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What's the story?
Since 2K Games bought the WWE license from THQ and moved it to the 2K Sports label, the "MyCareer" mode has been one of the more critically approved features of the games.
Also Read: WWE News: WWE Superstars discuss their favourite wrestling video games
Allowing players to create a WWE Superstar and lead them from training in NXT to (possibly) a WWE Hall of Fame induction, MyCareer added RPG elements to a sports (or, I guess, "sports-like"?) atmosphere. Now, 2K Games has released details on WWE 2K18's MyCareer mode.
In case you didn't know...
While WWE '13 was originally published by THQ, the sale of the rights to 2K during THQ's bankruptcy allowed 2K to re-release the game shortly after as WWE 2K13, bringing it alongside their other 2K Sports titles.
However, it wasn't until WWE 2K15 that 2K Games included the MyCareer mode. The mode was also exclusive to "current generation" consoles, like PlayStation 4, and didn't appear in the PS3/Xbox 360 versions of the games.
The heart of the matter
"The goal every year for [MyCareer mode] in WWE 2K," according to 2K's press release, "is enabling our fans to live out their dreams as WWE Superstars." In 2K's view, part of that involves the classic "wander backstage" mode made famous in the Smackdown vs Raw titles. Fortunately, this also involved getting back to story-driven narratives.
In WWE 2K18, the beginning of MyCareer has players picking one of two paths on the Road to WrestleMania (don't worry - 2K assures us that the story doesn't end at the Show of Shows) - "Company Man" (essentially the "heel mode") and "Fan Favorite" (visa versa).
Also in the works was improvements to WWE 2K17's promo mode. According to 2K, they've taken what did and didn't work from last year's game's promo mode and updated it.
According to the press release, "WWE Superstars like Undertaker and Enzo Amore come to mind when discussing this," and that 200 new animations will help each superstar feel unique and themselves during each promo.
What's next?
Again, WWE 2K18 releases in North American on October 17th, 2017.
Author's take
Not every WWE game since Take-Two/2K Games purchased the license has been a winner. But, they've been trying with each new release and it shows. It's nice to see that they're putting more focus on story and personalities than just making it into a fighting game.
Nothing against fighting games (Does Marvel vs Capcom Infinite look awesome as hell or what?!) but that's not what makes wrestling awesome.
