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This would ruin the simulated wrestling of the game. In order to properly emulate wrestling seen on TV, WWE 2K has implemented some uniquely crafted combat system mechanics that makes players fight like the sports entertainers. These mechanics encourage strategies that actual wrestlers would do in the squared circle.
10 Taunts
Taunts in the game aren’t just a flashy show of dominance. Taunts have some actual combat functionality in the WWE 2K games. Just like in sports entertainment wrestling, wrestlers feed off the crowd to gain momentum, and taunt their opponent to assert in-ring intimidation. Taunting in WWE 2K games gives the wrestler different buffs. Taunting the opponent buffs damage for a short duration while taunting to the crowd buffs momentum gain rate to more quickly earn a signature and finishing maneuver. This adds the strategy of taunting for buffs, or risking giving the opponent an opening.
9 Hot Potato Finisher
Finishers are the definitive end to matches. They are devastating moves that almost always win bouts. In WWE 2K games, they guarantee the opponent stays pinned for at least one count. In a similar manner, finishing submission maneuvers give the players an advantage in the submission mini-game. When a finisher is reversed, however, the foiled performer loses one finisher, and the opponent who reversed the move gains one. This continues back and forth until a finisher is successfully performed. This combat mechanic gives matches its heightened moments. It also ensures that players aren’t too hasty with the button, and calculate the risks before performing their finishers. The same happens when signature moves are reversed.
8 Limited Reversals
RPG games often feature reversals in their combat mechanics such as block, parry, and counter moves. In WWE 2K games, however, reversals are limited. Each wrestler has a different number of reversal slots. The recharge meter gradually fills up too. However, when a reversal is used, it doesn’t consume a fixed amount of charge. It consumes one whole slot, and the rest of the partially filled succeeding slot.
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That’s like spending $1.99 for a $1 item. The 99 cents is lost. This results in a strategy where wrestlers have to wait for the partially filled slot to fill up in order to maximize reversals. That’s like with $2, a $1 item is bought and another dollar is saved. Hence, wrestlers have to take bumps to make a proper turnaround. Just like in actual sports entertainment wrestling.
7 Payback Abilities
What makes payback abilities unique is that they fill up upon taking damage. Not as wrestlers do damage. In addition to gaining finishers while players do damage, they also gain game-changing abilities as they take bumps. There are two kinds of payback abilities: Major payback abilities, and minor payback abilities. Major payback abilities are limited and are huge tide-turners. Examples are the low blow, the poison mist, and resiliency which guarantees a kick out or submission escape. Minor payback abilities, on the other hand, can be used infinitely. They provide momentary openings for the user. Payback abilities add to the back-and-forth attribute of a match.
6 Various Fighting Styles
WWE 2K games offer various fighting styles for different weight classes. There is a spectacle to be made out of seeing a high flying aerodynamic lightweight taking on an immovable giant. Different wrestler classes have different strengths and weaknesses. Players can customize the different attributes and abilities of their wrestlers to accommodate certain styles. There are skills that allow wrestlers to perform springboard maneuvers, skills that make it harder for them to be knocked down to their feet, and much more. Heel and babyface wrestlers have different abilities as well. Heels would have dirty maneuvers as payback abilities, while babyface wrestlers are equipped with valiant skills such as ‘Comeback.’
5 Comeback
The comeback ability is a quicktime event where the wrestler performs a series of moves, rushing the opponent with a flurry of attacks. The comeback ability can only be triggered once the user is down in the red, beaten to a pulp. If successfully performed, it awards the underdog with a signature move. The comeback ability is a useful skill that can also be countered by the recipient. However, the comeback maneuver is just one of the many skills in the game.
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Other skills include Immovable Object wherein the user doesn’t get knocked down easily, Rope Break where the user reaches for the ropes to break a pinfall or submission, Ring Escape where the downed user rolls under the ring for a breather on the ringside, and much more. Unlike payback abilities, skills are passive.
4 Match Rating
In WWE, there are good matches, okay matches, and greatest-of-all-time matches. The same goes for WWE 2K games. There is a five-star meter that is filled in various ways. When the player performs different moves, does his finishers, counters his opponent’s moves, uses weapons, etc, it fills up the five-star meter. This encourages players to aim for five-star matches and not immediately squash their opponent. Points are also awarded for the back-and-forth element in matches. Rating is damaged when the match concludes with a DQ, a count-out, or when the referee gets knocked down.
3 Weapons
The weapons in WWE 2K are like toys to a sandbox. They provide wrestlers with various destructive items to maim each other with. Steel chairs are used to hit each other with the brute force of the steel, ladders are used to perform heightened diving attacks on opponents, tables are structures where opponents are sent crashing and burning through, and so much more. Even when weapons are not in use and are just scattered on the mat, they amplify impacts done on them. These foreign objects are a unique mechanic that enables players to find inventive ways to destroy each other.
2 Environment
Just like in WWE, wrestlers in the game are free to roam about their space. There are different hazards in the arena where wrestlers may bounce each others’ heads off. Powerbombs can be performed on cars, diving attacks can be performed off the stage, wrestlers can be tackled through electricity boxes, and much more.
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The whole arena is a playground for destruction between two heated rivals. Wrestlers can walk around as they please, maximizing the environment, using everything to their advantage.
1 Modifiable Experience
Not everything is fixed in WWE 2K. The games let players modify and tailor some parameters to their liking. They can change how long the referee is knocked out, how powerful finishing maneuvers are, how powerful weapon attacks are, if reversals are infinite or not, what kind of minigame submissions use, and much more. This enables players to create different experiences in gameplay and find out which settings they like the most.
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