When the dust settles, expect to see over 100 characters, which is a massive roster for a title like this.Īll of this is good and fine as a selling point, but how does the game play? Having played just about every major wrestling title in the history of gamekind (yes I still own a copy of WCW Backstage Assault too,) I’ve always felt as though the playability of a wrestling title is directly driven by its controls, basic mechanics and how those both interact together. Characters have not yet “disappeared” either when they’re no longer with the company, so you can still pick up the Good Brothers, Erick Rowan and the aforementioned Fox. I don’t know that you’ll see much change from what’s already been announced, but there are plenty of upcoming wrestlers that were released during WWE’s Covid cuts and some that are now out of contract, so while I want to see the previously announced Sting, I wouldn’t be surprised that wrestlers like he and Curtis Axel have been shelved. Of course, all DLC is subject to change, but it seems like character likenesses have been getting worked on for a while if Alicia Fox (who hasn’t been with WWE for nearly a year) is on the game’s out of the box main roster. 2K has already announced a large fleet of WWE superstars coming soon, so if you’re waiting to see some of your favourites that are primed as “coming soon,” you will see them soon. By the time it hit shelves in March 2011, THQ was already in financial trouble and the developing studio in San Diego closed one year later. While a limited amount of character DLC was released (with emphasis on the “limited” part,) things were abandoned fairly quickly. One of the biggest beefs I had with WWE All Stars was the lack of roster depth. The Florida stage, for example, is my favourite battleground, with the ability to throw your opponent to Alligators.
Each environment also has its own unique quirks and interactions. You take the role of a new up-and-comer each time you visit a different city, which culminates in you taking on a boss character and then unlocking that arena/battleground as you move on toward Wrestlemania.Įach of these unlocks will ultimately affect your exhibition matches too, since it’s the only way to unlock new environments and the unique challenges they bring. The 118-objective career mode should probably take you somewhere between 5-10 hours to complete, and has you playing out Stone Cold Steve Austin’s mission of creating a new Underground-esque wrestling promotion at Vince McMahon’s request.
The standing room only crowds aren’t super animated, and the rings are what they are. The character models are the highlight of all graphics though. They’re not as over the top as All Stars was, but still fun and cartoony. The character builds are extremely cartoony without being ridiculously over exaggerated. One thing that will catch your eye right away is the character design. Of course, if you just want to buy your way to your roster, there’s a store and there are usually rotating bundles to cut down the individual purchase prices. It seems like the dailies give you enough coins to blitz through common tier unlocks (like Naomi, Carmella, the Good Brothers, etc) pretty quickly, but you’ll need to play through a few days in a row by the end of it to get the Hogans, Ultimate Warriors and Sasha Banks’ of the world. Some characters can also be unlocked by just progressing through career mode. Currency works similarly to 2K’s basketball games: Complete objectives or just play and grind, or else you can throw a few real dollars in to speed up the unlock process. You have a list of about 20-30 wrestlers available off the top, with more that you can buy through your choice of virtual or real currency. Right out of the box, you should know that the character selection is pretty good. Boasting a massive roster at release with more to come, Battlegrounds is available now for Xbox One and Series, but is it worthy of the spotlight or should we throw it over the top rope?
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With the annual 2K series on hold this year, 2K Sports has turned their sights on WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a lighter hearted arcade style title with more bells and whistles than some of the cartoony predecessors from the past. It’s been nearly a decade since THQ released WWE All Stars, which I still think is an underappreciated work of art. Once in a while, you need a wrestling game that doesn’t take itself seriously. Average Overall Score Given: 7.44318 / 10