WWE 2K18: 12 Things We Can't Wait To Do

WWE 2K18 has officially hit the shelves, and the scores are slowly coming in.

So far, they don't exactly blow you away. Critics have largely described an excellent-looking game packed with a star-studded roster but disappointingly bereft of new ideas. The career mode, they say, is every bit as phoned-in as it has been over the last five years, while game-play - without remarkable dexterity (and a lot of patience) - is still positively rage-inducing.

That's the bad news, but with a captive audience of die-hard wrestling fans without an alternative, the good news - for WWE, anyway - is that a lot of us are still heading out to the stores in our droves to pick up our own copy (you know, just to see for ourselves if it really is as unremarkable as the gaming experts say).

Those who buy 2K every year will probably have their own checklist of things they simply have to do right away - like, for example, trying out various combinations of matches involving Roman Reigns to find the best way of bringing down Vince's 95-rated franchise player.

Here are a few more things to tick off...

WWE commentators are forever trying to convince us that the largest entrant into the Royal Rumble is, by definition, the favourite, despite the fact that only once in its 30 year history - Yokozuna in 1993 - has that actually proved to be the case.

But on 2K18, the claim may hold true after all. This is because of a new addition to the in-ring mechanics - not seen in a WWE title for a few years - which allows you to lift your opponent up and carry them around the ring (in either a fireman carry, cradle, a power bomb-like position, or just draped over your shoulder like Donkey Kong and Princess Peach).

Better still, you can actually launch them over the top rope and down to the floor that surrounds the ring, meaning that you're going to have a lot of fun playing through the Royal Rumble as Braun Strowman (even if he is rated a frankly insulting 88).