History of WWF/E Games Part 54
WWE 13
Release
2012
Format
Xbox 360
Playstation 3
Nintendo Wii
Time to look at the last WWE game from THQ.
Background
WWE 13 really is the end of a era, and this is the last WWE game to be published by THQ. THQ’s problems have been well documented the last few months and the WWE license was one of their crown jewels. The WWE license is now in possession of 2K Games. WWE 13 actually disappeared from store shelves for a short while so that the box could have the THQ logos replaced with 2K Games. While 2K Games will be publishing WWE 14, it will still be developed by most of the people who worked on WWE 13.
WWE 13 looked to the past for its inspiration. While it still had many current WWE Superstars, around half the roster was made up of wrestlers from the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era is one of if not the hottest era in pro wrestling history. The exact date of this era differs on who you are talking to, but to me I consider it from 97-01.
Presentation
WWE 13 pretty much nails everything right in my opinion. The wrestlers look great and there is a huge selection. As for the modern WWE games WWE 13 has easily the best roster of any game. It has a great selection of modern and classic wrestlers. I really think that ditching the Playstation 2 helped Yukes up the visuals of their WWE games.
The arenas are just gorgeous, and there are tons of them as well. You have all of your modern WWE arenas, but for an old school guy like myself it is the inclusion of all the arenas from the Attitude Era that really make it great. There is a fantastic selection and they really did go above and beyond in terms of the arenas. Of course not everything is 100% historically accurate, but I really think they did a great job. For the most part they got things right.
The Attitude Era is the main focus of the game, and the presentation in the Attitude Era mode is amazing. If you lived through this era I have no doubt in my mind that you will get a huge kick out of this mode. It has great little promo video packages and some text as well that lets you know the stories leading up to the matches you will be having. Also while there is not a great amount of attires, they have at least changed some of the colours for certain matches to make them a little more historically accurate. The Attitude Era mode is the best single player mode I have every played in a wrestling game. Even if you did not live through the Attitude Era there is more than enough video packages and text to let you know what is happening.
Game Play
Yukes and THQ really went all out for WWE 13, and this was the best wrestling game they had put out since the Nintendo 64 days if you ask me. Everything was just so smooth now. Matches flowed much better and even in single player the AI was better. As far as the in ring action goes, WWE 13 pretty much does everything right. Honestly of the top of my head I cannot think of anything majorly wrong or of any issues I had when playing a match.
I already mentioned the Attitude Era mode. The point of this mode was that it was split up into different chapters. You get to play as eight different wrestlers. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Bret Hart, The Rock, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Kane and Mankind. These would be split across these different chapters. “Rise of DX”, “Austin 3:16”, “Brothers of Destruction”, “The Great One”, “Mankind” and “Wrestlemania XV”. In all you wrestle the better part of 70 matches during this mode which takes place over a two year period. Once you beat this you open up a new chapter called “Off Script which lets you play as different wrestlers from the other chapters. During this mode it is not just a case of wining matches. You will need to complete specific historic objectives. Some of these are mandatory to beat a challenge, and some are bonus ones that will unlock various things in the game.
As well as Attitude Era mode, for your single player action WWE Universe also returned and it was better than ever. You had far more control than ever before, and it was so much easier to make various changes to your vision of the WWE. You could have a show that was just all about the current WWE, or you could make it so it was all about the Attitude Era, or maybe even a mixture of both. You really were in complete control this time around.
You had all the match types that you would expect from a wrestling game. You could still have a great deal of fun playing exhibition matches, but really WWE Universe mode is where it is at. One thing that returned from WWE 12 was the create an arena mode. Only this time it was far more in depth. In addition to changing the ring you could also change the stage as well. There was a great deal of customization at your finger tips. If you sucked at making things then you could download other people that they have uploaded.
Final Thoughts
WWE 13 is a great game and it’s a shame that it was THQ’s last. I felt that THQ really were starting to go stale with there wrestling games, but that all changed with WWE 12 and then this game WWE 13, so the future certainly looked bright. Still though I guess you can look at it like at least THQ went out with what is possibly there greatest wrestling game. I am looking forward to the future of WWE games, and I actually have high hopes for what 2K games are going to do.
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