New video reveals major gameplay details for WWE 2K22

2K Games and Visual Concepts have been promising that WWE 2K22, the long-awaited next WWE video game, will "Hit Different." Today, we finally got our first look at how they intend to do that.

During a video uploaded earlier in the day - the first in a series the studio is calling "Ringside Reports" - Visual Concepts' WWE 2K22 Creative Director Lynell Jinks and Art Producer Christina Diem Pham presented an in-game bout between game cover star Rey Mysterio and current WWE United States Champion Damian Priest. During the virtual match, Jinks and Pham were joined by a handful of other studio staff members to explain what was new and improved in the game.

WWE 2K22 makes use of the NBA 2K series capture technology

One of the first topics the studio team touched upon was the improved animation of characters, and how the superstars' images were captured. The same tech used to recreate the images of the multitude of players in the NBA for that franchise's recent games was adopted by the WWE 2K22 team.

Just by watching the animation in the video's game footage, it's easy to see just how many more details this process has added to each character model.

Another important aspect of the game - how it actually controls - was also touched upon during the presentation. Emphasis was placed equally on both how the game was "pick up and play" easy for new players, while also giving experienced WWE 2K players something as well.

One new control feature that should intrigue WWE game veterans is the different defensive options the game provides. Rather than just reversing moves, as in games past, 2K22 will offer "Breakers" - essentially stopping a combo by entering the same button combo as your opponent.

Also included - and this was the most exciting control element revealed today - is the inclusion of a block button. This allows for not only protection from attacks, but also allows for a way to parry them and counterattack. Also gone are the reversal limits. Now, players will be able to reverse attacks as many times as they're able - it's just going to be more difficult to do so.

There's more to be revealed in the coming weeks before WWE 2K22's release on March 11 in North America.

Are you excited to play 2K22? Did you preorder? Or are you keeping a wait-and-see attitude. Let us know in the comments.