Living Dangerously
2K Games has released a new trailer for its goofy-looking WWE brawler,WWE 2K Battlegrounds,which launches on PC and consoles in September. In the new video, silver-tongued devil Paul Heyman shows off some of the crazy game’s playable modes, while coaxing viewers to plonk down their pre-order. Always the salesman, this dude.
WWE 2K Battlegroundsis an over-the-top brawler, which sees 70 WWE Superstars – of today and yesteryear – fight it out in simple, super-stylised arcade action. Not unlike THQ’s great 2011 releaseWWE All-Stars.Very unlikeAll-Starshowever, is thatWWE 2K Battlegroundsappears to be leaning on in-game currency and microtransactions. Theseappear, for the most part, to be only tied to cosmetic customisation items. We shall see.
In the new trailer, we get to take a peek at a new career mode, which sees one of seven original characters team up with the former E. Dangerously in hopes of scaling the WWE and grabbing the brass ring, pal. Also featured in the trailer is the survival-style King of the Battleground mode.WWE 2K Battlegroundswill have options for cage matches, tornado tag team action, fatal four-ways, online tournaments, and the legendary Royal Rumble.
Whileearly impressions were rough,I do think thatWWE 2K Battlegroundshas seen significant improvement in its visuals, particularly in its textures and lighting, and I much prefer the cathartic head-smashing action ofAll-Starsto the tedious, zero-hype simulation efforts of theWWE 2Kseries. If the microtransaction guff doesn’t bring everything down, thenBattlegroundscould prove to be a fun party title. But, as we know from experience, this is a big “If”.
WWE 2K Battlegroundslaunches September 18 on PS4, PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia.
