WWE 2K18 (Xbox One)

This game has to be one of the best WWE games I've played definitely would recommend to anyone who enjoys WWE games

Great bargain my kid loved as a stocking filler Bit disappointed the showcase mode wasn’t available but still a good game for price I paid

Nice game.no one younger should play it.16 up wards.

Absolutely brilliant game right up there with my favourite wrestling games over the years from PlayStation one and two to Xbox 360 to Xbox one S played it a lot good characters battle scenes and picture graphics

Too many microtransactions and the narritive is ruined by being slow and tedious while not in a wrestling match. Graphics look nice and the actual wrestling is pretty fun

Best wrestling game in a long time. Love the community creation builds and season modes in this game. even created a WCW platform on the game is amazing

Playing a match you would never know if you had the new version or last years version, they are exactly the same. The only difference being able to carry your opponent, but this will only work if he is really hurt otherwise he counters every time. Where the game really gets bad though is in My Career where you create your own wrestler then enter the story mode. In previous versions the coach talks to you, that has been dropped and replaced with text. The training you need to pass is terrible. You must preform a scoop slam and carry. It tells you to push the dpad in any direction, press a then rb. However no matter how many times you try - it won’t work. You must use down left/right on the dpad and then a then rb. Unless you google it you wouldn’t figure it out. The game is not even as good as last years, has many more bugs.

After giving WWE 2K17 a miss I returned to the franchise this year and in all honesty this was mainly because of Kurt Angle, who after so many years missing was finally back in the game. Despite this addition does the game generally hold up? For years now THQ and 2K have stuck to a familiar formula and haven't really updated the WWE series year on year with it's last big update coming in 2011. WWE 2K18 does boast a new graphics engine but is that a sign of developments within the title or is it as lackluster as your average Raw? There are a lot of bugs and glitches in WWE 2K18 and that's even after the patches! It's absolutely inexcusable and this rears its ugly head in online, My Player and Universe modes. For the purpose of the review I attempted multiple times to get an online match and while an opponent was located, matched opponents disconnected every single time prior to the match starting which I'm not putting down to a pattern but to bad servers. This in turn rules out an entire section of the game which is linked with the My Player mode where boosts and achievements can be earned. Meanwhile Universe Mode still crashes and for some reason in tag matches if you're playing alone you'll always find yourself as the illegal partner or enjoying the fun of standing around on the apron or trying to exit the ring. Speaking of tag matches - new for this year are eight man tag matches. It has been requested for some time but the truth is that it's too ambitious or the improved graphics engine can't handle it properly as framerate noticeably drops here. I've not tested the Royal Rumble but if eight wrestlers are in the ring at the same time I can imagine that everything slows down. This is a case of 2K botching it big time. Unfortunately in My Player this is also an issue and particularly backstage where it feels like your character is running through water to get to places. To add to that the dialogue is dull and your superstar will make faces that make sure their career is cut short. It's very lazy in its execution. Now for a little more detail on the modes. I didn't play a whole lot of Universe Mode in WWE 2K16 and it feels a less stale to me as a result. It adds in the new Raw and Smackdown arenas after the brand split and the customisation of the mode is good. However, as has been a problem in previous iterations there is no real logic to how the matches play out or are booked. Much like My Player you'll see yourself playing the same match types over and over again but it's not nearly as much of a grind. It's once more stuffed with microstransactions in a similar way to NBA 2K18. Both EA and 2K strategy is very much to double down on this model and it kills the career mode. Yes, it has 'backstage interactions' if you can call it that, but it's nothing like what Smackdown games have previously offered. It's boring, slow and you're handicapped to the max. Virtually every item in WWE 2K18 will need to be unlocked including superstars. This simply doesn't work because you earn so little in terms of virtual currency that many matches need to be played in order to get the good stuff. It is deeply and persistently frustrating and while it does boast the 'biggest roster ever' you're not going to be able to access it from the get go unless you're prepared to stump up more cash. The graphics engine as previously mentioned is not really an upgrade at all. It's hard to tell any difference with sweat and lighting being the main focus but the actual models are hit or miss. Furthermore the move from stock photos to a sort of create a wrestler version for superstar loading screens look horrendous. This change was implemented last year to aid immersion but it has a detrimental impact. Lastly, for some reason the announcer shouts out the names of wrestlers during the selection screen in exhibition. This is very annoying and loud. JoJo is no Tony Chimel or Howard Finkel that's for sure. In the television advertisements we now know why so much glass was breaking and it wasn't because of Seth Rollins. The creation suite is more accessible than ever and does provide a whole host of options and is undoubtedly one of the game's strongest suits. A big improvement in gameplay from 2K16 to 2K18 is the damage and that finishers do actually finish matches first time around or your opponent doesn't have superhuman kickout powers as in 2K16 where three finishers or more were required to win a match. Other additions include a new carry system which I haven't got the best out of yet or really used much up to this point. ---Summary--- Graphics -7- Updated engine shows little difference. Plus, some of the models are really off but then some are also pretty spot on. Arenas look fine but the crowds can be washed out. Sound -3- Terrible. Commentary is as bad as ever and this year you're treated to anti-tobacco advertising in Smackdown shows with messages that are repeated ad nauseam much like the general announcing and its lines. The crowd noise is also pretty bad with some real cringeworthy chants. Gameplay - 8 - Nothing really new but it is much better than when I last played a WWE game with the CPU actually staying down after finishers now. Lifespan -5 - There's stuff here but how much mileage you get out of it is questionable with all its many issues unless you're a complete newcomer to the series. WWE 2K18 is disappointing but not surprising. It's a modern game which has a modern market which is saturated with so much average and unimaginative fare. There have been some great WWE games down the year but this isn't one of them. Yes, it has the biggest roster and the gameplay leads to some good matches with the CPU, but the online and other modes are buggy if not broken. This is a shoddy product that's saving grace is only the licence and its presentation. If you can get this on a sale it's less of a risk, but is certainly not worth full price. 2K needs to go back to the drawing board which is unlikely but the franchise very much needs new ideas in a genre admittedly that doesn't really often have them.