WWE fans have been waiting longer than usual for the next video game from the most popular professional wrestling promotion in the world. Following loudly-shared frustrations withWWE 2K20, developer Visual Concepts decided to take an extra year to make the nextWWE 2Kgame was up to player expectations. Players will soon be able to judge that for themselves, with a March 11 release date just over a month away. In the meantime, a newWWE 2K22video with a full match offers a hint at what’s to come.
The match in question is between WWE’s superstarsRey Mysterioand Damian Priest. It’s a standard match intended to showcaseWWE 2K22’s completely redesigned gameplay and physics. One core design element is thatWWE 2K22is designed for pick-up and play, with one senior designer saying players should be able to get through a whole match “just by button mashing.” Light Attacks, Heavy Attacks, and Grappling areWWE 2K22’s key attacks, as well as a Block/Reversal button. Inputs can then be combo’d into wrestlers' unique moves.
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While the gameplay of the match is obviously a major focus, since this is the first in-depth showcase ofWWE 2K22, the visuals of the wrestling game are also being showcased in the new video, too.WWE 2K20players are able to see improvements to the game’s general visual quality, with a particular focus on lighting. Lighting will help bring out the details inWWE’s superstars, as well as their different cosmetics.
The full video goes into a lot more detail regarding gameplay, animations, andvisuals forWWE 2K22. The development at Visual Concepts is clearly very excited about what they’ve put together forWWE 2K22with the extra development time the project has received.
It’s important to remember that a two-year development cycle for a new game is still a very short amount of time compared to traditional multi-year development. ThatVisual Conceptswas able to accomplish so much in such a short time is worth commending. But that also means that some aspects ofWWE 2K22are likely to be similar to past games, though those parts of the game are unlikely to be spotlighted in early marketing material.
The WWE has a long history of video games that are both beloved or hated among its fanbase.WWE 2K20was a down pointin that history, but Visual Concepts is hoping thatWWE 2K22will be everything that fans want. Expect to hear more over the next month.
WWE 2K22releases March 11 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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