Support NeoGAF

[Bullet Club]

WWE 2K22 has reportedly been ‘completely rebuilt’ and is ‘looking fantastic’​

The series skipped a release last year following the disastrous launch of WWE 2K20

WWE 2K22 is looking “fantastic” following a complete rebuild of the series’ gameplay engine, it has been claimed.

Forbes writer Brian Mazique claimed during his latest YouTube discussion stream that he had spoken to people familiar with the game’s development, who informed him that things were looking promising.

“I have actually spoken with people who have good knowledge of the game and understand what’s happening from a developmental standpoint, and what I’m told about gameplay at this point is that it is fantastic,” he said.

“That is actually the word that was used for the latest build. The people who were playing the latest build have said the gameplay is fantastic.

“Anybody who is talking about gameplay at this point is probably somewhat close to 2K, so you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt, but I have been told that the game is playing fantastic and that the gameplay engine is completely rebuilt,” Mazique continued.




He later added: “I also heard that the controls are much cleaner than they have been before. Now, what cleaner means, I don’t know, but the last thing that I heard about this […] is that this feels like a wrestling fan’s wrestling game.”

WWE 2K22 will be the first WWE 2K title since the series skipped an annual release due to the disastrous launch of WWE 2K20.

WWE 2K20 was a disappointing full debut for developer Visual Concepts, resulting in one of the lowest Metacritic scores in 2K’s history, mostly due to a huge number of technical issues at release.

Last year, in a bid to enact a “renewed focus” on quality, publisher 2K hired former Double Helix studio head Patrick Gilmore to take over WWE 2K.

“Core gameplay is one of the major investments we’re making in the next instalment, one of six pillars we are focused on disproportionately in development,” Gilmore wrote in a Reddit Q&A in summer 2000.

“We are looking at much-loved previous games like No Mercy or Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain, along with top franchise instalments, and more modern wrestling and fighting games to build an all-new philosophical foundation for the game.”

2K Sports debuted the first trailer for WWE 2K22 at Wrestlemania in April, with the tagline “it hits different”. Nothing has been seen of the game since.

Source: VGC

 

[Marvel]

Doubt.

 

[skneogaf]

WWF Wrestle Fest is the only wrestling game I'll ever play.

 

[nush]

WWE 2K22 has reportedly been ‘completely rebuilt’ and is ‘looking fantastic’

 

[Connxtion]

Bring back WWF No Mercy, nothing comes close to that.

Looks dated as hell now a days but the gameplay and what you could do is still top notch

 

[TGO]

I saw the trailer, they kept of referencing Here Comes The Pain.
I thought they was showing footage from Here Comes The Pain

 

[GreatnessRD]

Fraudulent Concepts have a long way to go before anyone believes this, lol.

 

[Elpidio Valdés]

I have awesome memories of playing WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007. The story mode was amazing, I used to play it until 2-3am. Plus the multiplayer was really fun as well. I wish the developers the best, hopefully the next game brings back story mode and it also has great gameplay.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Well haven't they had 2 years to make this one?

Should be good, I hope so anyway.

 

[ManaByte]

Will WWE even exist by the time it releases?

 

[DForce]

Probably rebuilt it because they released 40+ wrestlers within the past 2 years.

 

[YoshiMadness]

I certainly hope so. The last truly great WWE game was 2K14. And 2K20 was embarrassing.

What we really need is Day Of Reckoning 3. An updated AKI engine game would be awesome. I loved the story mode and importance of created characters in that game. Definitely my favorite wrestling games.

 

[Shut0wen]

Even if the game wasnt broken itd still be shit, it trys to be as close as wwe is atm and wwe is just abso shit now

 

[Salmon Snake]

Just remake WWF No Mercy and that's that.

 

[Bullet Club]

Will WWE even exist by the time it releases?

They will still be WWE when Tony Khan buys them.

And they will still be AEW's feeder league.

 

[Md Ray]

I used to play WWF SmackDown 2! a lot on PS1 and then SmackDown Here Comes the Pain on PS2.

 

[Md Ray]

Bring back WWF No Mercy, nothing comes close to that.

Just remake WWF No Mercy and that's that.

Is that one on Nintendo 64?

 

[AJUMP23]

I want the AEW game.

 

[Majukun]

Well it should not be hard to make it better than the last one

 

[SCB3]

Too bad half the fucking roster will be missing

 

[nani17]

You'll never get better then no Mercy. It's a shame the next title WWF backlash was cancelled

 

[Soodanim]

The trailer's not new, right? I'm sure I've seen Rey do that run up before, because I remember how off it looked.

These newer games favour realism over fun, and they end up falling farther than they would otherwise. I don't think I've ever seen someone say a newer game is their favourite, they all say Shut Your Mouth/Here Comes The Pain or one of the N64 games.

 

[YoshiMadness]

They will still be WWE when Tony Khan buys them.

And they will still be AEW's feeder league.

AEW will never overtake WWE. Not only is Vince continuing to make huge profits, but they cater way too much to the smark crowd with their focus on boring flippy midgets with no charisma or personality and who look like they could be bagging my groceries at Walmart. They certainly don't look like world champions, and they certainly can't cut a promo to saves their lives. But they can give us a bunch of flips and flops without selling and spamming finishers and superkicks and Canadian destroyers. And then Daddy Meltzer will give these goofy workrate spotfests 12 stars because they shit their pants in the Tokyo Dome. Oh, and anything involving Cody Rhodes makes me sick.

But WWE is hardly any better. They at least have a few genuine stars like Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin, but then you have losers like Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano, and Kofi Kingston presented as a big deal. And this has been WWE for about 10 years, ever since CM Cuck did his little pipebomb (to be clear, I'm a CM Punk fan, but he ruined wrestling). WWE is supposed to be the big leagues, but it's just a glorified indy outlaw mudshow with a budget.

It's all a fucking joke. In my opinion, the death of wrestling actually started in the '90s and the Monday Night Wars were simply an anomaly that didn't last long. But it was totally killed the moment promoters decided to listen to the internet neckbeards.

Impact and NWA are pretty great, but holy shit wrestling sucks nowadays.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Bring back WWF No Mercy, nothing comes close to that.

Looks dated as hell now a days but the gameplay and what you could do is still top notch

The Greatest.
Id love it and buy a straight port.
or
Id love a updated version. New roster plus classics, because they have the WCW and ECW license use them. 120fps. Update the graphics a bit, keep the gameplay the same. Add in some new modes and story mode elements. Plus an online mode

But whoever is in charge of wrestling games doesn’t seem to want to use the best wrestling engine ever

 

[Bullet Club]

They at least have a few genuine stars like Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin

 

[KingXtreme81]

I would love to get hyped for a wrestling game, but they are going to have to prove it first by delivering a great and playable product. If they can manage that, I'll give it a shot. Anything less and hell no.

 

[Connxtion]

Is that one on Nintendo 64?

Yeah N64.

 

[Concern]

Can't wait for the glitches

 

[Rayderism]

Well, I'll wait and see what actual gamers say about the game, not reviews, after it comes out.

 

[NickFire]

I expect garbage, but will gladly jump on the train if they release a good wrestling game.

Kind of wish it was the AEW roster though, unless most characters will be legends.

 

[shoplifter]

They will still be WWE when Tony Khan buys them.

And they will still be AEW's feeder league.

 

[Fart Knight]

 

[Hydroxy]

Its not possible to rebuild in just 2 years. They would need atleast 4 years for that.

 

[BusierDonkey]

I'm not as concerned with how it looks as much as how it will play. The N64 WCW wresting games looked like hot garbage even in their day, but were so fun nobody gave a shit.

- Simple gameplay that a noob can have fun with, but complex enough that people who stick with the game can get more out of it
- Well executed multiplayer modes including local options
- Good roster
- Good create a player mode so I can make my old character NoNo Dinko and run around kicking everyone in the nuts (please include ring bell sound for nut shots again)

 

[MAtgS]

WWF Wrestle Fest is the only wrestling game I'll ever play.

What about Retromania Wrestling, the official sequel to Wrestlefest?

 

[Guardian's Light]

I prefer 2kall bullshit until proven otherwise

 

[Enjay]

Either wwe or take 2 must finally be making payments to reviewers and influencers cause that shit looks exactly the same.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I swear if they just made those N64 games with modern graphics, physics, and more content I'd be ALL in. It's a shame that we just haven't gotten that. I can't believe how much fun they were, haha.

 

[GymWolf]

I didn't played many wrestling game in my life but my favourtes were wwe attitude and the first 2 smackdown games, are these considered good by people?!

 

[TheInfamousKira]

The most fun I've ever had in a wrestling game was Day of Reckoning 2 on the GCN. I made a custom character called Tits McGee, it was a male with all of the dimensions maximized and a pink wig. He walked out to Stacey Keibler's entrance and animations, and his standard combo was seven left hooks and a bitch slap. Greatest rassler confirmed.

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

Just remake WWF No Mercy and that's that.

Would have to take out Benoit tho

 

[stn]

I'll believe it when I see it. Wrestling is boring but these games are still a guilty pleasure of mine. If it actually plays well and isn't a broken, crappy mess like it usually is, I'll definitely get it. Kind of shocking they still haven't figured out how to make a good wrestling game after all this time.

 

[GreatnessRD]

It amazes me from a gameplay perspective that none of these games from '09 to now can keep up with Smackdown vs. Raw '06 let alone the goated No Mercy. Can't even get proper custom championship entrances like in the PS2 era. Gameplay is hot garbage, but I bet those zombie packs and stupid VC coins gonna be working 100% day one for sure. The wrestling game community has a really low bar, but if they can fix their bugs and the gameplay is halfway decent, people will buy. These coming gameplay trailers better be homeruns.

 

[Max_Po]

The whole 2K series has been T R A S H .. the only one I could bare was 2k16 due to Austin story line.

 

[Derktron]

Doubt.

 

[Javthusiast]

Highly doubt it will be anything different. They can't come up for a good fighting system to save their life.

 

[Salmon Snake]

Would have to take out Benoit tho

Hope not. Or make it possible to CAW out of his moveset.

 

[ThaGuy]

Def jam vendetta and ffny were the last aki wrestling games I believe. What happened to them anyways?

 

[ksdixon]

I certainly hope so. The last truly great WWE game was 2K14. And 2K20 was embarrassing.

What we really need is Day Of Reckoning 3. An updated AKI engine game would be awesome. I loved the story mode and importance of created characters in that game. Definitely my favorite wrestling games.

I expect the AEW console game by Yukes to be some form of SD/SVR/WWE2K engine with DOR/No Mercy mechanics throw on top.

Omega's already said a straight up No Mercy engine won't work in today's market, No Mercy's producer is a consultant role, and Yukes were hyping SD HCTP gameplay around the time of the split.

 

[Unk Adams]

I miss when wrestling games were actually fun and weren't slow, boring simulations. Even Rumble Roses is preferable to the 2K WWE series.