WWE '12 review

Made2Game WWE ‘12 review score: 6 out of 10
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Yuke’s

To bastardise a famous saying, there are really only three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes and yearly sports game updates. Year in, year out we’re treated to titles that are, for better or worse, tweaked versions of whatever came before, with a new cover star and shinier new menu screens trying to mask the the fact that what’s contained within isn’t really much different to last year’s effort. In part, you can blame that on sport itself. I mean, it’s not like FIFA’s ever decided to make footballers play with blindfolds on or the NFL deemed their boys tough enough to do without helmets for a season (more’s the pity), so by virtue the games aren’t going to change much either. But while the limitations are obvious, developers still do their best to bring something new every time to justify their efforts… even if such changes end up ruining what was previously a perfect experience.

Take THQ’s WWE games, for instance. With over a decade’s worth of titles under its belt, there’s no denying that the franchise has seen its peaks and troughs thanks to a mix of console changes and design decisions. WWF No Mercy, the last WWE game for the N64, was awesome and eclipsed the arrival of WWF Smackdown on the PS1; five iterations later and WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain on PS2 blew everything else away; another six years after that, WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2010 came along with so many amazing ideas and such solid action that the series hit an all-time high. That’s one near-perfect game every five or so attempts – by that reckoning, it means WWE ’12 is turning up on an ‘off year’. And boy, what an off year it is.

You’re only smoke and mirrors
What WWE ’12 represents, according to THQ, is a reboot for the franchise; a chance to clear out the cobwebs and introduce a new era for wrestling games, at least in theory. What we’ve actually got, however, is a game that feels simultaneously outdated and unpolished, with all the returning elements failing to hit the heights they have in the past and all the new features being lacking at best, broken at worst.

If there’s one thing that WWE ’12 does well, it’s being up-to-date; from the entrance music to the various titleholders and storylines, it’s nearly all here.

Of course, you wouldn’t know this from a casual glance at what WWE ’12 has to offer, mainly because Yuke’s has done a phenomenal job with the game’s presentation and peripheral components. Just the main menu alone – with its smoky professionalism and near never-ending list of match styles – is almost enough to convince you of its greatness, even though pretty much everything on show is making a return from previous versions. And it gets better as you delve deeper into the modes available, as each unfolds with enough customisable options and settings to put every other supposedly user-definable game to shame.

Naturally, it’s this emphasis on customisation that stands as WWE ‘12’s strong point (although again, that’s been the case for several years now). That’s partly because WWE fans are a fickle bunch who love bitching over WWE’s booking decisions and thinking they can do better, so putting the power to do so in their hands is always going to make them happy. However, it’s also because Yuke’s creation tools are so damn comprehensive, there’s almost no limit to what you can do in the game (or, if you’re lazy, have someone else do and upload online for you to download into your own game).

Whether it’s building your own pixel-perfect version of The Shockmaster, changing the movesets of your favourite superstars (because, you know, CM Punk would NEVER use that full nelson, right?), devising utterly insane finishing moves that defy the laws of physics (not that the game needs much help on that front…) or using the story, highlight reel, logo or entrance video tools to make… well, stories, highlight reels, logos and entrance videos, it’s all ridiculously in-depth. And now you can add constructing your own arena to the mix too, meaning all those dreams of seeing TNA, Ring Of Honor or Dragon Gate rings in a WWE game can finally be a reality. Not that I’ve ever wanted that, you understand.

Some of WWE '12's character models, like Randy Orton, are great but others, like Mark Henry, are decidedly lacking in quality for one reason or another.

If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway
So far, so ‘not really a reboot’ then… in fact, it’s all basically the same as the last two years. So where’s the big change that was promised? Not surprisingly, it’s in the ring and, also not surprisingly, it’s where WWE ’12 starts getting pretty patchy. In places, the newly-introduced Predator technology (which feels less like a completely new engine and more like a series of Band-Aids plastered over the old game) works well – being able to attack, grapple or otherwise interact with opponents at any time, rather than having to wait for transitional animations to end, is really nice and gives a smoothness to the action that wasn’t there before. At other times though, the revised physics that Predator brings in veer from temperamental to downright broken, ruining what could otherwise be a great experience.

Some of the issues may not even be Predator’s fault: for instance, many moves lack the impact you’d expect from two huge man mountains slapping each other about, with finishers in particular falling foul of ‘girly slap’ syndrome. Others, however, are definitely new additions and I’ve enjoyed first-hand all manner of glitchy goodness. Randy Orton left hovering in mid-air after a ladder was pulled out from under him? Check. Alberto Del Rio walking round with a chair embedded in his torso? Check. Tag partners jumping down from the apron and then up again repeatedly like jackrabbits just because I happen to be fighting someone in the corner? Stupidly flimsy rope physics causing my tag partner’s arms to get wrapped round the back of his head like a strait jacket? Moves connecting even if it missed the mark by a mile, while others that looked bang on doing nothing? Check, check and, hell yeah, check… although, to be fair, the last one happens on wrestling TV all the time anyway, so that might just be an extra nod to realism.

Sadly, the option to have Sin Cara botch moves, trip over the ropes and injure his knee just by running around just as he does in real life is missing. Bah.


I wanna tell ya a story
And then there are WWE ‘12’s two main modes – Road To WrestleMania and WWE Universe – which promise much but deliver little more than disappointment. WWE Universe is easily the better of the two since it lets you interject in matches across an entire WWE schedule, fight as pretty much anyone you choose and at least try to create your own path. I say ‘try’ because WWE ’12 regularly ignores the story seeds you’ve planted (feuds, dissention, allegiances, whatever) to push its own agenda, which normally results in a lacklustre outcome for everyone involved.

Still, it’s a damn sight better than WWE '12's Road To WrestleMania, which is so structured and blinkered that Yuke’s might as well have removed all the in-ring action and just had you press Y at key moments to push the story forward. True, replacing the multiple single-wrestler paths with a single triple-threaded tale is quite a nice idea but when that tale is then foisted upon you in so many horrible ways – be it the constant reminder of what you’re meant to be doing every 30 seconds, the fact that you can spend ages dominating a match only to lose just because you’re meant to, or the inability to tag out of a match because doing so would mess up the following cut-scene’s logic – you realise you might as well go watch some WWE TV for all the choice it offers.

In the absence of ECW this year, Yuke’s has slapped WCW back into the mix instead. It’s a nice touch, as you can rebook WWE’s failed invasion angle…

To say I’m massively disappointed by all this is an understatement, although considering I said exactly the same thing last year after Smackdown Vs Raw 2011 failed to live up to SvR 2010’s brilliance, I should have seen it coming. A tiny part of me wonders whether Yuke’s is sabotaging its own product so that when the series rediscovers its groove in a few years time, people like me will go crazy for it. Sadly, my rational side knows the truth: when you’re forced to introduce change for change’s sake, it’s never going to end well. Maybe it’s time for THQ to tag Yuke’s out and give someone else a shot at wrestling game success instead…



Words by Martin Mathers (Twitter: @MajorDysentry)

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