Developer: Yukes Media Creations
Publisher: THQ
Rating Guide: How I Review Games

Review:

Let the competition hit the floor!  There isn’t much competition out there in the wrestling entertainment genre but if there was then WWE ’12 would have them for breakfast.  Forget about what you knew from the Smackdown vs. RAW series because this game is how I envisioned a WWE game would eventually be.

Gameplay, Graphics and Sound

WWE ’12 changes its core mechanics to give players a much smoother way to transition between light moves and power moves.  Hell, it’s almost as if you finally get to control the superstars the way that they naturally perform in the ring.  Matches have a sort of natural progression that leads you to the “comeback” moment that is typically found in the squared circle today.  The grappling, animations, submissions, transitions .. it’s all much more fluid.  I had to look on the cover of the game to make sure this was part of the same series I had played for years.  Yukes and THQ seriously put work on the action inside the ring with their new Predator Technology.

There are the occasional awkward moments when a ladder to the face doesn’t quite come off with the intensity as you’d expect or the times when you run through a chair meant for your head.  I didn’t experience them at any frequent pace so I’ll chalk it up to just one of those things.

One of the things I noticed almost as immediately as the improved game controls was the AI in the ring.  Sometimes it’s cheesy as expected but then other times it’s seriously hard .. as in “pull off reversal after reversal” hard.  I remember the first “villain” match I had during Road to Wrestlemania between Sheamus and Cena that had Cena reversing just about every damn move I could throw at him.  Maybe it was my lack of skill?

The roster is one of the deepest you’ll find in any WWE game.  I didn’t get to play as my favorite superstar, The Rock, but make no mistake he’s in the game.  I got to RKO John Cena quite a few times so all was good despite not having The Rock.  For those worried, it was just my particular review copy … The Rock won’t be missing from yours if you preordered.

Some of the presentation could still use some work especially in Road to Wrestlemania but WWE ’12 gets it close to near perfection.  In fact, some would argue that THQ and Yukes decided to do what WWE itself should do and that’s focus on the substance and not the spectacle.  I don’t know why but I’m just a sucker for visual flare.  RTW has been revamped to focus more on the history of how stories unfold during WWE.  It takes months and months to create a good heel (bad guy for those unaware) in regular programming and RTW does its best job to date at duplicating the real programming.  I have no idea why they decided to only weave Triple H, Sheamus and a player character into the story mode but hey, it is what it is.

I do have to admit though that although the presentation of the superstars has always been great, I’m upset about not having R Truth’s “You Suck” entrance.  I know it’s a new or rather return to the old for him, but I wanted to get hyped bringing R Truth to the ring.  He’s not on his Little Jimmy thing anymore.

For what it was, Road to Wrestlemania works but it’s just not my favorite part of the game.  I much prefer WWE Universe 2.0 mode.  It lets you take on the entire programming as you see fit.  You can edit brands, matches etc.  I loved it.  If you want to change WWE into the extreme ECW, then go right ahead.  If you want to create an entire roster, then go ahead.  And speaking of player characters, WWE ’12 returns with another deep (seriously deep) player creation tool.  It’s overwhelming in fact.  You can spend literally months with the player creation tool on its own.  Allowing gamers to control what they see, how they perform, the arena they perform in, moves, entrances etc. is just madness.  I’m happy to report that the creation element is deeper than ever.

Xbox Live Extras

Fancy a 40-man Royal Rumble?  Yes you do!  Taking WWE ’12 online is really where the competition gets serious.  Going against other players really tests your skill.  And when there is lag, it tests your skill even more.  I ran into a few matches where I was stuck in a delay that caused me to miss some reversals and body slams.  I didn’t come across it frequently though which is good. 

There’s a lot to do online especially with the 40-man Royal Rumble.

Conclusion

WWE ’12 changes more than just its name with this latest installment.  It changes what you thought a wrestling game could be.  It takes story, action, gameplay, creation, presentation … turns them sideways and sticks them straight up our candy asses.

I can’t say enough about how the gameplay has changed and improved.  Usually when you reboot a franchise and its core foundation, it’s a definite fail but they’ve gone against the grain and made it work.  If you haven’t been a fan of the franchise before, now is the time to get into it.  It’s amazing how a game can improve year after year the way this series has.

All of my Twitter freaks, use the hashtag #WWE12 to get it trending! 

9.5
“Velvet”