WWE '12 Review (X360)

• Publisher: THQ
• Developer: Yuke's
• ESRB Rating: “T" for Teen
• Genre: Pro Wrestling
• Pros: Tons of creation options; lots of match types; fun gameplay; solid gimmick matches; WWE Universe mode; sliders
• Cons: Frustrating A.I. on higher difficulty; Road to Wrestlemania needs to be bigger; voice work

Gameplay

The biggest change in WWE '12 is in the gameplay. It is simplified over past entries that were a bit too complicated for their own good. One button for strikes. One button for grapples. One button for Irish Whips. One button for reversals. Depending on what position you're in when you press the button, and how weakened your opponent is, you'll perform different moves. There is a little more depth to it than that, but it really is a nice and simple system that works really well. It makes matches play out more like they do in real life. You build up to your big flashy moves after beating up your opponent a bit rather than being able to bust them all out right from the start. Character abilities like being able to make a comeback from the brink of defeat (just like superman Cena), stealing finishers, dirty pins, and other things like that make specific characters perform like they do on TV, which makes the matches even better.

The A.I. on default settings is pretty challenging. A bit too challenging. They counter everything and kind of beat you down. Thankfully, WWE '12 has a number of A.I. sliders you can adjust to make the game play more to you liking. I love sliders in sports games, and they work just as well here.

Match Types

WWE '12 also deserves praise for the wealth of match types it gives you to play in. Standard, TLC, ladder, Hell in a Cell, cage, Elimination Chamber, Inferno, and more. The gimmick matches in particular are a lot of fun here because it is easier than ever to do all of the crazy over the top stuff the matches are known for. Grabbing the title or briefcase from the top of a ladder, or escaping from the top of the cage, or breaking out of the HiaC is easy and straightforward now compared to years past, which makes it all a lot more fun.

The Royal Rumble is a lot of fun this year as well, but maybe a bit too easy. You can store finishers now and use them to either instantly eliminate someone, or save yourself from elimination, which makes the Rumble pretty easy as long as you always have a finisher or two in your pocket. Eliminating opponents is easier in general as now it is a button matching, not a button mashing, mechanic where buttons pop up that you have to hit before the opponent does. As long as you hit the button quick enough, you can eliminate someone the first time you throw them over the ropes, unlike past games where they would escape and you'd have to throw them over 3-4 times to get the job done. Human players, of course, will be tougher to eliminate than the A.I..

The game features free play, multiplayer, and online multiplayer which all work like you'd expect. It has two distinct single-player modes we'll cover more in depth. First is WWE Universe. WWE Universe basically gives you 100% control over every aspect of the WWE. You can change the rosters at will. The game fills out match cards automatically, but you can edit everything and make up whatever matchups you want. Insert your create-a-wrestler in title matches. Whatever you want. You can even bring WCW back from the dead if you want. You can watch the A.I. play the matches, matches, or participate in them yourself, or just simulate everything. There isn't really a story here, but each wrestler's performance in their matches determines their overall ranking and how far they are away from a title shot. Of course, you are the one that is in control, so you don't really have to follow the rankings if you don't want to.

Creation Tools

A big part of the fun in WWE Universe is being able to make everything exactly how you want, and thanks to the crazy deep set of creation tools in WWE '12, you really can do anything. In addition to making a detailed custom character, you can customize their entrance and even make a custom TitanTron video featuring your character. And these custom videos aren't cheesy goofy looking crap, either. You choose a theme for the video, and then the game actually renders your character performing moves and doing interviews and inserts those scenes into the video, just like a real Superstar's video. It takes 5-10 minutes for the game to put it all together, and the quality is really surprisingly good. Seeing your custom character in a real looking video is awesome.

When your custom character has their custom entrance down along with a custom video, might as well customize their move set. You can easily make your character fight however you like, including making up your own finishing moves. You can also make up your own storylines by stringing scenes together and inserting the characters you want in the story into the scenes. And why not make your own arena while you're at it. The arena editor is mostly just changing the colors and stuff around and putting text and logos where you like, so it isn't like you could re-create the Philly bingo hall or something, but it does let you make your own show in the WWE, which is cool.

You are truly in 100% control of WWE Universe, right down to every last detail.

The other single-player mode is Road to Wrestlemania. In Road to Wrestlemania, you follow one of three stories - one for Sheamus, one for Triple H, and one for a custom wrestler as they fight it out through a months-long story leading to headlining Wrestlemania. These three stories are true WWE TV production-style storylines with dialogue, interviews, big set pieces and events, and all of that stuff you expect from WWE. The rest of the game is about wrestling. Road to Wrestlemania is about sports entertainment. And the stories really are pretty good. Like past WWE games that used this style of super high quality presentation story, though, we just wish there was more of it. Only three stories isn't enough.

Graphics & Sound

Visually, WWE '12 is a nice looking game for the most part. It still has some weird blemishes with wrestlers clipping through each other or through the ring, and the crowd looks awful. But the wrestlers themselves look really, really good right down to the fact you can see their muscles moving under their skin. The animation for all of the moves is really good as well.

The sound is only okay. The commentary from The King and Michael Cole is pretty lackluster, as is the spoken dialogue from the WWE Superstars. The sound effects are decent, though, and all of the entrance music is here.