WWE2K22

Tomorrow is the official release date

I've been playing this game recently on my PC. One of the worst experiences to date. The game is quite fluid when playing but the lack of freedom certainly is one of the bad aspects.

There is a issue with CAWs. Crashes, insane loading times when you have a certain amount of CAWs. I've made a TEW to WWE2K22 attributes converter, I was all hyped up, to create a universe with WWF, MACW and AWA in 85. Got the CAWS, spent an entire day setting the attributes and the Universe, the loading times were awful, but I thought, in the end it will pay out, I will have some fun. I can't count how many hours I spent on loading screens and I've a pretty decent rig. There are tons of boards and discussions from people with the same problems as me. Who want to play with CAWs.

Then I entered the Universe, constant crashes. On tag team screen, on championship screen, corrupting saves, glad I had backups as I was creating it. When I step onto the Universe itself. It's bland. No stories whatsoever, no logical booking, at least in the first month. Simulation... What can one say. I spent all that time setting attributes, and a 69 rated guy beat a high-80 rated guy. 3\4 minutes loading a match, so the match ends in less than 5 minutes. Multiple AI issues during the match. Tried adjusting the sliders for longer matches, to no avail, made it even worse. The game feels so arcade. With no rationality behind it. There are some feature with extreme potential, that aren't being used. GM Mode... Is sort of, how to kill creativity in a second?

I don't like WWE current state, but I thought I could enjoy a game, why not. There is so much randomness in this game that I really can't believe how bad of a wrestling personification this is. The showcase mode was good to play as Rey Mysterio, because it felt I was telling a story inside the ring with the cutscenes, but as you go back into the match, it feels the same as it did before, the rest of the game forget it. Imagine you step on the ring and you go for a "BIG" grapple. You nail it. No counter or whatsoever. Even the AI vs. AI, the match just started and they are going for big maneuvers. There is no focusing, there is no tactic, there is no story being told, just two insanely good looking characters performing wrestling moves according to their moveset. The bottomline for me, was seeing a 40\50 strength wrestler doing a stalling Vertical Suplex on Andre the Giant. Incredible. And posing with Andre up the sky.

I know it's a game, but if the game is supposed to be happening inside the ring, why don't they focus inside the ring and improve the game, and then work on all the other features? They have FPWW example. It's not perfect but it has some degree of logic. Where you can feel your changes in attributes and wrestlers, and you can simulate a match and it doesn't feel so random, at least it scales, takes Wrestler Logic into account.

It has been a long time since the Classics wrestlers provided us, but still. Is this pro wrestling? Is this entertainment? What happened to those Classics? What happened to the story behind it? Where every single move was telling us something about that encounter between two wrestlers? I know, it's very hard to give that simulation and it would take years to get it right. But they haven't moved towards that direction since the first wrestling game or at least to give that option to the users. They've made it even worse, for users like me who want to sit and change attributes and simulate matches, enjoy the visuals, tell stories, push creativity. Nowadays, I'm a programmer, that's why I know, it's possible  to create something really unique and better in terms of gameplay, simulation, pro wrestling and with team as big 2K's team, no doubt.

Sorry for the long vent, but it might assist people who are thinking to buy this game.

I had hoped for a much better game. The game does not feel finished.