When watching a wrestling match, it's easy to see that there's a lot going on in the ring. Grapples, throws, strikes - at first, it may seem like nothing more than a fist fight, but on closer inspection, it's actually a complex sequence of different techniques used one after the other. What this means for WWE 2k15 is that the game's controls get complex rather quickly when attempting to recreate the action seen on TV.
There's a lot of different techniques that players can use in the game, and there just aren't enough buttons on the controller for every move to get its own input. For the past few years, WWE games have been notoriously hard to learn, and ended up being more difficult to control than they should have been. 2K is well aware of the issue, and as a result, the studio has retweaked the controls for WWE 2k15. Check out the latest trailer for the game that shows off the new controls:
The first big improvement is the on-screen heads-up display. Previous games in the franchise went for a clean look, which meant not displaying players' health and stamina info on the screen. It looked great, but it obviously didn't help convey information to the players. In WWE 2k15, the studio added in small health bars near the bottom of the screen. This allows players to know their wrestler's condition - which is more important than ever - without obscuring half the screen with menus. It's a necessary change, and players will be finally be able to tell how to play the match based on their character's condition.
'Chain wrestling' is another big addition to WWE 2k15. Select wrestlers will begin matches with a series of grapples in order to inflict damage. It's a similar system to that of previous games, but 2K has reworked the system to actually show players exactly what to do. Instead of guessing what move to use based on character animations, clean and concise options will appear on-screen; it's a much better and easier-to-use system than the guesswork of previous titles.
The rest of the game's controls seem rather similar. There's a strike button, a finishing button and a counter button; all of these are directly taken from WWE 2k14. For many returning players, picking up WWE 2k15 should feel just like the last game in the series.
From the beginning, one of the design goals of WWE 2k15 has been to make the game easier to play. Sure, the game looks great on next-gen consoles, but graphics don't matter if the gameplay itself isn't any good. WWE games have been difficult to learn in the past (some of the games didn't even have tutorials), but 2K has put a major focus on helping new players ease into the game. After all, if more people can actually play the game, more people will buy it.
The next-gen version of WWE 2k15 is set for release on Nov. 18.
Photo: 2K Games
