5 features that must be included in WWE 2K16

The hype and hyperbole surrounding WWE 2K16 is gathering pace. With the game due to be released for all platforms in November, the development phases of the game are now in full swing. In a shocking turn of events, TNA star Low Ki is playing his part in the making of the new game.Known to WWE fans as Kaval, the New Yorker took to Instagram to reveal a slightly cryptic yet blatantly obvious post about how he is paying the bills between TNA tapings. He said: “Meanwhile, on the other side of the start button…” while posing in a motion capture suit with 2K’s logo in full sight. This is a slightly puzzling move. One because it is an employee of a rival wrestling company working on WWE’s showpiece game and two because of Ki’s run while he was employed by Vince McMahon. It wasn’t the best, was it?What Low Ki’s role is in the motion capture stages of development is somewhat of a mystery. Maybe 2K Sports just needed someone to do the bare basic moves and sequences at this early (ish) stage.He, along with the rest of the WWE and 2K Sports developmental teams, have it all to do to get back in the WWE gaming Universe’s good books after 2K15 proved to be more of a disaster than a success.Here’s 5 features that would make WWE 2K16 one hell of a game…

#1 Object detection

Not something you would normally associate with ‘Ultimate Fantasy’ wish lists, but something that is so annoying that it simply can’t be left out. It’s one of those things that just needs to be done right, not matter how much time a developer has to make a game. Many of 2K15’s problems have been put down to the fact that 2K Sports had less than a year to build the game scratch for PS4 and Xbox One gamers.

Nevertheless, getting something as basic as object detection sorted is a must. We’ve all seen it on a whole host of games, it’s not just reserved for WWE 2K15. For those of you that aren’t sure of what this is, it’s where a superstars’ arm magically disappears through the mat or their leg manages to teleport through the barricades.

One of the best from past titles was when you attempted a last ride with The Undertaker on a Diva. His arms would go nowhere near her due to her size and the whole thing was made to look a bit of a ‘clustermuck’, as the family friendly Stone Cold Steve Austin would put it.

This is an annoyance more than a major problem but it is still something that needs eradicated from the 2K series immediately.

#2 Better graphics

This is how the 69-year-old Vince McMahon looks in WWE 2K15. Shocking isn’t it? It is hard to think of a suitable starting point when it comes to the game’s graphics.

The main gripe comes with the majority of hairstyles we see on the game. The above looks nothing like Vince’s perfectly coiffed back-comb while the powers that be decided to give Hulk Hogan an amount of hair that hasn’t been seen on his head since roughly 1972.

While Triple H’s ‘mane’ in the HHH v Shawn Michaels Showcase Mode needs to be seen to be believed. Yet again, the issues with the graphics has been put down to the lack of development time 2K and WWE had to put the game together.

This disgruntled gamer believes that it has to be down to the fact that 2K made the conscious decision to focus much of their efforts on the superstars’ perfectly choreographed entrances. These have obviously taken up so much disk space that other areas of the game, that are more important than the wrestlers frolicking to the ring, have been shunted. The graphics included.

Now for 2K16, they have the bare bones already in place and have the full year to make it the showstopper we all want it to be. No excuses.

#3 Compelling commentary

Let’s be fair to WWE and 2K Sports here. Bad commentary isn’t reserved for WWE games, we see it everywhere. But that shouldn’t stop 2K and WWE striving to be the very best it can be. Why can’t they break out from the pack and produce compelling commentary that keeps repetition to a minimum.

Of course, there’s no easy solution to this. The way that Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler and Michael Cole are made to read from a script makes them sound so unnatural. While the amount of lines they are able to record will be set to a certain amount.

One way around this would be to use recording from live shows. Imagine that. Goodness knows how they would be able to pull that off but it would give the game a new lease of life. On this front at least, there have been encouraging signs.

For WWE 2k16, Michael Cole has gone on record as saying him and Jerry Lawler will be together in-studio at the WWE Performance Center recording their lines for the new game. Cole added work for the game began in December and expects the amount of WWE 2k16 voice over lines to double from 2K15. He and Lawler will be going into the studio once every 3 to 4 weeks to record.

#4 Match types brought back In

Here is a complete list of the match types that 2K have left out of their newest title. Brace yourselves:

Singles Matches:

– Inter Gender

– Special Referee (included in showcase mode)

– 3 stages of hell (included in showcase mode)

– Inferno

– Bra and panties

– Ladder

– First blood

– I Quit

– Casket (Included in showcase mode)

– Backstage Brawl

– Boiler Room Brawl

Tag Team Matches:

– Tornado Tag

– Elimination Tornado

– Mixed tag

– Extreme Rules

– Hell in a Cell

– Ladder

– Steel cage

– Table

– TLC

– Elimination table

– Backstage Brawl

Triple Threat Matches:

– Falls Count Anywhere

– 2 out of 3 Falls

– No DQ

– Ladder

– Steel cage

– TLC

– Backstage Brawl

Fatal Four Way Matches:

– Battle Royal

– Falls Count Anywhere

– 2 out of 3 Falls

– No DQ

– Hell in a Cell

– Ladder

– Steel cage

– Table

– TLC

Six-man Matches

Elimination Chamber tag

They all need to come back. Some more than others, but they need to come back. You never know when you might just fancy a Fatal Four Way Steel Cage match.

#5 NXT mode for all

If you are a PS3 or Xbox 360 owner, you are a luckier than any PS4 or Xbox One. Really, you are.

While those who have the most up to date versions of the leading consoles got the My Career feature, those gamers who stuck with their trusty last gen consoles were given the privilege of “Who Got NXT”.

Given the rise of what is still classed as WWE’s developmental over the last year, it looks like those with an old console got the better deal. Who Got NXT is a story mode featuring the up-and-comers in WWE and focusses on the five playable NXT superstars in the game. They are: Adrian Neville, Bo Dallas, Corey Graves, Rusev and Sami Zayn.

Now, NXT has become the WWE’s leading brand with many, if not all, pure wrestling fans who prefer their no nonsense style of programming to the glitz and glamour of Raw and SmackDown. Bearing that in mind, surely WWE and 2K Sports need to capitalise on this and give the fans what they so obviously want.

This year however, they need to go one step further and instead of giving us just five NXT stars, going all the way and giving us most of the current roster. Many of which are expected to make the jump up, or down depending on your taste, to the main roster. Effectively, you could kill two birds with one stone here.

Let’s hope the powers that be read this and take note.