WWE '13 - Focus on Attitude Era

[Andrew]

For me, Legends of Wrestlemania had potential but the old school controls weren't quite what I was hoping for and there just wasn't enough to the Re-live/Re-write mode for my liking. They've gone into a lot more detail with the Attitude Era content in WWE '13, so I expect I'll enjoy that a lot more.

[JaoSming]

I guess I won't have to wait long. It will be $25 on Black Friday at Walmart

[buzzy]

I'm already at the point of thinking about selling the game while I'd still get some good money for it. Still have unused codes for the Online Pass, Punk's attire, Stone Cold ATV entrance and Mike Tyson. I knew why I'd wait before I unlocked them.

[Andrew]

You're disappointed by it as well?

[Andrew]

My copy arrived, spent some time with it this evening. First impressions:

Positive

• Controls are the same as last year, so it's certainly easy to pick up and play.
  
  
• Attitude Era mode is extremely detailed, the retrospective flows well. I like how they've used authentic commentary and other audio from the original broadcasts, there's a good balance between cutscenes and matches. The in-match tasks are handled a lot better than Road to Wrestlemania in WWE '12, too. Presentation is great.
  
  
• I picked up the Fan Axxess package. The Accelerator option gives you the ability to unlock everything, but doesn't automatically do so as in years past. I like the idea of having it standby to unlock stuff if I grow weary trying to do it the long way, using it to get whatever I can't be bothered unlocking before I grow weary of the game.
  
  
• It doesn't look like anything major has been taken out; nothing that I personally notice or miss, at any rate.
  
  
• I like the feedback on reversal attempts, it helps a little in getting the timing down.

Negative

• The AI is still quite cheap, annoyingly so at times. While you need to be very precise in pressing the trigger to reverse a strike or grapple, the AI seems to reverse whenever it pleases and just a little too often, turning everyone into a great technician. AI is always going to have some advantage here, seeing as how it doesn't actually have to press buttons and all, but there are some unfair, rubberband AI type moments.
  
  
• While I do like the presentation of Attitude Era in general, it's kind of annoying that you have to start at the beginning with DX and slowly unlock the other stories. I understand why they did it, it definitely makes sense for the way they're presenting the mode, but I was hoping I could jump into the Undertaker and Kane stories first so I was a little disappointed at first.
  
  
• This year's game seems a bit buggier than previous years. In the very first match I played - Undertaker vs HHH - HHH grappled me and then we just stood there, continuing to jostle, with HHH not attempting a move and me not being able to reverse or break the tie-up. I had to restart the match. I also encountered a weird glitch where Kane and Stone Cold froze in a weird pose and started sliding - frozen in that same pose - up the entrance ramp, during a brawl. Then the game locked up on me when attempting a rematch of Taker/Mankind Hell in a Cell. That's three bugs/glitches in one session of gameplay, which I don't think I've ever had playing any previous games in the series.
  
  
• The Predator tech is better this year, but still leaves a bit to be desired with strikes that don't connect when they should, or don't connect with appropriate impact.
  
  
• This one's understandable, it's a hangover of the lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund, but they're censoring mentions of "WWF" and even "Federation" in the commentary that's been taken from the original broadcasts, which is unfortunately a bit distracting. It would've been better if they'd just re-recorded the lines with "WWE".

On the whole, having fun with it while I continue to work my way through the Attitude Era content.

[koberulz]

The Accelerator option gives you the ability to unlock everything, but doesn't automatically do so as in years past.

So how does it work? The 'you failed this task' screen (or whatever there is there; I don't have the game yet) gives you a button to press to unlock the item anyway, or what?

[Andrew]

There's an Unlockables menu that displays all the content you've unlocked and the content you've yet to unlock. With the Accelerator, you also have the option of unlocking the content from that menu instead of completing the necessary objective.

[koberulz]

Ah, righto. Definitely a good idea.


buzzy and Jao: What don't you like about the game?

[Andrew]

Yeah, I was quite pleased to see that, it's much better than the all or nothing approach the last two years. I'd like to give unlocking stuff legitimately a good go to begin with but if I find my interest waning a bit or some of the objectives too frustrating, I'll go ahead and unlock stuff so I can use it before I put the game aside for a while.

[JaoSming]

buzzy and Jao: What don't you like about the game?

i just wasnt a fan of the gameplay. I've been playing too much No Mercy and I never touched 12 so the controls were new to me. I only had one night with it though, I'll be trying to pick it up in a week

[JaoSming]

well, color me wrong. Now that I had a manual in front of me telling me how to play the game, muy muy bueno.

Very impressed overall, how the animations blend, the general gameplay, man, trying to play it like 2011 was my downfall.

Bought the $20 thing, unlocked all. Setup a Universe with TNA (with custom championships) and a old school Raw show (of course). Alternating PPVs between Raw/Smackdown and TNA/Attitude instead of 2 a month. And, of course, I downloaded ~40 TNA CAWs, a few arenas, and logos.

Yep, well worth it, and just all around. Liking Universe so far.

[formyhunny]

well, color me wrong. Now that I had a manual in front of me telling me how to play the game, muy muy bueno.

Very impressed overall, how the animations blend, the general gameplay, man, trying to play it like 2011 was my downfall.

Bought the $20 thing, unlocked all. Setup a Universe with TNA (with custom championships) and a old school Raw show (of course). Alternating PPVs between Raw/Smackdown and TNA/Attitude instead of 2 a month. And, of course, I downloaded ~40 TNA CAWs, a few arenas, and logos.

Yep, well worth it, and just all around. Liking Universe so far.

Xbox or PS3? Because I'd love to add anyone on here who have the game for PS3.

[JaoSming]

Xbox, the need for YouTube uploads went away when I got my capture device

[koberulz]

How are match lengths on the different match experience settings, or whatever they were called?

If you go into match creator, set a time limit for each match type, then play through a Universe card without going back to the menu between matches, what happens? Last year the first match worked fine, then the second match just displayed '00:00' on the timer and had no time limit.

[buzzy]

Alright my two cents:

After finishing the Attitude Era mode, which was very well made, I have barely touched the game.

There are a couple of gameplay issues that really frustrate me and have kept me from enjoying most of my matches. Granted, these are issues that for some people are total gamebrakers, others might not really mind them. I'm somewhat in the middle, but they can really infuriate me at times.

One is a bug, which at the beginning THQ claimed to be not a real issue, then later came back and admitted of it being a bug. I'm talking about the CPU's constant one count kickouts.
Have a 10 minute match and hit your finisher but your opponent still has something left? He doesn't kickout at "2 and a half" but right at one. When you have put him away, you will know right away, because he doesn't kick out at one. You either get a one count or a three count.
We all know how big of a role close two counts play in these epic matches we watched. Think Taker/HBK WM25.

The second one has to do with the addition of OMG moments. The AI spam those WAY too much. If they would have their way, we would get a broken barricade and a finisher through the announce table every match. That really gets on your nerve when your opponent has a finisher and they refuse to hit it in the ring, but much rather irish whip you outside of the ring first, then into the barricade. And because they're super dumb, it usually takes them about six tries for them to get you into the right spot. That is fun.


edit: I forgot to add, there are some two counts late in the match, but only on Leverage pins.

[Andrew]

Strange, I've been getting a decent amount of two counts, though I'd agree there are more one counts than there should be.

[BigKaboom2]

You'll see two counts on leverage pins and other moves that end with pins, but usually not on regular grounded opponent pins. I've seen maybe 3 or 4 but obviously it needs to happen a lot more than that. There was a huge thread on the official forums about it so they're aware of it at least. Perhaps they'll put out another patch along with the DLC release on Tuesday.

[Andrew]

Fair call. Like I said I've seen them on regular pins, but I'd agree there should be more.

[Andrew]

I've been progressing through Attitude Era mode, continuing to be impressed by the detail and implementation of various historical moments. There is a rather nasty bug during the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in a Cell match though; if you happen to fail the first objective of throwing Mankind off the cell - which can happen quite easily with the CPU's tendency to reverse moves - you can't quit back to the timeline or retry the match, as the game hangs. Quitting back to the dashboard is the quickest fix in that situation as you at least don't have to restart your console, but it's a lot of time wasted when you need to re-attempt the match. A quick Google search reveals I'm not the only one with the issue and even a review mentioned it, so it's something they should be scrambling to patch.

That said, I haven't had the game hang on any other match in the mode and it's been quite enjoyable re-creating all the matches and moments. As I mentioned before, the way they've implemented the timeline was a great idea since you can easily go back and re-attempt any match, so if you clear a match without getting all the historical bonuses to unlock content, you don't need to play through the entire story to reach that point again. I think I'll be able to unlock a good portion of the content before I start to grow a bit weary of the game and reach for the auto-unlock option that comes with the Axxess pack.

Also grabbed the new DLC that came out yesterday, pretty cool.

[JaoSming]

got the DLC too, am I missing something or is AJ and Natie not selectable in the exhibition mode? I could select disc divas, but not them.

also found a glitch, if you do hell in a cell in the custom arena that is like a small gym, the crowd transforms into an arena crowd, so they're just floating. Still, winning a KO only HiTC as Bret Hart vs 04 Cena with a DDT through the cell roof, awesome.

[Andrew]

Just fired up the game to check, they're definitely selectable. First you have to select the Divas icon, then select the Downloadable Content icon at the bottom of the Divas select screen. They'll show up there.

[JaoSming]

good to know

[Andrew]

Finished playing through the main Attitude Era storyline, though I haven't fully completed all of the matches to get all of the unlockables, nor have I started on the "Off Script" matches. Still a lot of fun, I'll definitely be going back and trying to complete the matches with all the bonus objectives, though I have a feeling I might end up leaving a couple to the Unlock Everything function.

I experienced another weird glitch in the I Quit match between The Rock and Mankind at the 1999 Royal Rumble. After making it through the first few objectives, I began on the final stage of the match only to have the action freeze. I could still pause the game and quit, it hadn't locked up, and both wrestlers were in their idle animations, but I couldn't move The Rock and Mankind just stood there in place as well. It was very similar to the issue I experienced with Undertaker and HHH when I first got the game, but especially frustrating in this instance since as I said, the match has a few different stages to get through before you can complete it properly. As much as I'm enjoying the game and think it's a great effort on the whole, I'd say it's the buggiest game in the series. I don't recall ever experiencing this many issues before; graphical and animation glitches, yes, but not random gamebreaking stuff.

[formyhunny]

I experienced another weird glitch in the I Quit match between The Rock and Mankind at the 1999 Royal Rumble. After making it through the first few objectives, I began on the final stage of the match only to have the action freeze. I could still pause the game and quit, it hadn't locked up, and both wrestlers were in their idle animations, but I couldn't move The Rock and Mankind just stood there in place as well. It was very similar to the issue I experienced with Undertaker and HHH when I first got the game, but especially frustrating in this instance since as I said, the match has a few different stages to get through before you can complete it properly. As much as I'm enjoying the game and think it's a great effort on the whole, I'd say it's the buggiest game in the series. I don't recall ever experiencing this many issues before; graphical and animation glitches, yes, but not random gamebreaking stuff.

Wow. I haven't experienced my fair share of glitches for this game, but I did experience 1 glitch while playing the Attitude Era mode. I was playing as Austin against Kane. I hit the Stunner on Kane and the camera later glitched and had a close up on Kane's face. But it was pretty easy to fix when you turn off Camera Cuts.

[JaoSming]

I had a similar camera glitch with rybacks finisher

[Andrew]

Haven't experienced either of those yet, but probably just a matter of time.

[formyhunny]

Just found out the Undertaker Ministry of Darkness DLC was free!

[formyhunny]

GLITCHFEST!

[Andrew]

Kane's character has had supernatural elements over the years, but that's taking it a little too far.

I've properly completed all but two of the matches in the main Attitude Era storyline, so I've unlocked a decent amount of content at this point. I've said it before but it's worth saying again, this is probably the best handling of unlockable content so far.

[koberulz]

Got a copy for Christmas, complete with Mike Tyson unlock code.

Not impressed with Match Creator so far. No more elimination triple threats or pin/submission cage matches.

[koberulz]

Love the Match Experience settings. I've had a couple of matches go 15 minutes so far. It breaks in more one-sided matches, because you get a finisher too quickly and they end up kicking out, but it works really well in a more even contest.

[koberulz]

Anyone else finding the CPU takes forever to build up any momentum? I can usually hit three finishers before they even get a signature move. Adjusted the difficulty all the way up to Legend and fiddled with the sliders, and there's still quite a gap. I'm getting matches I still have to work to win, since I'm playing on Epic, but there's never any real risk of losing. I'm averaging out about 15 minutes per singles match, hitting a couple of finishers and not having my opponent hit anything.

I've got all matches set up to a 30-minute time limit, and had a triple threat go 29:13. I followed it the next show with a triple threat that went 27:13. This Match Experience thing is awesome.

The biggest negative for me so far is the pin HUD. It'd be better if instead of the kickout area turning green, the bar turned green, so you could see how far along the kickout area it was. It's not too much of an issue usually--you just release when the kickout area turns green--but if you're trying to reverse a leverage pin you have no idea when the bar is going to exit the kickout area.

[Andrew]

The biggest negative for me so far is the pin HUD. It'd be better if instead of the kickout area turning green, the bar turned green, so you could see how far along the kickout area it was. It's not too much of an issue usually--you just release when the kickout area turns green--but if you're trying to reverse a leverage pin you have no idea when the bar is going to exit the kickout area.

Yeah, I think I'd find that preferable too.

[melomanu20]

Hey guys.. Im wondering since 2k has now officially taken over of WWE gaming rights, do you guys believe (or has there been any news) of 2k releasing of copy for PC?

Obviously we all know 2k likes to expand on all platforms (as they have continued to make their other sports games for the PC till now)

Im hoping to have a WWE game on PC (dont think one is out there yet) so we can mod it the way we do with the NBA2k series. Imagine modding CFs for attitude

legends, attires, arenas, etc.. Im keeping my fingers crossed for this. Does anyone think this is possible?

[Andrew]

There's been no news and I'm not holding my breath for a PC version of WWE '14 (or WWE 2K14, since it'll probably adopt that naming convention), but it's probably at least a possibility. Right now, I'm not getting my hopes up too much.