Wrestling With Creativity

When WWE’s main video game series was announced for the next generation of consoles I was quite excited and hoped that it might be enough to push me into buying a Playstation 4. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions generated a “meh” response which made me slightly concerned for the future of the series. The next gen instalment garnered a more positive buzz but when reading about WWE 2K15’s features I couldn’t muster up any excitement at all. The big black hole that sucked away all excitement was its laughable amount of CAW slots, going from a whopping 100 to only 25. When removing its breadth of creative opportunities, WWE 2k15 had nothing but an updated roster with a few specialty wrestlers to pad out the numbers. When looking back at the previous two games, I had to consider what made me truly attach myself to the yearly franchise. 

For a few years, I was gradually growing tired of the WWE video games. It became a more acceptable routine to buy one game bi-yearly instead of every year. Seeing as the same features get recycled in each iteration it was best to just get all of the content from the previous games in one package. Smackdown vs RAW 2010 introduced a new concept which made it a day one purchase for me. Due to the growing popularity of online play, it was obvious that WWE wanted to hop on the bandwagon but they took it one step further and added Community Creations. It blew my mind that I could download created wrestlers from other users on the network in such a short time. I remember 10 years ago when I had to print off pages of CAW formula from the internet and spend hours tapping in each individual feature in order to create a wrestler that didn’t make it into the game. Now I could yank dozens of wrestlers off the network and enjoy the hell out of it.

The years went on after that while my interest in the series ebbed and flowed. WWE 13 grabbed a lot of fan interest due to the raging nostalgia boner that it proudly displayed. Along with a dedicated story mode to educate fans about the best of the Attitude Era, the game also had a fantastic roster that was almost an exact replica of the original Smackdown game (And also had Brian Fucking Pillman). Let’s not forget the number of championship titles and arenas to play with. Before we go any further, let me clarify something: I like the Attitude Era but unlike some fans I don’t think that it’s the holy incarnation of Jesus Christ in wrestling form. A rumour popped up earlier in the year that hinted WWE’s consideration of setting up The Rock vs Triple H for Wrestlemania 31. Seriously? Fuck that. I saw that match 14 years ago many times; they wrestled in a 60 minute Iron Man match for Christ’s sake, I want new wrestlers and new ideas. However, I do enjoy a little nostalgia in my wrestling video games. I’m much more attached to WWE’s current video game style of simulation rather than the “arcadey” fighting style back in the day. While it’s easy to watch old PPVs it’s harder to enjoy the older video games due to their obvious signs of age. That made it all the more enjoyable to see old 90’s crew in modern day graphics from Stone Cold and Mankind to even Gangrel and Val Venis. The fact that I could sprinkle in some other wrestlers that didn’t make the cut by visiting the Community Creations made it even more fantastic. My attempts at created wrestlers suck balls but some people online can be artists when it comes to recreating recognizable faces and move sets.

WWE 13 was usurped by WWE 2K14 which is, in my mind, the best wrestling game since Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain. A lot of people harped on the reuse of old gameplay mechanics but I still found the matches to be exciting. What grabbed my eye the most was the staggering depth regarding the roster and arenas. After the Attitude Era retelling was so successful, WWE decided to bring out the big guns and provide a history of Vince McMahon’s baby, Wrestlemania. Seeing as we needed to cover 30 years of wrestlers and venues, it was so satisfying to see all of the content provided: Hogan, Savage, Steamboat, Andre, Warrior, Bret, Shawn, Yokozuna, Flair, Diesel, Ramon and so much more. Every Wrestlemania arena too? It felt like I was being spoiled. WWE 2K14 also carried all of its creative features from the previous games such as Create-An-Arena and the extremely deep Create-A-Wrestler with 100 slots. After many sessions on the Community Creation servers, I found myself with not only a varied roster provided by the original game creators but an even wider array of wrestlers from the players themselves. This led to a mix of wrestlers from the eras of Rock ‘n’ Wrestling, The New Generation, Ted Turner’s WCW, ECW and a recreation of the roster from WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain. The fact that I could import the original theme songs for the custom wrestlers tickled my nerd bone even more. The creative opportunities allowed us to play various incarnations of our favourite wrestlers. Yes, you can download Sting but you had so many of his attires on offer: 80’s Surfer Dude, 90’s Crow Sting, Red and Black Wolfpac, that weird Joker phase he had in TNA….although you probably wouldn’t want that last one. I was reminded of the old Fire Pro Wrestling games where it was possible to create anyone through the crazy amount of features to use.

The point is, the game didn’t shackle itself to the limitations of what was currently happening in the wrestling world and doesn’t exactly feel like a product of its time. WWE 2K15 just looks like another modern day update of what’s currently going on nowadays and that’s not entirely a bad thing. Yes, there’s updated gameplay mechanics and a new career mode and that’s probably all well and good. But I’ve realised in recent years that I like to be able to jump into any era and recreate any product I want. It’s not just the usual suspects like retro Flair or Hogan, I like to pad out my rosters with contextual jobbers like Buff Bagwell or Stevie Richards. WWE 2k15 features a Showcase mode retelling the Shawn Michaels and Triple H feud which WWE has always greatly overvalued. I’m sure it’s fine but it’s only a fraction of what we were getting a year earlier. With only a quarter of the CAW slots that was originally on the table, I can’t find myself wanting to jump in to WWE 2K15’s bed when I’m still snuggled up in 2K14’s multi-coloured duvet.

Even Eva Marie gets a CAW! For...some reason...

I understand how they want to push out a game that promotes their current roster but for just once, I’d like to see them bring out a game that embraces custom content entirely, with a crazy amount of creative features for nerds like me. It wouldn’t have to be a yearly title, just a dedicated creative community and enough imagination to keep it relevant for the next few years. It’s just a thought - one that would make me consider buying a next generation console. I want my crazy amount of retro rosters, dagnabbit. From big time main eventers to bottom of the card jobbers. I wonder if there’s a Jeff Farmer CAW out there somewhere. Remember that guy? Probably not…

By the way, WWE, if you’re looking to hype up your next game and makes lots of money you might want to consider a new match type. It starts with “War” and ends in “Games”…and rhymes with “Smoregames”…..jus’ saying….