Post by Loser troll. Please ban me on Jun 7, 2011 15:21:36 GMT -5
caws.ws/wwe12/?p=29 [Hands on preview]
Click spoiler for full report (it's long and thus placed in a spoiler to avoid a huge wall of text)
{Spoiler}I want to do this hands-on Preview a little different than what is considered to be the norm. Instead I will talk about key things that I think people want to hear about and give my thoughts on them. So let’s get to it.
Gameplay:
I want to start off with Gameplay as it is No Doubt THQ’s main focus this year.
-Downtime/ Selling-
The days of getting hit by a clothesline at the beginning of a match and staying down for way to long like you were hit by a much more devastating move are gone. When a move is executed on you towards the beginning of a match the superstar will actually do a more realistic selling animation as he is rising to his feet instead of staying on the ground selling for a good five seconds. As the match progress you will stay down longer selling the move before rising up to your feet. Really makes it feels like a really match is going on and doesn’t take you out the experience like old games when you would sell moves at the beginning of the match for long periods of time.
-Animation Blending/ Flow/ Warping (Move Teleporting)-
This is one of the spots where the new tech shows through. Animations just flow like never before with the inclusion of Predator Technology. Remember in the past when your opponent would be rising off the mat and you would go to grapple them and it would warp them back down into a ground move…. Well, now instead of things like that happing you are able to grapple someone as they are standing up and you will grab there head and continue to bring them to there feet. Move Warping / Move teleporting has seen a lot of improvement, but is not perfect. THQ has really cleaned this up a a lot and will do more i’m sure as time goes on. One of the most noticeable areas where this has been improved is with moves where Superstars would teleport from wherever they were in the ring to the center of the ring. Take Joh Cena executing the Five Knuckle Shuffle. In past games you would have your opponent down on the mat near a corner and as soon as you initiate the Five Knuckle Shuffle you both superstars would warp to the center of the ring. Well, WWE’12 no matter where you are in the ring when you activate the Five Knuckle Shuffle your opponent will stay there and Cena will do the you can’t see me taunt and then bounce off the ropes. Looks really good – except that it is Cena (Sorry couldn’t help myself).
-Attributes-
Attributes are being bumped up from Seven to Twelve this year. Below is a list of the Attributes, but there were no descriptions as to what exactly they will do.
Tag Team
Charisma
Toughness
Recovery
Adrenaline
Agility
Speed
Grapple Defense
Strike Defense
Submission
Grapple Power
Strike Power
-Adrenalin Meter/ Running-
Think of the stamina system in the past, but not crap. You have an adrenaline meter that pops up and starts to drain as you run. When the Adrenalin meter has been depleted you have to execute more offense on your opponent to build some of it back up to run again. Oh, and that horrible falling animation when stamina ran out in past games has been removed. My only complaint (and I have brought this to THQ’s attention) is that when the match starts you already have adrenaline in your meter, so you are able to run immediately I am hopeful that this will be changed before the game is shipped. Think WWE All Stars running.
-Interrupting moves mid animation/ Breakout System-
All moves in the game can be interrupted, but only at certain points in the animation. So if your performing a move it can be broken up at anytime except for the last quarter part of the animation, so you don’t run into unsightly looking animations. I was shown a demo of how this will work but, was not able to recreating it since the E3 demo does not have multi-man matches. Think WWE ALL STAR minus the unrealistic 360 flop when a move is broken up.
The New Tech being used in this years game lets them use a breakout system where moves can be combined. We were showed a demo of Cena doing the Five Knuckle Shuffle while another superstar
did a springboard in the middle of the ring on the same superstar. Not sure if you can hit the moves at the same exact time like Cena dropping the fist right when the springboard move is hitting. If you can that would be so AWEOSME!. Imagine a Jeff Hardy Caw dropping a double leg drop to the groin while Matt ?Hardy CAW hits a leg drop from the top rope. Sure stuff like this has been in the game as a long drawn out pre-animated move but, being able to set things up like this on your own with a friend would be great.
-Old Signature/ Finisher Meter makes a return-
The Momentum Meter has been thrown out for a more retro style Sig/ Finisher meter that will make so many happy. The way it works is you build up your Meter by performing Offensive moves like Strikes, Grapples, and taunts. You can also build up your meter by reversing your opponent. Once you get your meter maxed out it then starts flashing and you can execute a sig. Now, you only have a short amount of time to perform your sig, If you are able to hit your sig in time this gives you a chance for a flaming Finisher where if executed does more damage than a regular finisher since you hit it right after a sig. Now if you are not able to hit your flaming finisher the game will auto store your finisher (stored finishers are not as powerful as the flaming finishers). Something I brought up to THQ is there should be a button press to store finishers and not have it auto store, that is not fair to your opponent. They go on this great offense to stop you from doing your Flaming finsher and the game just stores it for you even if it isn’t as powerful ?. I look for that to be changed before release.
Also, while I am talking about finishers, I want to mention something that has annoyed so many and has been addressed. If your Superstar has to execute his finisher from behind like The Miz. Well, You can now execute it from the front and the Superstar will spin there opponent around automatically and perform there finisher.
-Breaking Point Submission System-
I have been wanting a more tug-a-war type submission system for quite some time now and I am happy to say it is here. The new Submission system is called the Breaking Point Submission system and works very well. Once you slap on say Del Rios cross arm bar a greyish text graphic pops on the screen that says Breakout and the object is to fill that graphic red or stop your opponent from fill it. This is done by mashing the face buttons and when I asked I was told a failsafe is in place to punish people who use turbo controllers. Also for the player that is in the submission, they have the option while button mashing the face button to use the left stick to navigate to the ropes and get a rope break. THQ informed us that there will not be an animation of the superstar actually reaching out an grabbing on to the ropes though (because of technical reasons) and they are working to get this in future games. Also, in the E3 build the Graphic is way to big and covers a lot of the superstars/ action. We were told that this will be addressed before the game is released.
-Dramatic Comeback Ability-
This is a better version of the momentum shift you have seen in other wrestling games like Day of Reckoning (Or in other words Sam West’s Adopted Son). First off in the E3 build only Cena and Orton have this ability and when you see it play out in front of you, it is true to there onscreen personas. So, they way it works is…. Essentially after you have the crap kicked out of you for awhile you have the chance to trigger this ability by running at your opponent and pressing the Y button. If you are successful this puts you in a mini game where you have to press the Y button before each move before your opponent does to initiate the next move. Now it was brought up to THQ to have it not always be the Y button (as it is in the E3 build) and have it be a random button each time, so people don’t get the pattern down. Hope this in put in before release. This is a great addition as this does happen on WWE Programming and really adds to the i’m down but I am not out just yet. Get ready for the five moves of DOOM everyone.
-Control Setup for this Years Game-
Left Stick – Control Superstar
Right Stick up – Pick up opponent
Right stick down – pick up opponent in rear grapple position
Right Stick Left or right – Rotate or flip over opponent depending if they are on the mat or standing up/ in the corner
D-Pad – Taunt (Up on D-Pad is a Wake-up Taunt if you have a Sig/ Finisher)
Left Trigger – Run
Left Button – Action Button (Get in/out of ring, Climb Turnbuckle, Pick up Weapons, and so on)
Right Trigger – Reversals
Right Button – Limb targeting modifier. While in grapple, LB + X,Y,B,A
Y=Run, Also can get you to the turnbuckle and in the ring
B- Irish whip, pin
X-Striking
A- Grapple, Hold for submissions
-Limb targeting-
Now that you have read what the controls are for this years game, Lets talk about limb targeting. First you have to initiate a grapple, then hold RB + Y,X,B,A will execute a move to the body part assigned to that button. Y = head, X = Left Arm, B = Right Arm, A = Legs. We were told that there is no ay to target the body since all move tend to hurt the in the some form, makes sense. Most Superstars in the E3 build had the same Limb targeting moves and when I mentioned that to THQ they informed me that it would be tied to a superstars weight class. Since most superstars in the E3 are around the same Weight class they had the same moves.
Targeting limbs really has different negative effects on your opponent depending on which body part you target.
Head- Causes opponent to be groggy more quickly and longer
Arms = Opponent dealing out less damage
Legs = Will effect running/ Adrenaline a person has
The main time I seen this being useful for me was when I was wrestling with a wrestler that had a Submission Finisher, like Del Rio’s Cross Arm bar or Cena’s STFU.
-Grappling-
With default controls grappling is now tied to the A button. Pressing A puts you in the chain grapple system that you have seen in past games. Once you have grapple with A you can hit the right stick in a direct to change to a different grapple position just like previous years. Or you can from the start hit the direct of the grapple position you want to be in with A and grab your opponent right in that grapple position. Kind of like last years grappling except A is now doing what the right stick did last year. You can go into a breaking point submission by holding A once in a grapple position. I like that they have changed from the right stick to the A button grapples as it feels more natural for me. If you were a fan of the right and would rather continue using that control setup, it will still be available as an option for you to turn on.
-Reversals-
Reversals have been totally retooled this year, which means no more spamming R Trigger and getting a reversal. Reversing finishers feels so satisfying and if manage to revers one you get one in return and I must say it is AWESOME to reverse someone with Orton and get a finisher and execute the RKO. THQ pointed out the the Rock, Paper, Scissors system that they still have in place. Strikes beat grapples, and the big addition is standard grapples/ strikes beat running grapples/ strikes. This is another way to stop the running spammers.
-Pinning Mechanic-
The pining mechanic for this years game is pretty much the same as last years game except you can no longer button mash to kick out. Instead you can only use the option of holding A to fill the meter to the designated area and stopping it inside. You could use this in last years game except this year it is a little different. The designated area to stop the meter is in a different spot every time a pinfall happen. The meter could be in the middle, at beginning, quarter of the way, three quarters of the way, exc. I was told that sometimes he meter might not even come up until the two count. I really felt this new system adds a nice dramatic/ panic feels to the match and also takes away the option for someone to you a turbo controller.
-Moves-
Just playing with these for Superstars I noticed quite a few new moves. I will list some.
Randy Orton- New punt from the corner is very nice and well animated with Orton pulling on the ropes as his opponent rises up to an on all fours position before he strikes, Orton also has his new taunt where he flails his arms around spitting all over the place (-the spitting), Snap power slam when someone is running at you, Clothesline where snaps around like the Viper does, New Angle Slam, and more.
Cena has a new running shoulder Block as seen in his comeback ability sequence, new Attitude Adjustment, New Diving Leg drop from top ropes, New Five Knuckle Shuffle and, more.
Alberto Del Rio had new taunts of course with his arms in the air and a cocky look on his face, he has his cross arm breaker where if done standing he flips and wraps his legs around there arm and takes them down to the ground, a new arm breaker with his knees, and more.
Didn’t notice to really anything new with The Miz
-Wake Up Taunts-
Now, Normally I wouldn’t mention taunts in a hands-on preview, but the addition of Wake Up Taunts is well… As The Miz would say “AWESOME” To do a perform a Wake Up Taunt you press up on the D-pad when your opponent is down on the matt and you have a signature or a finisher. Also, you can use this to setup a top-rope turnbuckle move for a highflyer like Kofi Kingston’s cross body. We did discuss with THQ that people might spam this and use it to pick people up and not execute there sig/ finisher. They are looking into it and I hope it is addressed before the game ships.
-AI (Artificial Intelligence)-
The AI this year is more aware, Smarter, and very aggressive. If you try to spam the same moves over and over again the AI will pickup on it and adapt accordingly. We were told by THQ that AI will no longer pick up a weapon and then just throw it down before attempting to use it. Also ith the retooling of the AI this years normal will feel like last years Legend difficulty. So I can only imagine what this years Legend will be like. Also, THQ said with the new AI retool they are able to make the AI harder without just making them reverse almost everything.
-Presentation-
TV Broadcast Camera Angles are really well done in this game and add so much to the overall presentation. All camera angles are from an angle you have seen on WWE prgramming. No more random camera angle where it looks like the camera man would have to be in the ring during the match to shoot that angle. You will see camera angle that look like thye came from the crane cam, a real camera man outside the ring, and a new angle for when you are going up the ramp to the stage, so you no longer have that jerking angle that swings over and looks over the ring facing the titantron. Instead you get this nice diagonal angle that is zoomed out and slowly zoom in tighter the farther you head u the ramp. Camera Angles may sound like a little thing but they add so much to the matches and entrances. Speaking of Entrances Del Rios is pretty sweet. His entrance starts out with Justin Roberts introducing his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodrigues Once that is done del Rios music hits and you see his limo come from the right side on top of the RAW stage (think JBL’s Limo). Del rio then after honking the horn a few times gets out of the car posing all cocky till he goes down the ramp a lit bit, then his pyro goes off and Ricardo is announcing him the whole time. Physics have been added to the entrance gear and this is noticable with the scarf around Del Rios next. Look really nice. Can’t ait to see takers coat with the Physics. When you wrestle an match with a title on the line the wrestler will come down to the ring like normal except the the announcer will wait to announce them when they are in the ring just like on WWE Programming. This is very cool to watch play out as the wrestler stand in there corner and the announcer will announce them individually start with the challenger. All the little toucher are hear from , the ref taking the belt from the champ and showing it to the challenger before then holding it up for the crowd. Little touches like this go a long way. Also they have added the physics system to the ring and the ropes. So when a move is performed the mat and the ropes have a nice bounce to them on impact (No not that iMPACT). Also if you perform a move to close the ropes (say a suplex) the wrestlers legs can get caught on the ropes and trickle down each one until landing on the mat.
-Graphics/ UI (User Interface)-
The new depth of field effect does so much for the look of this game. Blurring out the background that is farther away and really making the Superstars and other things up close pop. THQ mentioned to us that they have seen the comments that the blur in the screenshots people are talking about like around the superstars has been toned down and I can say after what I have seen it looks great. We were shown how much the over graphics have been improved and how much sharper everything is. Much clearer and sharper logos on attires, clearer looking faces on the Superstar Models, Realistic lighting and shadowing. With the shadowing under the superstars, they really look like they are walking on the ring matt and not hovering over it. The for the overall E3 build is great. The main menu looks like the cover of the game with Randy Orton and animated smoke passing by with some low horror movie type music in the background (gone are the days of wrestling themes playing during the menus). THQ said they want to make a statement with the UI being like for each game and IA say it works. Let talk about the UI while in a match. There really isn’t much to it. You have the meter you need to fill for sig/finishers, the occasional F next to it when you have a finisher, and and adrenaline meter that appears in its place when you run. Since we couldn’t play multi-man matches with more then two players, I couldn’t see how cluttered the screen would be with more then two meters. Overall I like the meter this year instead of the one from last year that was the half circle around the Superstars feet. A nice little touch that I think everyone at THQ’s offices notice while I was out there is the fact that you now see the in ring action on the titantron. Little thing, but very cool.
-Audio-
I have saved audio for last as I feel this is a big area where WWE’12 needs to really be improved. Commentary is pretty much the same as previous years with some newly added lines, but still with quite bit of old lines as well. I did hear some crowd chants, but the one that stuck out the most was LET”S GO CENA/ CENA SUCKS. Over all crowd noise during entrances and matches needs to be greatly improved and still really doesn’t stand out. It was nice to hear some real grunts and groans that sounded like they were recorded by the superstars themselves. I still think the grunts and graons need to be more intense and louder. I mean someone is trying to make you tap. You should sound like someone is really wrenching on your leg or arm about to break it and you are screaming in hope that the pain will stop. Same goes for in ring sound effects. I want a more realistic sound effect like the superstars are landing on a mat that has wood under it. Something I really like was this reverb effect they have on the Entrance music that makes it really sound like it is being played in an arena.
-Closing Comments/ Thoughts-
Overall the gameplay is feeling very solid, but after all this was the E3 build with just four superstars and a one on one match. I really can’t wait to see how a lot of these gameplay improvements pan out in a multi-man match and how online will come into play when using the pin system. I know a lot of people were bummed about the moves and movesets last year (myself included), but I will say for the four guys in the E3 build there movesets are looking spot on and AWESOME! Especially Orton’s moveset. All in all WWE’12 looks like it is shaping up to be the game (Gameplay wise) we have been wanting for years. The overall presentation of WWE’12 and Gameplay have super pumped to see what else THQ has in store for us with WWE’12. In the words of The Rock… FINALLY THE COMPETIVE GAMEPLAY HAS COMBACK TO THE NUMBER ONE WRESTLING/ FIGHTING SIMULATION GAME.
Gameplay:
I want to start off with Gameplay as it is No Doubt THQ’s main focus this year.
-Downtime/ Selling-
The days of getting hit by a clothesline at the beginning of a match and staying down for way to long like you were hit by a much more devastating move are gone. When a move is executed on you towards the beginning of a match the superstar will actually do a more realistic selling animation as he is rising to his feet instead of staying on the ground selling for a good five seconds. As the match progress you will stay down longer selling the move before rising up to your feet. Really makes it feels like a really match is going on and doesn’t take you out the experience like old games when you would sell moves at the beginning of the match for long periods of time.
-Animation Blending/ Flow/ Warping (Move Teleporting)-
This is one of the spots where the new tech shows through. Animations just flow like never before with the inclusion of Predator Technology. Remember in the past when your opponent would be rising off the mat and you would go to grapple them and it would warp them back down into a ground move…. Well, now instead of things like that happing you are able to grapple someone as they are standing up and you will grab there head and continue to bring them to there feet. Move Warping / Move teleporting has seen a lot of improvement, but is not perfect. THQ has really cleaned this up a a lot and will do more i’m sure as time goes on. One of the most noticeable areas where this has been improved is with moves where Superstars would teleport from wherever they were in the ring to the center of the ring. Take Joh Cena executing the Five Knuckle Shuffle. In past games you would have your opponent down on the mat near a corner and as soon as you initiate the Five Knuckle Shuffle you both superstars would warp to the center of the ring. Well, WWE’12 no matter where you are in the ring when you activate the Five Knuckle Shuffle your opponent will stay there and Cena will do the you can’t see me taunt and then bounce off the ropes. Looks really good – except that it is Cena (Sorry couldn’t help myself).
-Attributes-
Attributes are being bumped up from Seven to Twelve this year. Below is a list of the Attributes, but there were no descriptions as to what exactly they will do.
Tag Team
Charisma
Toughness
Recovery
Adrenaline
Agility
Speed
Grapple Defense
Strike Defense
Submission
Grapple Power
Strike Power
-Adrenalin Meter/ Running-
Think of the stamina system in the past, but not crap. You have an adrenaline meter that pops up and starts to drain as you run. When the Adrenalin meter has been depleted you have to execute more offense on your opponent to build some of it back up to run again. Oh, and that horrible falling animation when stamina ran out in past games has been removed. My only complaint (and I have brought this to THQ’s attention) is that when the match starts you already have adrenaline in your meter, so you are able to run immediately I am hopeful that this will be changed before the game is shipped. Think WWE All Stars running.
-Interrupting moves mid animation/ Breakout System-
All moves in the game can be interrupted, but only at certain points in the animation. So if your performing a move it can be broken up at anytime except for the last quarter part of the animation, so you don’t run into unsightly looking animations. I was shown a demo of how this will work but, was not able to recreating it since the E3 demo does not have multi-man matches. Think WWE ALL STAR minus the unrealistic 360 flop when a move is broken up.
The New Tech being used in this years game lets them use a breakout system where moves can be combined. We were showed a demo of Cena doing the Five Knuckle Shuffle while another superstar
did a springboard in the middle of the ring on the same superstar. Not sure if you can hit the moves at the same exact time like Cena dropping the fist right when the springboard move is hitting. If you can that would be so AWEOSME!. Imagine a Jeff Hardy Caw dropping a double leg drop to the groin while Matt ?Hardy CAW hits a leg drop from the top rope. Sure stuff like this has been in the game as a long drawn out pre-animated move but, being able to set things up like this on your own with a friend would be great.
-Old Signature/ Finisher Meter makes a return-
The Momentum Meter has been thrown out for a more retro style Sig/ Finisher meter that will make so many happy. The way it works is you build up your Meter by performing Offensive moves like Strikes, Grapples, and taunts. You can also build up your meter by reversing your opponent. Once you get your meter maxed out it then starts flashing and you can execute a sig. Now, you only have a short amount of time to perform your sig, If you are able to hit your sig in time this gives you a chance for a flaming Finisher where if executed does more damage than a regular finisher since you hit it right after a sig. Now if you are not able to hit your flaming finisher the game will auto store your finisher (stored finishers are not as powerful as the flaming finishers). Something I brought up to THQ is there should be a button press to store finishers and not have it auto store, that is not fair to your opponent. They go on this great offense to stop you from doing your Flaming finsher and the game just stores it for you even if it isn’t as powerful ?. I look for that to be changed before release.
Also, while I am talking about finishers, I want to mention something that has annoyed so many and has been addressed. If your Superstar has to execute his finisher from behind like The Miz. Well, You can now execute it from the front and the Superstar will spin there opponent around automatically and perform there finisher.
-Breaking Point Submission System-
I have been wanting a more tug-a-war type submission system for quite some time now and I am happy to say it is here. The new Submission system is called the Breaking Point Submission system and works very well. Once you slap on say Del Rios cross arm bar a greyish text graphic pops on the screen that says Breakout and the object is to fill that graphic red or stop your opponent from fill it. This is done by mashing the face buttons and when I asked I was told a failsafe is in place to punish people who use turbo controllers. Also for the player that is in the submission, they have the option while button mashing the face button to use the left stick to navigate to the ropes and get a rope break. THQ informed us that there will not be an animation of the superstar actually reaching out an grabbing on to the ropes though (because of technical reasons) and they are working to get this in future games. Also, in the E3 build the Graphic is way to big and covers a lot of the superstars/ action. We were told that this will be addressed before the game is released.
-Dramatic Comeback Ability-
This is a better version of the momentum shift you have seen in other wrestling games like Day of Reckoning (Or in other words Sam West’s Adopted Son). First off in the E3 build only Cena and Orton have this ability and when you see it play out in front of you, it is true to there onscreen personas. So, they way it works is…. Essentially after you have the crap kicked out of you for awhile you have the chance to trigger this ability by running at your opponent and pressing the Y button. If you are successful this puts you in a mini game where you have to press the Y button before each move before your opponent does to initiate the next move. Now it was brought up to THQ to have it not always be the Y button (as it is in the E3 build) and have it be a random button each time, so people don’t get the pattern down. Hope this in put in before release. This is a great addition as this does happen on WWE Programming and really adds to the i’m down but I am not out just yet. Get ready for the five moves of DOOM everyone.
-Control Setup for this Years Game-
Left Stick – Control Superstar
Right Stick up – Pick up opponent
Right stick down – pick up opponent in rear grapple position
Right Stick Left or right – Rotate or flip over opponent depending if they are on the mat or standing up/ in the corner
D-Pad – Taunt (Up on D-Pad is a Wake-up Taunt if you have a Sig/ Finisher)
Left Trigger – Run
Left Button – Action Button (Get in/out of ring, Climb Turnbuckle, Pick up Weapons, and so on)
Right Trigger – Reversals
Right Button – Limb targeting modifier. While in grapple, LB + X,Y,B,A
Y=Run, Also can get you to the turnbuckle and in the ring
B- Irish whip, pin
X-Striking
A- Grapple, Hold for submissions
-Limb targeting-
Now that you have read what the controls are for this years game, Lets talk about limb targeting. First you have to initiate a grapple, then hold RB + Y,X,B,A will execute a move to the body part assigned to that button. Y = head, X = Left Arm, B = Right Arm, A = Legs. We were told that there is no ay to target the body since all move tend to hurt the in the some form, makes sense. Most Superstars in the E3 build had the same Limb targeting moves and when I mentioned that to THQ they informed me that it would be tied to a superstars weight class. Since most superstars in the E3 are around the same Weight class they had the same moves.
Targeting limbs really has different negative effects on your opponent depending on which body part you target.
Head- Causes opponent to be groggy more quickly and longer
Arms = Opponent dealing out less damage
Legs = Will effect running/ Adrenaline a person has
The main time I seen this being useful for me was when I was wrestling with a wrestler that had a Submission Finisher, like Del Rio’s Cross Arm bar or Cena’s STFU.
-Grappling-
With default controls grappling is now tied to the A button. Pressing A puts you in the chain grapple system that you have seen in past games. Once you have grapple with A you can hit the right stick in a direct to change to a different grapple position just like previous years. Or you can from the start hit the direct of the grapple position you want to be in with A and grab your opponent right in that grapple position. Kind of like last years grappling except A is now doing what the right stick did last year. You can go into a breaking point submission by holding A once in a grapple position. I like that they have changed from the right stick to the A button grapples as it feels more natural for me. If you were a fan of the right and would rather continue using that control setup, it will still be available as an option for you to turn on.
-Reversals-
Reversals have been totally retooled this year, which means no more spamming R Trigger and getting a reversal. Reversing finishers feels so satisfying and if manage to revers one you get one in return and I must say it is AWESOME to reverse someone with Orton and get a finisher and execute the RKO. THQ pointed out the the Rock, Paper, Scissors system that they still have in place. Strikes beat grapples, and the big addition is standard grapples/ strikes beat running grapples/ strikes. This is another way to stop the running spammers.
-Pinning Mechanic-
The pining mechanic for this years game is pretty much the same as last years game except you can no longer button mash to kick out. Instead you can only use the option of holding A to fill the meter to the designated area and stopping it inside. You could use this in last years game except this year it is a little different. The designated area to stop the meter is in a different spot every time a pinfall happen. The meter could be in the middle, at beginning, quarter of the way, three quarters of the way, exc. I was told that sometimes he meter might not even come up until the two count. I really felt this new system adds a nice dramatic/ panic feels to the match and also takes away the option for someone to you a turbo controller.
-Moves-
Just playing with these for Superstars I noticed quite a few new moves. I will list some.
Randy Orton- New punt from the corner is very nice and well animated with Orton pulling on the ropes as his opponent rises up to an on all fours position before he strikes, Orton also has his new taunt where he flails his arms around spitting all over the place (-the spitting), Snap power slam when someone is running at you, Clothesline where snaps around like the Viper does, New Angle Slam, and more.
Cena has a new running shoulder Block as seen in his comeback ability sequence, new Attitude Adjustment, New Diving Leg drop from top ropes, New Five Knuckle Shuffle and, more.
Alberto Del Rio had new taunts of course with his arms in the air and a cocky look on his face, he has his cross arm breaker where if done standing he flips and wraps his legs around there arm and takes them down to the ground, a new arm breaker with his knees, and more.
Didn’t notice to really anything new with The Miz
-Wake Up Taunts-
Now, Normally I wouldn’t mention taunts in a hands-on preview, but the addition of Wake Up Taunts is well… As The Miz would say “AWESOME” To do a perform a Wake Up Taunt you press up on the D-pad when your opponent is down on the matt and you have a signature or a finisher. Also, you can use this to setup a top-rope turnbuckle move for a highflyer like Kofi Kingston’s cross body. We did discuss with THQ that people might spam this and use it to pick people up and not execute there sig/ finisher. They are looking into it and I hope it is addressed before the game ships.
-AI (Artificial Intelligence)-
The AI this year is more aware, Smarter, and very aggressive. If you try to spam the same moves over and over again the AI will pickup on it and adapt accordingly. We were told by THQ that AI will no longer pick up a weapon and then just throw it down before attempting to use it. Also ith the retooling of the AI this years normal will feel like last years Legend difficulty. So I can only imagine what this years Legend will be like. Also, THQ said with the new AI retool they are able to make the AI harder without just making them reverse almost everything.
-Presentation-
TV Broadcast Camera Angles are really well done in this game and add so much to the overall presentation. All camera angles are from an angle you have seen on WWE prgramming. No more random camera angle where it looks like the camera man would have to be in the ring during the match to shoot that angle. You will see camera angle that look like thye came from the crane cam, a real camera man outside the ring, and a new angle for when you are going up the ramp to the stage, so you no longer have that jerking angle that swings over and looks over the ring facing the titantron. Instead you get this nice diagonal angle that is zoomed out and slowly zoom in tighter the farther you head u the ramp. Camera Angles may sound like a little thing but they add so much to the matches and entrances. Speaking of Entrances Del Rios is pretty sweet. His entrance starts out with Justin Roberts introducing his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodrigues Once that is done del Rios music hits and you see his limo come from the right side on top of the RAW stage (think JBL’s Limo). Del rio then after honking the horn a few times gets out of the car posing all cocky till he goes down the ramp a lit bit, then his pyro goes off and Ricardo is announcing him the whole time. Physics have been added to the entrance gear and this is noticable with the scarf around Del Rios next. Look really nice. Can’t ait to see takers coat with the Physics. When you wrestle an match with a title on the line the wrestler will come down to the ring like normal except the the announcer will wait to announce them when they are in the ring just like on WWE Programming. This is very cool to watch play out as the wrestler stand in there corner and the announcer will announce them individually start with the challenger. All the little toucher are hear from , the ref taking the belt from the champ and showing it to the challenger before then holding it up for the crowd. Little touches like this go a long way. Also they have added the physics system to the ring and the ropes. So when a move is performed the mat and the ropes have a nice bounce to them on impact (No not that iMPACT). Also if you perform a move to close the ropes (say a suplex) the wrestlers legs can get caught on the ropes and trickle down each one until landing on the mat.
-Graphics/ UI (User Interface)-
The new depth of field effect does so much for the look of this game. Blurring out the background that is farther away and really making the Superstars and other things up close pop. THQ mentioned to us that they have seen the comments that the blur in the screenshots people are talking about like around the superstars has been toned down and I can say after what I have seen it looks great. We were shown how much the over graphics have been improved and how much sharper everything is. Much clearer and sharper logos on attires, clearer looking faces on the Superstar Models, Realistic lighting and shadowing. With the shadowing under the superstars, they really look like they are walking on the ring matt and not hovering over it. The for the overall E3 build is great. The main menu looks like the cover of the game with Randy Orton and animated smoke passing by with some low horror movie type music in the background (gone are the days of wrestling themes playing during the menus). THQ said they want to make a statement with the UI being like for each game and IA say it works. Let talk about the UI while in a match. There really isn’t much to it. You have the meter you need to fill for sig/finishers, the occasional F next to it when you have a finisher, and and adrenaline meter that appears in its place when you run. Since we couldn’t play multi-man matches with more then two players, I couldn’t see how cluttered the screen would be with more then two meters. Overall I like the meter this year instead of the one from last year that was the half circle around the Superstars feet. A nice little touch that I think everyone at THQ’s offices notice while I was out there is the fact that you now see the in ring action on the titantron. Little thing, but very cool.
-Audio-
I have saved audio for last as I feel this is a big area where WWE’12 needs to really be improved. Commentary is pretty much the same as previous years with some newly added lines, but still with quite bit of old lines as well. I did hear some crowd chants, but the one that stuck out the most was LET”S GO CENA/ CENA SUCKS. Over all crowd noise during entrances and matches needs to be greatly improved and still really doesn’t stand out. It was nice to hear some real grunts and groans that sounded like they were recorded by the superstars themselves. I still think the grunts and graons need to be more intense and louder. I mean someone is trying to make you tap. You should sound like someone is really wrenching on your leg or arm about to break it and you are screaming in hope that the pain will stop. Same goes for in ring sound effects. I want a more realistic sound effect like the superstars are landing on a mat that has wood under it. Something I really like was this reverb effect they have on the Entrance music that makes it really sound like it is being played in an arena.
-Closing Comments/ Thoughts-
Overall the gameplay is feeling very solid, but after all this was the E3 build with just four superstars and a one on one match. I really can’t wait to see how a lot of these gameplay improvements pan out in a multi-man match and how online will come into play when using the pin system. I know a lot of people were bummed about the moves and movesets last year (myself included), but I will say for the four guys in the E3 build there movesets are looking spot on and AWESOME! Especially Orton’s moveset. All in all WWE’12 looks like it is shaping up to be the game (Gameplay wise) we have been wanting for years. The overall presentation of WWE’12 and Gameplay have super pumped to see what else THQ has in store for us with WWE’12. In the words of The Rock… FINALLY THE COMPETIVE GAMEPLAY HAS COMBACK TO THE NUMBER ONE WRESTLING/ FIGHTING SIMULATION GAME.
(Please do not post the trailer until it is hosted by an official source that can claim ownership of the video - lildude)