WWE 12

After the explosive cartoon stylings of THQ's WWE All Stars, it's back to business as usual over at Yukes - the business of trying to create a very serious video game rendition of the very unserious non-sport of pro wrestling. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends entirely on your affinity for the previous games in the aging series, since WWE 12 proves to be very much more of the same, with a few tweaks and gameplay developments. And some glaring issues which had me in tears of frustration.

We were promised a "back to the drawing board" approach for WWE 12 - Bigger, Badder (although I'm sure the correct term for "more than bad" is "worse", which is ironic in this case) and Better - that's what it says on the back of the box. Oh, and apparently it's faster, simpler and smoother too. After having spent some time in a pair of spandex undies, bashing my way through all that WWE12 has to offer, I can't say that I see all of these adjectives shining through in the finished product. That's not to say this is failure of a wrestling game, but there have been missed opportunities to build on previous WWE titles' strengths.

It may not all be bigger and better, but from the moment you first step into the ring, it's clear that things have indeed changed for WWE12, although not entirely for the better. It's most prominent with the new control system. Yukes seems obsessed with changing the way that their WWE games play, and I can't for the life of me figure out why - it feels like every year they come up with a new way to control the action, and not just a subtle evolution of the previous control scheme either. If they could just choose a system that works well enough, and stick to it, that would be great. Instead we have to relearn everything every year - something that would have been forgivable had the reworked system been a vast improvement, but in this case it really isn't. In fact, hours into the game I still hadn't properly come to terms with the way WWE 12 plays.

In an attempt to streamline the multi-faceted sport of wrestling, your brawler now pulls off different moves based on how your opponent is holding up, which limbs of his and yours are damaged, and your position in relation to him. It's a system which works on paper, but not in the ring. I'd like to know which moves I have at my disposal, and would appreciate the opportunity to at least try to pull them off whenever I please. The whole affair soon broke down to a button bashing exercise in frustration. There are improvements though, including a more intuitive submission mechanic and less incongruous fighter positioning in the ring - no more of that nonsense where fighters are warped into the middle of the ring to perform signature moves for example. Collision detection is also better than it has been before, but when there are six hefty giants in the ring at one time things still get a bit erratic.

Control issues aside, Yukes must be commended for work done on bringing these muscleheads to life. Movement around the ring is more fluid than ever, with huge improvements especially to the animations which link attacks - previous WWE titles tended to handle this aspect very poorly, so it's pleasant to see these more realistic interactions. Character models have also been given a shiny coat of paint, now even closer to their real life counterparts. The overall look is very close to that of a WWE broadcast, including impressive ring entrances, authentic pre-match presentations and television-style cut-aways and camera angles. Outside of the ring things aren't quite as impressive, with particularly bland back-stage environments and some stiff character animations during cut-scenes.

Thankfully those tiresome cut-scenes and NPC interactions are only an issue if you partake in the new Road to Wrestlemania mode - effectively the career mode for WWE 12. In a change of direction from previous outings, the plot is now made up of three interwoven storylines, from the perspectives of Seamus, Triple H and your own custom created wrestler. It's a story which will be instantly familiar to fans of the show, with all the twists and feuds and heel turns that you would expect. Sadly the plot is drained of any sign of life thanks to lackluster voice acting and lifeless narrative scenes outside of the fight action itself. The actual wrestling is also tainted here because you are never allowed to just enjoy a good fight; there is always some "unexpected" turn of events interrupting your battles, which quickly becomes tedious. We've seen story-driven sports gaming done impeccably just recently, courtesy of Fight Night Champion's riveting narrative, which shows that it can be done - and also highlights the flaws in the way Yukes has handled the Road to Wrestlemania.

My recommendation is to give the story mode a miss, and jump right in with the WWE Universe mode, making a welcome return from WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Not much has changed this time, but this mode remains the franchises' new saving grace. Like before, WWE Universe gives you a seemingly endless calendar of fights to slog through, dipping in where you feel like it, simulating the matches that don't interest you, and jumping in to interrupt a match in progress if the mood takes you. You can now set up your own title fights, and there are even more customization options available to really steer the course of the WWE Universe to your hearts content. Ultimately there comes a time when it all starts to feel a little pointless, since there really isn't much of a goal to it all, but it is the best way to get involved in the world of the WWE.

The opposite side of the scale is the usual host of exhibition matches, still a bloated mass of fight modes and rule variations which most will ignore in leu of the more involving Universe mode or online play. Taking WWE online, or signing up a friend for couch-multiplayer, is a relatively unremarkable experience, although at least it sidesteps the achingly frustrating issue of the opponent AI in the single-player game. These guys are relentless beasts who insist on spamming you with undefendable strings of moves and impossibly accurate reversals, to the point where it becomes almost unbearable at times. These guys reverse almost every move you make, which is especially annoying because a successful reversal for a human competitor is close to impossible unless you employ some brainless button bashing tactics. All you can do is hope for a brief gap in the onslaught, and then do your best to give your opponent as much of a kicking as possible before he turns things around again. This would be an unforgivable issue, one which would just about break the game, were it not for the option to tone it down and balance the scales a little.

On a personal level, the one thing that dulls the whole WWE experience for me has nothing to do with what Yukes and THQ have put together here. My problem is that the WWE itself has changed a lot over the years, and has lost much of its sparkle. The fighter roster for WWE 12 is huge, but its littered with vacuous upstarts who lack charisma and personality - if you followed the sport in the days of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, or before that with Rick Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, you'll know what I mean. Those were good times, with good storylines and engrossing rivalries. I hate to sound like the old crony longing for yesteryear, but things just ain't the same anymore.

From a technical perspective though, WWE 12 is better looking than any wrestling game that came before it, has an even more robust customization element (which covers just about every aspect of the game, from arena entrances, custom franchises, move sets and more), and enough game modes to satisfy most customers. If only Yukes would either stop reworking the control system, or at least offer gamers the option to retrofit the system from the previous franchise entry, and spend some time on the back-end of the WWE world for a more enthralling career mode. There will undoubtedly be further installments in this longstanding series, but unless these issues are taken into account we could see the franchise losing the ground it has made over the years. Wrestling fans who have a soft spot for the WWE in its current form will enjoy what's on offer here, but if you already own WWE Smackdown vs. RAW then I'd recommend sitting this one out. Not bad at all, but not the franchise revival we were hoping for.

Pros: