Thanks to the return of WWE Universe and the introduction of Road to Glory – a place to show off and develop your created wrestler’s skills online – there are modes galore. WWE 2K18 may be rather scrappy, but one area where it really does impress is content. Allowing you to work the audience with a string of dialogue choices, horrible writing, zero voice acting and unforeseen outcomes means they’re something you’ll tolerate and muddle your way through rather than enjoy. Less entertaining, though, are the Promo events that you’ll find yourself doing from time to time. WWE is all about entertainment, and that’s exactly what matches are: entertaining. The star system means that it’s all about showmanship, so you’re encouraged to mix up your moves and work the crowd. You can now carry your opponents too, opening up new opportunities like throwing them out of the ring.
Great fun can be had pummelling your opposition onto the canvas before grappling them into submission or pinning them for the win. Still, for the most part, WWE 2K18′s bouts are exciting and extremely eventful. And if the camera ever moves in to give you a close look at the audience you’ll feel like you’ve momentarily entered a time warp and gone back at least ten years. Those with long hair will often find it flailing around like it’s got a life of its own. Some of your favourite wrestlers look true to life, whole others look like they’ve been beaten with an ugly stick. Inconsistent visuals have also been the root of much hilarity and alarm. Levitating characters and glitchy animations have had both me and Citrus Sid in stitches, but more serious issues like unwinnable matches have only resulted in frustration. It makes for fights that feel authentic to what you’d normally watch on the screen, but it also means that they sometimes feel a bit laborious, with victory more down to luck than raw skill. Animations are long-winded, and great emphasis is placed on performing reversals. From over-the-top entrances to unexpected ring invasions, WWE 2K18 remains as faithful to the sport as you can get. Wrestling is all about drama, and boy does WWE 2K18 capture that. Thankfully, the actual in-the-ring action nearly makes up for it. But, if you want to take on side quests and progress through your wrestling career you’ll have to deal with it, warts and all. It all feels very thrown-together and amateurish, and quite frankly, a bit dull. When you talk to them their animations are stilted, the dialogue is poorly written and there’s no voice acting. The backstage areas feel sterile and lifeless, with wrestlers and other WWE staff just standing around like dummies.