7 simple changes that would make WWE 2K18 awesome

Every year, 2K Games releases a brand new WWE game, and every year they add some major changes in order to refine the experience.

Sometimes it’ll be a complete revamp of a game mechanic - like how the reversal system was changed in last year’s game - and sometime’s it’s a complete overhaul (or even removal) of a game mode.

These big, sweeping changes are all well and good, and it shows that 2K is willing to shake things up rather than give us the same experience year after year. But, not every attempted improvement towards the game needs to be something completely new.

There are a lot of little tweaks and changes that can be made to the game that would make it way more enjoyable.

I'm no game developer, but as a video game fan who's been playing games since the Atari 2600 was the only game in town - maybe I’m off on how easy or difficult some of these may be. Still, they all involve using something already in the current games.

Perhaps there’s time to implement some of them into WWE 2K18?

#7 Heel/face entrances and attires

What if you WANT The New Day to turn heel again?

One of the biggest problems that an annual wrestling title like the 2K series has is that so much can happen in between releases. 2K17, for instance, was pretty much already in the can when WWE announced the brand split.

While the game still gave players the options to have individual rosters, it really wasn’t the same. That’s certainly nobody’s fault - it’s just the nature of the development process.

Something that the developers could do - and this is one aspect on this list that might be more complicated than just “tweaking” something - is create both a “heel” and face entrance for each wrestler.

Now, not everyone is going to need this - Bray Wyatt, for example, may not need it. But, even though you’ve set Neville’s “crowd reaction” to “boo”, he’s still got the same superhero entrance.

2K can either take the heel/face personas of Superstars from the past, or let them get creative and make their own. I’m sure John Cena’s got a new heel entrance in him that we’ll probably never get to see otherwise

#6 More balance to the reversal system

You're going to need all the reversal help you can get against Brock Lesnar

I’ll give credit where credit’s due: the reversal mechanic in the WWE games has improved significantly with each release. 2K17’s addition of a gradually refilling reversal bar added a nice bit of strategy to the game.

However, it’s still really difficult to pull off sometimes, as there really isn’t any rhythm to them.

Obviously, some moves should be harder to reverse than others. But, tweaking and balancing the reversals, and making them less frustrating, would go a long way in making the game more enjoyable.

I’d probably also scream at the TV less. Maybe.

#5 Streamline the commentary

When the game commentary is worse than the TV commentary, we have a problem

Repetition during in-game commentary is just going to happen. There’s no real way around it. It takes a long, long, looooong time to record that much talking, including all the names of wrestlers, moves, events, cities, and potential create-a-wrestler names. It’s why a lot of things get reused every year and goof-ups slip through the cracks.

However, I refuse to believe that there’s not a way to prevent announcers from saying “he needs to get him back in the ring if he wants to win!” during a falls count anywhere match!

Or, after the end of Raw’s second match, maybe make sure Michael Cole doesn’t say “Good night, folks!” Would it really take that much work? No, seriously, would it? Because it’s really annoying.

#4 Make-a-card mode

Like this, but just for one card...

While the WWE Universe mode has been my favourite part of the recent WWE games, I fully admit they’re far from perfect.

However, it’s currently the best way to satisfy my inner promoter and run a virtual WWE the way that I see fit. Sometimes, though, I’d really rather just run one card.

Perhaps I just want to recreate a classic event, or simulate an upcoming one. Maybe I want to create a single card without the rigmarole of having to simulate a whole year? Why can’t I have SullyMania? WHY?! SOMEONE ANSWER M… er… sorry… got carried away there.

It seems like it would just require taking existing elements - a number of things from the creation suite with the edit feature in Universe mode - and create just one single card. You could even stream it live on the platform of your choice.

Unless, there’s already a way to do this and I’m a complete luddite, please comment below or tweet me. I really want to do this.

#3 Easier to use creation sharing online

The Miz deserves better than this

Even if you’re not interested in the Create-A-Wrestler suite yourself, you have to admit that it’s pretty fun to go into Community Creations and see the characters other players have come up with. At least, you could admit that if searching for said creations wasn’t such a pain in the rear.

Let’s not even talk about the lag time to access the menu or the upload/download times. That’s not something that can be changed easily. But the UI used to search for these creations is not the most user-friendly.

Why is it so convoluted? Why can’t someone just pick 'Create-a-Whatsit' suite they want to search through and do it that way? Who do I have to search through “hashtags”? Seriously, what the hell is going on?

#2 More control over Universe Mode

It all comes back to Universe, doesn't it?

As I’ve said before, Universe Mode is my favourite mode in the recent WWE 2K games. And, over the years, they’ve gotten better. But, despite the improvements, I’ve never really felt like I’m actually in control. And that needs to change.

I do like how rivalries and stories happen organically, but the ability to change things on the fly is sorely lacking. After all, angles in the real world of wrestling can be changed at a moment’s notice - why can’t I do that in the game?

It shouldn’t be too difficult - just a few options here and there as the “season” progresses - as well as being able to change matches as we see fit without changing if they’re title matches or not.

I don’t want to feel like I sort of have control - I want to feel like I’m Vince McMahon.

#1 More emphasis on the single-player experience

I want to create my own virtual WWE... and centre it around AJ

For all intents and purposes, the WWE 2K games are really more fighting games than Sports Entertainment simulators. And while that’s understandable - that’s how you draw a bigger audience - it’s also a bummer.

While I certainly don’t want these games to become “Booking Simulator 3000” (although if someone wanted to make “Booking Simulator 3000”, I would buy it), I would certainly love to see the same focus put into Universe Mode (or something like it) as they put into MyCareer.

What if 2K created a “WWE Network” package? Where, for a small fee a month (or just as part of your PSN/Xbox Live subscription), you could create your own WWE “programming”, make your own “shows” and watch others.

What modes and features would you like to see in a future WWE game? Don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild and comment below.