Universe 3.0 Blog starting soon!

After a few weeks of making tons of changes and edits to my Universe and getting through WWE Extreme Rules.  I am pretty certain that I am ready for my Universe blog to begin this week!

Here are some the things about my Universe to get you up to speed.

Monday: Raw
Tuesday: ECW
Wednesday: Nothing
Thursday: Impact
Friday: Smack Down
Saturday: All Divas Show

WWE has a PPV every month.  Where as Impact and ECW share a joint PPV every other month on the calendar. As the all divas brand gets the other, I've spent a great deal of time messing with the allies and enemies of everyone in Universe to make this as accurate as possible to maximize cut scenes and stories. 

You all will go with me on this journey together to see how successful I was in doing so.

So look for my first WWE '13 Universe blog later this week!

Until then...

These have been the words of the Show!

WWE '13 Review: The Attitude is BACK!

While I have been known over the years to have my WWE video game reviews up and ready to be viewed prior to launch, this year I wanted to take my time with this one.  To fully experience everything this game had to offer.  It took a lot of time to digest the massive game that is WWE '13.  So without further ado, here are my thoughts...

Live the Revolution, that is the tag line for WWE '13.  One that I personally think has been confused and misconstrued by a majority of the other reviewers and the general WWE games community. I've seen a lot of "clever" one liners over the past two weeks, such as the revolution occurred with WWE '12 and this years game wasn't a revolution at all.  Looking at it from my point of view, these people couldn't be more wrong.

In my opinion, the tag line has nothing to do with a "revolution" of game play. Or a crazy new engine or anything like that.  The tag line was EXACTLY what it said...LIVE the Revolution!

Back in the late 90s during the Monday Night Wars, WWE was in a bad way against WCW.  To turn the tide of their fortune, the Attitude era was born.  A revolution that is still looked back upon today by many as the greatest era in the history of not just the WWE, but the wrestling industry in general.

THQ allowed people go back in time and literally live the revolution by playing through a crucial period of the Attitude Era.  Allowing us older fans to be nostalgic all over again while giving others to experience it for the first time, and learn why these great superstars are so important today to begin with.

Much like NBA 2K11 allowed us all to go back in time and steps into the shoes of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan, WWE '13 served as a reminder to a lot of us just why we are still fans to begin with.  I know me personally I was a fan of wrestling years before the Attitude era.  But in regards to someone like Michael Jordan, I question if I didn't grow up during his era...if I would be a fan of the NBA today.  And I gotta think there's a lot of wrestling fans out there that feel the same way about the Attitude Era.

As far as I'm concerned, the Attitude Era mode could very well be the best single player story campaign experience in wrestling video game history.  While there were a few small things missing (ex: No D-X celebrating with Mankind after winning his first WWE Championship) THQ did a fabulous job of recapturing the Attitude Era and almost all of its important in defining moments in that two year period.

While I felt some of the match order seemed out of order, due to the bonus match unlocks and the "Hart vs. Soul" match being at the end of the mode.  I can see and understand why they did it, and for the most part it worked very well.  I was very pleased to with the structure of the mode as compared to WWE '12s Road to WrestleMania and felt the mode flowed easier than it's predecessor.

Off Script, the "spin off" section of Attitude Era mode had its hits and misses.  While I enjoyed a majority of the matches, some just became frustratingly difficult. For example, the Chris Jericho '99 match with "Road Dogg" Jesse James drove me up the wall due to the table physics, something I truly hope we see improved upon in WWE '14.  But overall "Off Script" was a fine addition to the Attitude Era mode.  I would say the entire Attitude Era mode took me roughly 11 to 12 hours to complete.  Something a lot of single player games that are out of the market right now don't even get CLOSE to.  And as the fans of the franchise know, Attitude era mode is just the icing on the cake.

Universe 3.0 ascends to new heights this year giving us the player control over our Universe more than ever before.  Want a show on every night of the week? Go for it! Want your own major custom brand in your own custom arena with your own pay per views? You can do that too!

THQ went out of their way to address several of the concerns from Universe 2.0 and so far its turning out very well.  I really don't want to dive too far into Universe with this review as I will be doing Universe thoughts in depth in my blog going forward.

But one noticeable thing I'd like to see changed for next year is not forcing us to have a major, minor, tag, and divas championships on each branded show.  If I want 4 singles men's titles I should be able to do that.  If I want 4 divas championships I should be able to do that as well.  Hopefully THQ will allow us even more freedom with Universe 4.0 next year and we will get this option as well. Heck, maybe we can even sometime in the future take our Universe online and play with our friends!

Speaking of online, it has had some MAJOR improvements on the server side of WWE '13.  While it still has hiccups from time to time with some time outs and de-sync issues, it seems more often than not to be running beautifully. I've been able to upload and download creations without a problem and have multiple matches with friends online that have been an absolute blast!

While create a superstar brought back a lot of things people were missing from the past few years I couldn't help but feel disappointed with lack of clothing and hair updates in the mode this year.  While the characters look better and closer to the real in game counterparts its pretty much the same mode that was in last year, which really makes me wish THQ would implement something going forward if they are going to do this that would allow us to transfer our characters, logos, and arenas from one year to the next.  Some people do a lot of work one year and don't feel like doing it all over again a year later.  I think this would be an awesome feature for THQ to add in a future WWE Game.

Overall to me, the only new feature that didn't seem to click perfectly this year was the introduction of "WWE Live".  While the crowd at times is an improvement, sometimes it hinders the experience.  There were at some points in Attitude Era mode that I had trouble hearing the voice over work because the crowd was too loud. I also don't think that the crowd chants enough to go along with the superstars and divas in the ring, maybe that's just me. I know the sound is a work in progress and I know it will get better going forward, but this year it kinda let me down since it was hyped so much as one of this years bigger features.

But truthfully, with that being my only major complaint I can't help but tell you how much I really love WWE '13.  I haven't been able to play a WWE game for a full year from one to the next since Here Comes The Pain.  I really feel this game has the potential to do that for me.

In closing, I lived the revolution in the Attitude Era mode, I'm creating my own Universe, and I'm having a blast online playing with my friends.  If you are a WWE fan and you have been on the fence about WWE '13, trust me! You need to pick this one up! And that's the bottom line, because Showtime said so!

WWE '13 Review Score: 9.25 out of 10

Disclaimer: This WWE '13 review was done on the Xbox 360 version.  I have not played the PS3 or the Wii versions of this title.

                                         

With WWE '13 quickly approaching, the return of the Universe blog is near!!

Hey everyone...

As you know we are less than a week away from the launch of WWE '13, hitting state side this Tuesday...October 30th!

Last year after my initial review for the game (which I will do again this year) I used this blog to dive into my favorite mode in the WWE Games franchise...

Universe mode!

Over the course of months I picked apart that mode, with what I liked, what I didn't like.  What I hated, what I wanted to see changed. etc...etc...

From what I've read this year with Universe 3.0 it seems like a majority of my complaints have been addressed and I couldn't be happier! But no mode is ever perfect, I know it, THQ knows it, and you the WWE Games Universe knows it.

So once again I will embarking on yet another Universe adventure, and to borrow a bad pun from WWE '12, it will be...

BIGGER...BADDER...BETTER!!!

Stay tuned for more information coming in November and my review of WWE '13 either at the end of this month or early November.  Thanks for reading, and as always...

THESE HAVE BEEN THE WORDS OF THE SHOW!!!

WWE '13 Hands-On Impressions...

This past weekend I was in Los Angeles, California for the 25^th anniversary of WWE Summer Slam.  But more importantly, I was there with some other members of the WWE Games Community to check out WWE ’13 for the very first time.

Unlike last year however, we didn’t get nearly as much time with the game like we did the year before.  So I sincerely apologize ahead of time if some information you all are looking for is not present here, myself and the rest of the community did the best we could with the time we had.  So let’s not waste any more time shall we? Let’s get right to it!

As I’m sure all of you watched live over the weekend, the roster reveal for WWE ’13 was simply massive! The biggest roster in WWE Games history, but THQ wasn’t willing to stop there.  Cory Ledesma noted during the press event that with the inclusion of DLC characters, WWE ’13’s final roster number would be over one hundred! That’s right folks, over 100 superstars, divas, and legends will make up WWE ’13 once DLC is all said and done…Are you ready? You should be!

When it comes to gameplay, those of you familiar with the control schemes and gameplay from WWE ’12 will feel right at home when you pick up a controller to play WWE ’13.  While the basic gameplay mechanics of last year feel the same, the amount of polish and new animations that have been added will be very evident to any hardcore WWE Games player.  

The entire experience feels much smoother than last year, with moves connecting every time exactly how they’re supposed to.  Which was a very big complaint among fans with WWE ’12 so it was very refreshing to see things like that get taken care of in this year’s game.

One of the new match types making its long awaited return this WWE Games this year is the Special Referee Match.  But don't think its all fun and games as the referee this time, if you step out of line too many times...None other than Johnny Ace himself will come out with a new referee and eject you from the match (voice over work and all).  So make sure you're a fair referee, or you might be wished well in your future endeavors.

Besides that, only a couple things bothered me while playing some exhibition, regarding things such as move sets and the presence, or lack thereof for the newly touted feature for WWE ’13 “WWE Live”.  While I was guaranteed that the build we were playing was far from final and that my complaints wouldn’t be a problem later on (It only had a handful of playable superstars and divas in it) I couldn’t help but feel disappointed with how it was presented to me, the crowd noise just wasn’t that impressive to me at all. But my opinion of “WWE Live” changed in a big way when I experienced it inside the crown jewel of WWE ’13 (so far) Attitude Era Mode.

Attitude Era Mode begins with the rise of the group known simply as D-Generation X and spans over a two year period reaching the climax at WrestleMania XV.

In this mode the chapters are as follows…

• The Rise of D-X
•  Austin 3:16
• Brothers of Destruction
• The Great One
•  Mankind
•  WrestleMania XV

In these chapters you will play as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Bret Hart, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Kane, The Rock, Mick Foley (All 3 faces?), and the Undertaker as you will embark on a trip down memory lane or perhaps experience for the first time, what made the Attitude Era one of the greatest times in the history of professional wrestling.

While my time with the mode was short I couldn’t help but be impressed with the sound of the crowd and the commentary in this mode.  When I first heard about and imagined what WWE Live would be like, this was it.  It truly blew me away by just how good everything sounded.  Each match I played reminded me a lot of the “Jordan Moments” in NBA 2K11, where you would have certain objectives to complete in the match before picking up the victory.

You don’t wish to complete the objectives? That’s cool, just go ahead and win the match.  But if you want to unlock more than 100 of the games unlockables this year I think you’ll want to take on as many of the match objectives as possible.  The ones I saw were fairly simple to do and I enjoyed the challenge of being able to pull them off.

I really can’t wait to get my hands on the entire Attitude Era mode to see all of the great moments and matches they have included into this mode.  One thing that certainly peaks my interest is the fact that the final chapter of Attitude Era mode is simply “WrestleMania XV”. 

So I wonder which matches from that pay per view we will be experiencing in WWE ’13, if you need a refresher course…with the roster as it stands, these are the matches that are possible to recreate in WWE ’13!

•  Mankind vs. Paul Wight (The Big Show)
•  Kane vs. Triple H
•  Shane McMahon vs. X-Pac for the WWE European Championship
•  The Undertaker vs. The Big Boss Man inside Hell in a Cell
•  “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship

Which of these matches will be included in Attitude Era mode still remain to be seen, but all are most certainly possible.  I would have to believe that any important moment regarding these eight superstars over the course of those two years will be included in some way shape or form inside of this mode.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I was ever this excited for a story mode like feature in WWE Games.

The last thing I was able to check out was the only creation mode that was available to us in this build, none other than the vastly improved “Create an Arena” mode.  As you all can recall last year we were able to change the basically the ring and all that surrounded it last year leaving many wishing for more customization throughout the rest of the arena, well fear not WWE Games fans because THQ listened and delivered in a BIG way!

Not only is everything we loved from last year back, but they have added a TON of improvements! Starting with the stage itself, there are several pre made stages ranging from old Raw and Smackdown sets to a lot of old classic WWE pay per views, as well as some others that I think were made up just for this mode. 

From there you can edit them anyway you like.  Not a big fan of the lightning bolts during the Raw on Spike TV era of WWE TV, get rid of them! Want your own design on the stage or the ramp? Go for it! It’s completely up to you.  It certainly looked like everything about the stage was completely customizable and I wish I would have had more time to look through it all but what I saw was extremely impressive.

It’s not just the stage you can edit either but the actual arena itself.  Want your arena to be in a very small venue (like Ring of Honor) you can totally do that here.  How about a HUGE outdoors stadium? Of course you can! Knock yourself out; the choice is up to you!

You even get to select what type of crowd you want in your arena, from the modern crowd of today to the Attitude era crowd from yesteryear, it’s completely up to you!

The ideas and possibilities for my own created arenas were running through my head non-stop while I was looking through this mode and I’m sure if you’re a big creation fan like me you are very excited right now at the wide arrange of possibilities this mode is going to bring to the table this year.

To think there are so many things left to be revealed, Universe 3.0…the rest of the creation suites…online features and modes…and who knows what other surprises THQ has up their sleeves for us to reveal between now and October 30^th.

Walking away from WWE ’13 this weekend was hard to do.  And now the very long wait from now till October 30^th begins, I saw someone ask Cory Ledesma this week on Twitter to create a time machine, I won’t lie…that sounds like a pretty great idea right about now!

This weekend I will throw up answers from the questions you guys asked me last weekend to try and get answered regarding WWE ’13.  Keep in mind, if I don’t answer your question it’s simply because I don’t have the answer, not that I’m ignoring it or choosing not to answer.

If you have any other questions that I didn’t cover here or just can’t wait till this weekend for me to answer hit me up on Twitter @RAWFShowtime and I’ll do the best I can to answer as many questions as possible!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it, as always…

These have been the words of the Show!

You've got WWE '13 questions? I look to bring you answers!

Hey everyone,

This weekend I will be in Los Angeles for the 25th anniversary of WWE Summer Slam, but more importantly than that, I along with a few of my WWE Games Community Leaders will be on hand to get our hands on WWE ’13 for the first time.

I know a lot of you have questions, hell…we all do!  And I’ll be honest, going in I don’t know what I’m going to see of the game and how much I’ll even be allowed to talk about afterwards, but I most certainly want to give back to the great WWE Games Community this weekend while I’m in Los Angeles.

So here is what we’re gonna do!

It’s quite simple actually, reply to this entry with your question on WWE ’13.  Please limit it to no more than 3 questions per person as I hope to be able to answer as many questions as I possibly can.

Keep in mind, after this weekend if I don’t answer your question, it’s probably because either I don’t have the answer or I’m not allowed to say yet.  Either way, know I will do my absolute best to give you guys as many answers as possible.

On top of that, I will also have a hands-on impression write-up with the game from this weekend and if I’m lucky an exclusive interview with the man himself, Cory Ledesma…Keeping my fingers cross on that one!

Thanks for reading, and please put your questions below, hopefully I’ll see some of you this weekend in LA!  As always…

These have been the words of the Show!

Heading to Los Angeles for the WWE '13 Reveal Event!

This upcoming weekend, THQ is set to have a big reveal for WWE ’13 in Los Angeles, California, the site of the 25^th anniversary of Summer Slam.  I am happy to announce that I will be in attendance for the reveal this weekend alongside fellow members of the WWE Games community.

Saturday should be a huge day for WWE ’13 as THQ is set to showcase the game and have the official roster reveal live at Axxess!

I will be on hand to bring you the latest coverage WWE ’13 all weekend long. You all have questions and I hope I’ll be able to provide the answers!

You can expect the latest news on the roster, attitude era mode, any newly announced features and so much more!  Hopefully if we are lucky this weekend we will get to see Universe mode 3.0 for the very first time, just thinking about the possibilities of what we will see this year has me excited!

While I will try to post here on my blog at least twice over the weekend the absolute BEST way to get the latest coverage from me and rest of the WWE Games community is to follow us on twitter!

So give myself and my fellow community members a follow now and get up to the minute WWE ’13 coverage all weekend long!

http://www.twitter.com/RAWFShowtime
http://www.twitter.com/Just_Cow
http://www.twitter.com/ExtremeGamer
http://www.twitter.com/RingsideGaming
http://www.twitter.com/jim784m

Very much looking forward to representing the WWE Games Community this weekend at Summer Slam! Hope to see some of you there. Look for another blog later on this week regarding this weekend’s WWE ’13 festivities. Until then…

These have been the words of the Show! 

Is Reliving Sports Past our Video Game Future?

I still remember the first time I heard the idea behind NBA 2K11.  The Jordan Moments, the chance to replay the greatest moments of Michael Jordan’s career in video game form really got me excited for the release of NBA 2K that year.  More so than probably any sports game I could remember.  To be able to relive my child hood, the reason why I’m still a fan of the NBA today was just an amazing thing to me.

With WWE ’13 just a few short months away, THQ is about to let us embark on one of the biggest golden ages in professional wrestling over the last 30 years…The Attitude Era.

The era that changed the business as we know it and the time period we look back upon so fondly today as the greatest time this industry has ever seen.  In October we get to relive this again, while some get to experience this for the first time.  A history lesson if you will to the younger generation as to why this time was so important in our business and why arguably WWE is still around today.

There were so many moments in the Attitude Era that I hope I’ll be able to replay and experience come October 30^th but I wonder how the entire set up of this mode is going to go.

As we already know, the Attitude mode is replacing Road to WrestleMania this year so it comes to question how this mode will be structured.  Will it be a bunch of “greatest moment” matches from the era? Will we have own specific storyline paths for different Attitude Era stars that can be played separately like past versions of Road to WrestleMania? 

Or could we possibly see a take of last year’s mode, where a bunch of stories are branched together and we play as said superstars as we relive one of the greatest times in the history of professional wrestling?

At this point, no one really knows for sure.  One thing we do know however is that Summer Slam is only a few short weeks away.  THQ is planning a huge reveal this year for WWE ’13 and I hope a majority of our questions get answered there…only time will tell. 

But at this point it makes you wonder, first it was Jordan and his fellow legends in the NBA, now its WWE with the Attitude Era led by the Texas Rattlesnake himself, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.  What could be next?

What sports past time do you think we will end up reliving in the years to come? What great moment in sports history would you like to relive in video game form?  Let me know by leaving a comment below.  Thanks for reading and as always…

These have been the words of the Show!