10 Things We’d Like To See In WWE 2K16

#1 – Refined Gameplay

Attempting to mirror the intricacies of the in-ring action presented to us every week by WWE is no easy task. Last year, 2K enhanced their gameplay engine. New stamina animations showed tired wrestlers pulling themselves up by the ropes instead of leaping to their feet unrealistically like they used to. Move transitions were much smoother, and most fans would argue that 2K improved the action within the squared-circle considerably. The result gave us matches which felt more exciting than ever.

So where does WWE 2K16 fit in? Moves still feel clunky at times, as wrestlers get stuck in unbreakable animations, leaving others grappling the thin air. An alteration to the current pinning system would also be a welcome change, which is far too unpredictable at times.

Of course, unpredictability makes for exciting matches, but due to the accuracy required in an attempt to break the pin, scenarios tend to exist in which the player may get lucky and kick out of a pin after being slammed through a flaming table, but fail to kick out after a simple suplex.

THQ & 2K’s WWE series have never been renowned for their clever AI, and last year was much of the same. There were a few improvements – wrestlers acted with some intelligence in specialty matches to achieve their goals, and were always quick to make a pin attempt after a signature or finishing maneuver. Unfortunately, AI opponents still act like robots. Raising the difficulty levels of the game failed to make the AI smarter, but instead improved their ability to reverse your moves, which made for a frustrating experience.

WWE 2K16 represents part 2 of 2K’s gameplay revamp process, so even if all of these features aren’t addressed, we hope to see much bigger strides this year.

Next: #2 - Additional Match Types