WWE 2K16 Hands-On Impressions: 12 Things You Need To Know

6. Loads Of Animations Creating More Fluid Play

The transitions between animations have long been a niggling flaw in wrestling games. The inability to chain together attacks in a seamless way, leaving you grabbing at thin air while your opponents get to their feet, was a constant hinderance towards a proper recreation of WWE action. As was the perennial bugbear - collision detection. Thankfully 2K16 has gone some way towards solving this problem. Flaws still remain (they always will, this is a nigh unfixable problem), but the ramp-up in animations feels gratifying. You can now successfully engage opponents while they're sitting up, in the ropes, rising to their feet, mid-strike and all with animations that don't break the flow of play. There are new animations for near-falls, which capture perfectly the wrestler's frustration at being unable to put their opponents away. Likewise, the problem of collision detection has been reduced (if not conquered). Some weapons have more varied ways to strike and superstars react to the announce table and ring posts in new ways. Irish wipe someone at the announce table at the wrong angle in previous games and they'd comically slide past it, now they make contact in a unique way, depending on the angle they hit. These improvements are small, but welcome, aiding player investment in matches and creating a more fluid style of play.