WWE 2K16 Review – PlayStation 4 / Xbox One

This is Fred Richani of TSC Gaming here to review WWE 2K16 for the PlayStation 4. WWE 2K16’s marketing campaign has been built around its cover star Stone Cold Steve Austin, the six-time WWE Champion, the Hall of Famer, and in 2K Showcase mode, you get to play some of his greatest career moments in WCW, ECW, and the WWE. So, maybe you don’t feel like digging around through random 3-hour pay-per-views on the network and having to learn your wrestling history that way, maybe you actually want to get in the game. You can do it here with 2K Showcase mode. It is a lot of fun. I personally grew up on Stone Cold Steve Austin, so I got a kick out of this.

I think younger fans will, too. You can also, of course, do Universe mode, which is always enjoyable, and you got Creative Suite. You got to create a wrestler, which is always awesome, and they added back created a create a show, create a championship, create an arena, added more save slots. They even came out with a companion app, which is pretty badass, and we’re actually going to have an in-depth review of the create mode specifically once that app is officially released in a day or two. At the time we did this review, it was not available, so I definitely want to get the full experience with that app.

But, in addition to 2K Showcase mode, in addition to Creative, you have My Career mode, which returns, and this time, it features the inclusion of The Authority. For better or worse, The Authority is pretty polarizing. Some people love them, some people think they take up way too much TV time. Well, you’re stuck with them here. And in My Career mode, not only do you train in NXT hoping to rise up the ranks, win some belts and such, maybe even headline WrestleMania, you get to choose your own fate. When you’re doing interviews backstage, you can choose whether to be a babyface or a heel depending on your responses, and you can choose down the road whether or not to be a part of the authority.

One of the other big selling points of WWE 2K16 is the gigantic roster, over 100 wrestlers. But here is what annoys me. NXT is one of the main selling points of this game, but it doesn’t feature the top four female stars of NXT, Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. Mind-boggling. 2K claims that they’re not going to be available as DLC. Something tells me that’s going to change, but I guess that’s what community creations is for, right? There are some gripes that still exist in WWE 2K16 from the previous games. First off, the gameplay. While it is fun, it is still a bit clunky. The reversal system is still awkward, and when you have more than two people in a match, things can get weird.

I always feel like with WWE 2K games, especially in recent years, something funky is bound to happen. For example, I’m Seth Rollins, I’m aiming at Dean Ambrose, and I miss him by a mile, and I’m not even that far away from him. Same thing with Roman Reigns, and then he hits me with a thousand Samoan drops. While there are a ton of superstars in this game, there’s still, in my opinion, a lack of content in some ways. Or I guess a lack of diversity of content. It’d be nice one year, just one year, and going forward, if they included an Attitude Era mode. A current generation mode, which I guess technically is universe mode, and then maybe had some scenarios, some showcase modes for other guys.

Last year they had CM Punk and John Cena, they had Shawn Michaels and Triple H. With the DLC they had Christian’s rise to the top against Randy Orton, Mark Henry’s Hall of Pain. It’d be nice if they mixed it up with different eras. And essentially take the selling point of WWE 13, which was Attitude Era, take the selling point of WWE 2K14, which was WrestleMania mode, take the selling point of 2K15, which was 2K Showcase mode, and kind of just put them all together. Have a variety every year. So, rather than just 120 obscure characters that you could play in various arenas and everything, maybe give a few of them a real story to tell.

Overall though, WWE 2K16 is definitely a step up from WWE 2K15. And while that’s not saying much, the results are encouraging. It looks like they’re heading towards the right direction. But if next year if next year we get 200 wrestlers and a few modes here and there and some stuff like say Stone Cold Steve Austin’s showcase taken out, then it’s more or less the same old. And look, if you’re a wrestling fan, you’re probably going to buy this game because this is technically the only game in town, no pun intended. But I really would like WWE 2K to break out of the status quo eventually and live up to its potential.

So, personally, if you’re a wrestling fan, I’m a wrestling fan, I’d recommend this game. If you’re more of a casual wrestling fan, with Halo coming out, with Assassin’s Creed out, Call of Duty right around the corner, I’d say it’s a tough sell. But folks, I want to hear from you. What do you think about WWE 2K16? What do you think about all the other upcoming games? Let us know. Leave a comment below. Tweet us. Facebook us. Do what you got to do. If you enjoyed this review, please click the like button. Please share this with all your friends, and please don’t forget to subscribe to TSC News