Universe Mode finally headed in the right direction?

[HighCmpPct]

Re: Universe Mode finally headed in the right direction?

The mode has felt very similar every year since 2K15. 2K hasn't made any huge game changing additions to the mode in the 4 iterations of the game they have been behind.

In the past there used to be issues when you would manually change things the CPU would book. Much like yourself I don't do manual booking either and let the CPU handle it and even then you get annoying things like same match-ups week in and week out.

I don't think you will see in-depth things like contracts and morale in a WWE game again. They had all that stuff in GM Mode back in the day but that sort of stuff feels really out of place in WWE as opposed to NBA 2K or Madden.

At its best, WWE live television programming tells interesting stories about conflicts between various unique and compelling characters. To that end, Universe Mode has to tell good stories first and foremost to properly represent the WWE TV product.

Universe does an okayish job at that right now, but it's held back by stuff like shoddy and amateur promo writing and a lack of gimmicks and unique personalities. All the characters are more-or-less avatars for the same personalities which interact in prefab rivalry scripts (which haven't changed much over the course of this series' history, a big reason why the mode feels as stale as it does). Though the game has personality traits per-character, I've never felt like they've strongly impacted what I've seen play out on the screen. The Rock acts the same as Heath Slater, and that absolutely shouldn't be the case.

To this end, I don't think GM features help the mode in any way, shape, or form. The only contract negotiations which ever take place on WWE television programming are the ceremonial match contract signings, and those aren't really contract negotiations as much as they are match hype pieces. There's also the Superstar Shakeup, but that's again not a negotiation as much as it is a story.

The thing I really miss from GM mode is the rating battles and competition between the shows. That was what really made wwe/f so popular back in the day, to me anyway.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Universe Mode finally headed in the right direction?

This might not be news to those that followed the release or have been digging around in the game for awhile, but having just started to set up my universe, a relatively small but much appreciated change that I stumbled across is that they switched the championship history from weeks held to days held.

Seeing it tracked by weeks probably bugged me more than it reasonably should, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise.

[HighCmpPct]

Re: Universe Mode finally headed in the right direction?

This might not be news to those that followed the release or have been digging around in the game for awhile, but having just started to set up my universe, a relatively small but much appreciated change that I stumbled across is that they switched the championship history from weeks held to days held.

Seeing it tracked by weeks probably bugged me more than it reasonably should, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise.

Another thing I love from universe mode this year that's a small change like that, is that all options to create other shows also have the show theme, transition, etc...

I can't tell you how annoying it was to be given some show options and not to have all the other things that go along with that show.