included until WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 , but already in the next game of the series they were not due to the development of WWE Legends of Wrestlemania . ^[27] WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 was the first game to feature characters shipped as DLC . ^[28] Goldberg and Hulk Hogan returned for a long time to the roster in WWE 2K14, the first time with SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 in the game appeared Jake "Snake" Roberts. Bruno Sammartino also got a playable model in WWE 2K14, thereby making his debut in the series.

An interesting fact is that in each of the games in the series there were: Undertaker , Triple H , Kane , Edge , Vince McMan (sometimes he appeared as an unplayable character).

Creation Modes

Games in the series included the ability to create your own wrestler or Diva, including a set of movements and access to the ring. This feature first became available with WWF SmackDown! in the year 2000. The first changes to this mode came with WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role - the player could create and adjust the crown movements (warming up the audience, mocking the opponent). At WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth has the ability to change the wrestler's gait. ^[29] Configuring access to the ring became possible with the release of WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006 . ^[30] Continued improvements come with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 , where during the release of the wrestler it became possible to add specials. effects and pyrotechnics. ^[31] In addition to the mode of creating a wrestler, there were other modes in the games of the series. For example, in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 introduced the mode "Create a final hit / reception." The player was given a choice of 500 animations, of which, choosing up to 10, it was possible to create your own, unique final trick. On X360 and PS3 consoles with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 made it possible to customize the color of clothing for existing WWE wrestlers. The mode exists in the games of the series to this day and is called "Superstar Threads". In the same game in the series, the “Create Story” mode appeared, in which you could create your own storyline, consisting of promos, segments and battles. A new opportunity - "Create an Arena" appeared with the release of WWE '12 , in which the player was asked to create 50 of their own arenas for fighting on them. ^[32] This feature is also confirmed in WWE '13 - with major changes to the mode. ^[33] Thus, in WWE '13 the mode was seriously expanded, all the flaws from the previous game were taken into account. The creation modes with the transition from THQ to 2K did not stop improving - WWE 2K14 pleased fans with the opportunity to create unique characters based on the “heads” and “bodies” of real WWE stars, as well as the returning ability to create truly own titles.

Era THQ

Every game from the SmackDown !, series WWE SmackDown vs. Raw and WWE were designed and developed under the leadership of Yuke's and until 2013 THQ was published. ^{[34] [35]} Initially, the game engine was taken from the Japanese wrestling series Toukon Retsuden , which was also developed by Yuke's. ^[36] Prior to WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, the only media in the game were subtitles. The voice was added to the "Season" mode only with the beginning of the WWE SmackDown series! vs. Raw Real WWE wrestlers recorded their voices, and those were used in the scenes for protégé wrestlers in the game. There were also commentators in the game - from WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It every game had comments. ^[37]

Yuke's Studio in Yokohama (Japan) worked together with WWE bookers - they created storylines for the "seasonal" mode for each of the games in the WWE SmackDown series! vs. Raw ^[38] Starting with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, each game was released on more than one console. Yuke's also did porting so that the game engine supported new platforms for the game.

Era 2K

On December 19, 2012, THQ filed for bankruptcy. ^[39] After lengthy litigation and economic litigation, THQ left the market, selling all its assets at an auction held on January 22.

WWE Games received the owner later than the rest. On February 20, after a month of rumors and speculation, the buyer of the series and its publisher for the next 5 years, 2K Games , were publicly announced. ^[40] The first game under their wing, WWE 2K14 , was developed by the teams of Yuke's (the developer of the series throughout its existence) and Visual Concepts (the developer of the series of games published under the auspices of 2K Sports) and was released in the fall of 2013. Despite the fact that the game reached essentially the same engine, it looked fresher, richer and more dynamic than WWE '13, which won the hearts of fans of wrestling games around the world.

WWE2K16 was released on October 28, 2015. Major innovations, with the exception of the new pain system (which was not unique in this universe of the genre), were not noticed by users, as well as many small ones. There are 120 characters on the WWE2K16 roster, while only 60 on WWE2K15 .

Original WWF SmackDown! was one of the most popular games for the PlayStation in 2000 and has sold over a million copies. ^{[115] [116]} The game was criticized for its weak Season mode — the lack of plots and freedom of action made the mode uninteresting and passable, and the mode itself was called “disappointment”. ^[117] WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role received better reviews compared to the first game - for example, IGN said that the previously criticized "seasonal" mode "now works properly", but the game lacked commentators - regular music was not enough. ^[118] WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It , following IGN's words, took a small step towards improving the “Season” mode, ^[119] and GameSpot said that the appearance of commentators does not improve the gameplay, but rather distract and do not make the game better. ^[120]

WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain received much more positive reviews from both IGN and GameSpot, praised the improvements in "Season" mode, although problems were still visible, but smaller. One of the features of the mode in the new games of the series was that the plots in the mode were written by real WWE bookers. ^{[121] [122]} Both games were still complemented by music, but in better quality. Shut Your Mouth , although it made advancements in the comments in the game, it wasn’t successful, and was absolutely cut out in Here Comes the Pain . ^{[123] [124]} WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW earned the warmest reviews among previous ones - GameShark wrote that this game is “a great continuation of the SmackDown line! “Improved graphics, excellent gameplay and many other bells and whistles make the game shining.” ^[125] WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 received a rating of 9.2 out of 10 from IGN - they praised the General Manager mode and new types of matches. ^[126] WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 was rated rather cruelly - many were unhappy that almost nothing had changed in the game, and the added control features only worsened the gameplay. ^{[127] [128]}

• 2ksports.com/wwe - WWE 2K Official Website