One of the most customizable and best gameplay WWE games."
OverviewIn
2011, Yukes and THQ completely rehauled the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw
series and released the game as WWE ‘12. Two of the major points of
revamping the series dealt with the controls/gamplay and physics. This
year, they improved on the foundation laid by WWE '12 and have given us
one of the greatest WWE games to date.
Gameplay (9/10)Flow
and progression of matches is more realistic compared to most other
years in the series. Matches feel more like a simulation of real
matches rather than an arcade experience. After a match has lasted a
while, you and your opponent will stay down for longer periods of time
when getting slammed to the mat, instead of quickly jumping up as if
nothing happened. Working on specific body parts with the limb
targeting system will cause the wrestler to act as though those parts
are in severe agony. This added realism is great for those wanting to
recreate what happens on television. However, those wanting an
extremely fasted paced, arcade style wrestling game may not enjoy this
as much.
Controls were altered to a style more similar to
Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain and prior games. The current control
scheme is identical to WWE '12 and is neither better nor worse than the
SvR controls. The current control scheme features a button to initiate
grapples and a button to strike, whereas SvR used the right analog stick
to initiate grapples. There are still four different grapples and you
can rotate to a different grapple when you are already in a grapple
(i.e. moving from a headlock to wristlock). Also, within each grapple
there are up to five different possible moves and the limb targeting
system.
Limb targeting was first introduced in WWE '12 and makes a
welcomed return to WWE '13. The limb targeting system allows you to
focus on specific body parts (head, arms, and legs) when you grapple an
opponent by holding RB/R1 and pressing a button associated with a
specific body part. This year, the system has been expanded to allow
different moves from different grapple positions. In WWE '12, there
were only three different limb targeting moves total (one for each body
part) and you would do that move no matter which grapple you were in or
if the opponent was groggy. This year, wrestlers are able to have
different limb targeting moves for each grapple position, when an
opponent is in a groggy standing position, and when an opponent is
laying on the mat. The expansion of limb targeting moves allows for a
greater variety of moves during matches.
Reversals are easier to
achieve. Wrestlers usually give a slight visual cue to when they are
going to do a move, which helps you correctly time reversals. There is
also a prompt that lets you know whether you were too early or too late
on pressing the reverse button. There is a longer timeframe to press
the reversal button compared to last year. While some may enjoy the
easier reversals, I found it to be a slight nuisance. On default
sliders, it will quickly become second nature to reverse nearly every
move; whereas last year's took more skill and timing.
New to this
year are OMG moments. OMG moments are big, crazy finishers that
usually make use of the surrounding environment. With a stored
finisher, you can put someone through the announce table, corner
barricade, or the cell in a Hell in a Cell match. With three stored
finishers as a super heavyweight (i.e. Mark Henry or Big Show), you are
able to break the ring. If you are put through the announce table or
barricade after you have received a lot of damage, a meter will pop up
to where you will have to stop it in a certain area before the 10 count.
There are also catch finishers that some superstars can execute, which
requires one stored finisher. For instance, if someone springboards or
jumps from the top rope against Randy Orton, then Randy Orton can
execute an RKO onto the flying opponent. The OMG moments are a nice
addition to the game and can make matches even more entertaining and
surprising.
Leverage pins are a unique addition. When an
opponent is standing and groggy, you are able to press the right analog
stick to roll them up. This is a neat addition because it can add
surprise pinfall attempts and more realistically simulate matches.
Kicking out of pins is the same as last year's, where a meter pops up
and you must stop a moving bar in a certain area. Reversing pins are
still in this game. Another nice add-on is being able to determine the
number of finishers someone starts a match with. Special abilities also
make a return. Superstars are assigned certain special abilities,
which can allow them to escape the ring when lying near the ropes, steal
someone's finisher, do springboard moves, have comebacks, etcetera.
Before
you start a match against the AI, you are able to determine whether the
match will be Quick, Normal, or Epic. A quick match is similar to a
squash match commonly seen on television. These matches typically are
only a couple of minutes long, with one person dominating the offense
and quickly obtaining of finisher. Moves cause more damage and the
momentum bar fills faster in Quick mode. Normal matches are like any
basic match from previous wrestling games. Epic matches are long, drawn
out matches that can last anywhere between 12-20 minutes on average.
The longest single fall match I have had thus far on Epic was
approximately 30 minutes. Damage and momentum rate are reduced in this
mode, so it takes longer to wear down an opponent and to obtain a
Signature and Finisher. The match is likely to have more back and forth
action and more reversals than the other match options. I personally
love this option and believe it makes this game better than WWE '12. In
previous games, I would adjust the damage sliders to get lengthy
matches (10-15 minutes). There is no need to do that in this game
because you are able to get great, lengthy matches by just selecting
Epic. Also, if you adjust the damage sliders it will make the matches
even longer.
The AI in this game is both wonderful and annoying.
Matches can be entertaining, exciting, back and forth affairs if you
adjust the sliders. On default sliders, the AI is passive and not
aggressive despite difficulty level. I have seen the AI stand around
for a couple of seconds not doing anything, while I am lying on the mat.
By tweaking the sliders, the AI will become more aggressive, which
makes creates fun, exciting, and challenging matches. These matches are
typically back and forth with no one getting the upper hand for
extending periods of time. If the AI gets a finisher, they rarely
immediately use it. Some my find this annoying, but I believe it is a
positive. Most of the time, using the first finisher as soon as you get
it will not put an opponent away (unless you are using the Quick
setting). This means that the AI can save the finisher, beat you down
some more, and then use the finisher at a more opportune time, instead
of wasting it early in a match.
There are several problems with
the AI. Two counts against the AI are a rarity when doing a normal pin
attempt. They will usually kick out of a pin attempt at one, unless you
have them worn down enough for the three count. There is little
suspense because they either quickly kick out, or if they do not you
know you have won the match. There are exceptions to this, such as when
using leverage pins or reversing a roll up. The AI will often times
kick out at two. The AI will frequently randomly walk outside of the
ring and remove the cover and monitors from the announce table. Once
they obtain a finisher, they will regularly attempt an OMG moment
through the announce table or barricade. This will be a nice novelty if
it happened every once in a while, but it occurs every other match.
The AI is terrible in triple threat matches, as it usually dissolves
into a handicap match against you. I have read this occurs when you
have the targeting system set to manual, but does not happen when it is
set to automatic. I have not tried this on automatic to confirm it.
Either way, it is a nuisance and make triple threat matches against two
AI opponents pointless for me. The AI in normal tag team matches can be
cumbersome as well. Requesting assistance from your partner typically
leads to them slowly entering the ring and standing around dumbfounded
until nearly the count of three, then they will break up the pin. The
opponent AI also seems to be shy at tagging in their partner, unless
they are already in the vicinity of their corner.
One of the
biggest problems I have with this game that does not involve the AI is
the manual targeting system. A lot of the time the game does not seem
to register that I clicked the left analog stick to change targets.
This becomes very frustrating in multi-man matches, especially online
matches where you need to always remain on the attack.
Online (7/10)Online
matches have taken a step back from last year. Matches are often laggy
and lead you to becoming desynchronized from your opponent(s). If you
are desynchronized from your opponents, it will show them as leaving the
session and they will be replaced by AI opponents for the remainder of
the match. Overall, reversals are easier to do this year, which means
that rarely anyone will have control of a match and there will be many
reversals. Although reversals are easier overall, they are more
difficult to perform on running grapples. For years, the SvR series was
plagued with people executing running grapples online. In WWE '12,
this was partially solved by making it easy to reversal these spammers
by pressing the grapple button. However, this year they made it more
difficult because pressing the grapple button rarely works and there is a
significantly shorter window to reverse running grapples compared to
other moves. Running grapple spammers are rampant in ranked matches and
fairly common in player matches.
Even worse to deal with, but
far more rare than the spammers, are glitchers. These people take
advantage of glitches in the game to win. The one experience I had with
glitchers turned bad for them. I was in an elimination tornado tag
against two glitchers. If my partner or I went outside the ring, they
were able to morph into a grapple with us inside the ring. At one point
in the match, I attempted a submission on one of the guys. While I was
starting to apply the submission, the other guy attempted to roll me up
for a pin and he became stuck in that position. My partner and I
quickly eliminated the guy I was originally applying a submission on,
while his partner remained stuck on the ground attempting a roll up. We
attempted various attacks to get him unstuck, but to no avail.
Finally, my partner threw a chair at him, which unstuck him. We easily
disposed of him afterwards. Although in my one experience the glitching
backfired, it would definitely get irritating to repeatedly play
against glitchers.
There have been a few times I have won ranked
matches and it counted as a win, until a day or two later when I check
my record and they have been changed to loses. I am not sure why this
happens, but it has happened on a couple of separate occasions. One
nice cosmetic improvement from last year is the ability to use custom
arenas online.
Community Creations has shown a nice improvement
from last year. Previously, it was difficult to access the community
creations to download other users' created content. It was normal to
repeatedly get an error message regarding the servers. This year, the
problem has been fixed. I have downloaded several different wrestlers
and arenas and have only had problems with the servers on one or two
occasions.
For those that simply play games for achievements, you
will be in for a rude awakening regarding the online related
achievements in this game. All of the offline achievements are easy to
obtain, but one online achievement requires you to reach the maximum
rank. As of the time this review was published, no one had obtained
this achievement, but there was speculation it required you to get over 1
million points. Typically, you will gain 1,000-1,500 points for each
win, which basically translates into you needing to win roughly 1,000
ranked matches to get the achievement.
Match Types (10/10)There
is not much new in match types compared to previous years. There are
still the stables, such as steel cage, ladder, TLC, Hell in a Cell, and
Elimination Chamber. Special Referee matches have been reintroduced
this year, but it is very limited. If you are the special referee, you
cannot attack whoever you want whenever you want. A lot of times
pressing the grapple button will cause you to push and point your finger
at someone, instead of attacking them. If you are too unfair in a
match, John Laurinitis will come down and relieve you of your referee
duties. So, instead of having fun and putting a beat down on someone
and practically turning the match into a handicap match (who did not do
this in previous iterations?), you are forced to call the match fairly
objectively. There is the possibility of turning on someone towards the
end of a match by hitting them with a finisher and doing a quick count,
but repeatedly attacking someone throughout a match will cause to be
kicked as a referee.
A nice cosmetic touch is the ability to
select whether to have a normal, blue, or black steel cage for steel
cage matches. I have always wanted this option and am extremely
surprised and glad it is available in the game. This makes it possible
to relive some of the great early WWE cage matches.
Characters/Roster (10/10)The
roster is humongous. There are over 100 superstars available,
including DLC (over 80 without DLC). Most of the important characters
from today and the Attitude Era are present. Some notable superstars
not present include Tyson Kidd, D-Lo Brown, and Steve Blackman.
Honestly, this is one of, if not the greatest rosters in a wrestling
game. There is plenty of superstars for fans of the current product,
Attitude era, or both products. There are numerous possible dream
matches available without the aid of created wrestlers. Although they
are not characters, there are several arenas available from current
shows and pay-per-views and from Attitude Era shows and pay-per-views.
One
problem with the roster is a lot of the newer superstars are only
available as DLC. This includes Damien Sandow, Lord Tensai, Ryback, and
Antonio Caesaro. However, this is understandable considering the
cutoff for the main game roster is typically around Wrestlemania, and
most of these guys had not made a huge impact at that time.
Many
Attitude Era wrestlers have numerous alternate attires that were used in
the Attitude Era mode, but they are not available in the game outside
of the Attitude Era mode. It would have been nice if these alternate
attires were available. The upside is that each superstar can have the
colors of their attires changed for up to 3 additional color variations.
So, with a little bit of work, you can replicate attires from the
Attitude Era mode, other matches, or create your own color schemes.
Story Mode (9/10)There
are two different modes that can constitute a story mode, which are the
Attitude Era and Universe modes. The Attitude Era mode encompasses
many significant and memorable events leading up to the beginning of the
era in 1997 through its height in 1999. There are over 60 different
matches to relive, which can take over 6 hours to complete. There are
excerpts, and sometimes videos, prior to each match to catch you up to
speed on what has happened in a particular rivalry up to that point. In
each match, the primary objective is to usually win, but there are also
historical objectives that can be completed that will help you unlock
various items in game. This mode replaces Road to Wrestlemania from
previous games and is a significant improvement. Last year's Road to
Wrestlemania put you in the shoes of Sheamus, Triple H, and a created
superstar. Most of the matches were repetitive because they were either
backstage brawls or you were fighting the same three wrestlers. If you
were in an actual wrestling match instead of a backstage brawl, you
usually could not pin your opponent for the win, but had to wait for a
prompt to press Y to appear to end the match. This year, you do not
play as the same wrestler over and over again. Instead, you get to
wrestle as and against a variety of different Attitude Era wrestlers.
Also, most matches are actual matches. There is no pressing Y after you
have delivered a set amount of damage to your opponent. Overall, the
Attitude Era mode was a blast to play through.
Universe mode
returns for its third year. For those that have not played a WWE game
in a few years, this mode is similar to a season or General Manager
mode. There have been a few noticeable improvements. For one, you are
now able to create your own show any day of the week and create your own
pay-per-view on a Sunday. You are also able to add whoever you want to
the Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank
pay-per-view and be able to cash in for a title match if you won the
MitB ladder match. Previous games did not allow this to occur if
superstars were replaced from the original match the computer assigns.
THQ said they added more scenes to Universe Mode and branching
storylines. Also, scenes are supposed to occur more often. However, I
have not noticed any of this as of yet. I have not seen any new scenes
and it is rare for me to get a scene. I have yet to have a branching
storyline either, which I guess is suppose to give you a couple of
choices on what to do and a storyline will progress a certain way based
on your selection.
Customization (10/10)This
is the most customizable WWE game to date. You are able to create
wrestlers, entrances, logos, storylines, and finishers like in previous
games. They also re-added created belts. However, the big addition is
the improvement on created arenas. This year, you are able to modify
nearly everything about an arena. There are five different venues (3
indoor and 2 outdoor) you can select for your arena. There are several
different stages you can select. Once you select a stage, there are
various possible lighting and structure scenarios. There are also
little things such as the lighting in the arena (bright, normal, red,
blue, and various other colors) and barricade type (steel or current)
that can be altered. It is also possible to create up to 3 alternate
color attires for each superstar (non created wrestlers).
Like
previous years, it is possible to make nearly anyone you want and have
them look great. There are 50 slots for created wrestlers and 50 slots
for created arenas. You are also able to upload your created content
for others to download, or you can download other people's created
content.
Audio and Graphics (7/10)The sound
effects in this game are horrible. Wrestlers use the same couple of
grunts when lifting opponents. Hitting the mat does not sound anything
like it does in real life. Although, there have been very few games to
accurately replicate that (All Star Pro Wrestling series for Playstation
2 is the only one that comes to mind). The horrid sound effects are
amplified in the Halftime Heat arena (Empty Arena), since there are no
fans cheering and partially distracting you from the sound effects.
Speaking
of the crowd, the noise of the crowd was vastly improved. They become
louder throughout a match as it becomes more exciting. Previously, the
crowd would typically stay at the same volume throughout the duration of
a match. The crowd will also sometimes start chants during an intense
match.
The commentary system was supposed to have been immensely
improved. However, I cannot tell a difference in this year's commentary
compared to other iterations. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler repeatedly
use the same 10 or so lines throughout every match. There were suppose
to be several hundred new lines added and a new dynamic system for when
and what would be said. This is simply not the case so far in my
experience.
The graphics have been slightly improved from last
year, but not by much. The character models look decent, but compared
to previous SvR games (including PS2 SvR games) they are horrendous.
The reason for this deals with the way the developers create the
wrestlers now, compared to SvR. I do not know much about the details,
besides in SvR the wrestlers were scanned into the game. However, the
way the wrestlers are created now allows for more fluid and lifelike
movement and execution of moves. Personally, I will take a loss of
detail in character models for more fluid and realistic movement.
GlitchesThere
have been a few random glitches I have experienced. Some seem to occur
consistently, while others have only occurred once or twice. The
consistent glitches deal with the way the AI acts. The rarity of two
counts against the AI and their persistence to perform OMG moments are
small and sometimes aggravating recurring glitches. There have been two
instances in tag team matches where I have lost control of one of my
partners in the match, even though I put the setting to control all
partners before the match started. There is a button that allows you to
switch which person on your team you are controlling, but this did not
let me change to the legal man at the time. During a Money in the Bank
ladder match, I was suplexed off of the top of a ladder in the middle of
the ring. I hit the mat at the edge of the ring and disappeared for
the remainder of the match.
ConclusionWWE '13
is one of the best wrestling games to ever be released. The controls
are great. Movesets have been expanded. Wrestlers act injured when
they are injured. Matches typically flow and progress like their real
life counterpart. You can have an epic 30 minute match or a quick 2
minute match. The game is highly customizable and the most customizable
WWE game released to date.
However, there are a couple of
drawbacks, which include the passiveness of the AI on default settings,
the way AI acts in tag team matches, the AI's love of OMG moments, and
the rarity of two counts. Otherwise, the gameplay is nearly perfect for
someone wanting to simulate pro wrestling matches.
There will
undoubtedly be many wondering if they should upgrade from a previous WWE
game to WWE ‘13. My answer is a resounding yes for everyone that does
not own WWE '12. If you own WWE '12, I would say there is a significant
improvement in gameplay with the addition of quick, normal, and epic
matches and the expanded move sets. However, the AI can act whacky at
times on default settings. Overall, I feel like there is a big enough
improvement in gameplay to warrant a purchase, plus the AI is better in
WWE '13 with adjusted sliders than it is in WWE '12.
+ Improved gameplay
+ Huge roster
+ Attitude Era mode
+ Customization
- Default AI
- Online matches
Final Score: 62/70 = 89%
