WWE 2K15: 9 Reasons It MUST Be WWF vs WCW

5. New Universe Mode Could Offer A Revolutionary Type Of Play

One major missing ingredient from recent wrestling video games has been a GM Mode. Even though in previous releases it was clearly bare-bones, the potential of the GM Mode was clear for everyone to see, before it was cruelly taken from us. The addition of a Monday Night Wars mode in WWE 2K15 gives 2K Games a natural reason for bringing it back and in a way that makes it even better than before. Just imagine it: you load up the GM mode and you are given two options to start your journey. You either become the head director for Vince McMahon at WWF or Eric Bischoff at WCW and are able to make the key decisions for whichever company you choose, the ultimate goal of which is to be successful and run the other company out of the ground. As part of the mode you book the PPVs, the television, choose what merchandise to push, what cities your events tour in, which superstars should be on top and who shouldn't be, manage shoot relationships and rivalries between wrestlers... basically taking a leaf out of the Football Manager or FIFA gaming series and making an in-depth career mode where your everyday decisions affect how the game is played out. The final goal would of course be to win in the ratings over your rival. To do that, you would need to put on the most entertaining show and achieve the highest TV ratings and PPV buys. What this gives every gamer is the opportunity to be the booker in the Monday Night Wars. You could choose to run the Steve Austin/Vince McMahon feud in the same way it really happened or decide that maybe Shawn Michaels would be more interesting in Austin's spot in that feud. Your call... but it would make a difference in the ratings. Book a feud fans don't want to see... go to the main event between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart too early and you haven't been able to make as much money as you could have. So many factors could play into it...

The mode would also give you the opportunity to play as either (or both if you were multiplayer) opponents and dictate the pace and outcome of a match. So the revolutionary portion of the game would not just be to win a match, as it currently is and has been on so many wrestling video games, but now to actually make the match the most exciting it can be to suit a booking purpose. For example, if you are controlling The Undertaker in a match against Kane and are at a point where you've hit your Tombstone Piledriver finish in two minutes, it may not be so wise to end the match there and bury the momentum and star power of a guy like Kane, a new addition to your roster. Maybe you should allow Kane to get some offence in, create a few near falls and add some extra elements to the encounter... such as a Chokeslam through a table or interference from Paul Bearer.

But those choices would have consequences themselves. Put Kane through a table and you might injure him and he may need to be sidelined for the next several events. It may also not get the same kind of reaction from fans if you try and use a table in another match on the show or the next time Taker and Kane wrestle. You can only go to the well so many times. Extend a match and you might leave yourself with the problem of running out of time on a broadcast and having to cut segments and lower morale. Or the nightmare scenario of trying to book Stone Cold Steve Austin to lose against a new rookie or asking Bret Hart to drop the title to Shawn Michaels in Canada and you might have your biggest star walk out. The opportunity of this mode would give gamers a limitless opportunity to keep coming back to the game. It's one of the reasons the Football Manager series works so well because of just how many variations every new game could be. Imagine having your WWF or WCW roster, all with various salaries, abilities and happiness levels. Should you decide to play as WWF and you are losing in the ratings war when you kick off the game, you may end up agreeing with Vince McMahon and that you have to allow the extraordinary higher earner Bret Hart to join your rivals to free up funds to shake-up the roster. Or if you are WCW, you may decide to instead make a huge play for Shawn Michaels instead of Bret Hart, seeing HBK as the difference maker between the two companies. Add HBK to the NWO and perhaps you have a winning formula that WWF couldn't compete with in the ratings.