Toon Blot: WWE 2K Battlegrounds Review
From time to time, popular gaming franchises receive experimental spin-offs. They are often dominated by bright colors and two explicit goals: to interest a non-target audience and to entertain those who are already familiar with the main franchise. WWE 2K Battlegrounds – a cartoon arcade about wrestling – is just such a project.
Typically, these offshoots are given a small budget and creative freedom. Developers have the opportunity to try something new, to look at the concept in a different way. Either way, the result should be entertaining.
Regarding WWE 2K Battlegrounds, I have a lot of questions, but if you discard the details and reduce to the point, you get only one: why is it so boring and primitive? Let’s figure it out.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is an arcade spin-off of the disastrous WWE 2K20. The annual main series game was criticized for bugs and a lot of bad decisions. The flurry of negativity was so strong that the developers took a break for a couple of years. Against the backdrop of the scandal, the release of an alternative version seems a logical step. The execution of the idea has disappointed
Every battle in this game comes down to the methodical pressing of the “square” button (I have a PS4 version). Instead, the drawn wrestler heavily and clumsily bludgeons the opponent with his fists. On the third press, the character makes a bright combo, the enemy is defeated. Press the circle and make a hold. Sometimes you have to make several tries, but that’s okay. Upset that, in general, nothing else can be done. Literally.
Oak figures of the enemy defend sluggishly and also attack sluggishly. You can throw them on the ropes, throw them, and whatever else you’ve probably seen on TV. The right stick will help you, but all this is unnecessary and useless.
The fighters are divided into classes and inside each class they fight exactly the same and differ only in the ultimate – you can fill the strip and carry out a colorful finisher, but you don’t want to do this at all – the WWE 2K Battlegrounds gameplay is broken at the basic level and does not work at all.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds has a story mode. The plot is simple: commentator and producer Pod Heyman invited show owner Vince McMahon to launch a new wrestling show in different locations across the country. The campaign turned out to be short and you will master it in one busy evening, maximum two. There are no videos on the game engine – all events are presented in the form of comics. As a reward for the battle, you will receive in-game currency that can be spent on purchasing new wrestlers.
As you progress, new techniques are revealed and this is perhaps the only reason to go through the story mode. There will be a bit of colorful variety in battles, but WWE 2K Battlegrounds will still be outrageously primitive. This “simplification” approach is visible in many details. For example, several real wrestling stars are licensed for the game and they come out to their own music, but the full-fledged word “Entrance” cannot even be called a stretch. Hyper-realistic figures simply fall into the hall inside a wooden box and pop out of it. So-so performance, plus missing a show element that fans around the world adore the WWE organization and its events for.
From afar, WWE 2K Battlegrounds may seem like a failed sequel to WWE-All Stars, and in many ways it will be true. Here everything is simpler and more primitive, even when creating your character, the choice is very meager. This game resembles a title for smartphones, which at the last moment they decided to release on large consoles. Only they didn’t add depth, variety and fun there. With a price tag of 2299 rubles, WWE 2K Battlegrounds looks like a ridicule and it’s not worth spending your time and money on it, even if you really love wrestling. Following the unsuccessful WWE 2K20, the publisher turned out to be a cartoon blot instead of a bright and original project.
Here is such a sad story, whether you want to laugh or cry.
