WWE Here Comes the Pain's a Cost-Effective Alternative to WWE 2K20

[Steve_OS]

2020 marks the 20-year anniversary of the console that many consider to be the single best...

Written By: Elliott Jenkins

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[milkmanbonzai]

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Still my favorite WWE/F wrestling game of all-time.* I prefer the speed of HCTP's gameplay to the slower AKI games, which could sometimes get frustrating with their responsiveness (and in the case of No Mercy, random cartridge wipes), and the SD games of the PS2 era just had an incredible wealth of content, from single-player to the sheer amount of match types.*

What I love about HCTP is that it's a perfect blend of arcade gameplay with sim elements. It's lightning fast but you have plenty of options in terms of arsenal in a more thought-out control scheme than the current 2K games.* And the attribute system makes a clear hierarchy of talent, as it should be with wrestling. In the current games, everyone is bunched together stats-wise to the point of being interchangeable, but here, with a cranked difficulty, taking on Classic Undertaker or Brock Lesnar (whose power and durability stats secretly were coded beyond the maximum 10/10) with a jobberific guy would be overwhelming simply because he could wear you down in an eyelash while you had to throw the kitchen sink at him to faze him.* There's a real weight to who you pick and adds a nice layer of strategy.

To anyone who hasn't made the HCTP jump but will in the future, this is very important: while the CAW creator is deep, you cannot freely assign attribute points to your created wrestler when you make them; you have to take them through the Season Mode to earn attribute points, which can take a while for even one individual wrestler to get them where you want to be, and there's no cheat to earn unlimited points. There is, however, a workaround if you're willing to spend some time in Season Mode; make a created wrestler and take them through the campaign, banking as much attribute points as you can (bank them, dont use them, you can't decrease a stat once you buff it; feel free to turn down the difficulty as well if your guy is too underpowered for you).* When you have stashed enough CAW points to spend on all the attributes you want, simply go to the create menu, and copy your Season Mode guy, their attribute points will carry over, copy to your heart's content until you hit the game's limit. That way, you only have to take one CAW through Season instead of all of them, and then you can edit their appearance, moves, entrance, etc after the face.

There's also still plenty of active CAW guides out there if you want make a certain wrestler but dont want to figure it out from scratch.

[mpklub]

I spent a ton of time with HCTP in college when it first came out. And lately I have been on a bit of a retro sports game kick and finally got a PS2 working so decided to fire it up after reading this article. Fun game. I was amazed at the match types they have in that game.

I plan to spend a bit more time with it if for no other reason than nostalgia. I will need to figure out the controls again, but from what I played it was really enjoyable. And the roster was rock solid too.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

[OriolesFanRD]

HCTP is definitely one of my favorites and I pop it in every once and again. But Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 was a sight to behold far as the Smackdown series goes. And Smackdown 2: Know your Role.

[PeoplesChampGB]

HCTP was a good game, but was too easy.

SD vs Raw 2006 is the pinnacle. Sim gameplay, but faster than the AKI games. Roster is great and it has season and GM mode.

[mpklub]

For those recommending Smackdown vs Raw 2006, is that PS2 or was that on the 360? I'm not sure what systems those games came out. That was the height of my engagement with wrestling so I may need to pick that up.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

[PeoplesChampGB]

Quote: Originally Posted by mpklub

For those recommending Smackdown vs Raw 2006, is that PS2 or was that on the 360? I'm not sure what systems those games came out. That was the height of my engagement with wrestling so I may need to pick that up. Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

PS2. (10 char)

[donkey33]

Yeah, still play it to this day but with altered rosters and attributes. Some talented modders out there (mods not caws) and I prefer the gameplay to be a touch slower so edit that myself but it's just fun pretty much. Season mode without voices means I can have anyone be apart of it too.

A few screens.