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THE PULL LIST (VOL. 15)
”The Pull List” is a feature column that will take a look at a mix of the most noteworthy topics in wrestling, comics, books, Movies & TV Blu-Ray releases, apparel, and video games along with reviews and commentary in each category.
WWE 2K18 (PS4, XBox One, Nintendo Switch)
For this review, I reviewed the PS4 version of the game.
2K has released another edition of the annual WWE video game with WWE 2K18. The game hasn’t been very good in recent years thanks to some questionable decisions with game play and bugs. It feels like the team behind the game got things right when it comes to gameplay in many respects. The graphics are as good as they’ve ever been for ring entrances and playing the game, but in other areas they fall short of what you would expect from a video game in 2017. Ultimately WWE 2k18 is a mixed bag with the good outweighing the bad. It’s clear going forward that some major changes are needed.
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2K finally added in some fun tag match game modes. The sorely needed tornado tag ladder match is finally included in the game. I nearly cried tears of joy when I saw that this mode was included in the game for the first time in years. In addition to that, you can now play 4 vs. 4 tag matches. The options become limited when you try to play online in some respects. You can’t play a two vs. two ladder match online or 8 man tag match online. You can play a six man tag match, but no stipulations are available. For two on two, there are several options including steel cage and hell in a cell. It just is a letdown that you can’t play tornado ladder matches online still, but it’s nice to have the option available offline.
MyPlayer has gotten an overhaul this year with MyCareer and the new Road To Glory. MyCareer is still ultimately a disappointment even though it’s a big improvement from the days when Hugh Morris yelled at you at the WWE Performance Center. One of the biggest letdowns of MyCareer, which allows you to take your created character and advance them from the WWE Performance Center up to the main roster is the graphics. The wrestlers look terribly outdated as you look interact with them. There was also a lot of screen tearing as I walked around the PC talking to various wrestlers. From a graphics standpoint, it just doesn’t look like something that belongs on a new major league game in 2017.
There are other issues with the mode. There’s no spoken dialogue and the wrestlers and office staff make funny faces while their lines are written on the screen. The wrestlers and office staff written dialogue is terrible. Even the biggest WWE fans are likely to find the way the wrestlers speak to you to be ridiculous. It’s an embarrassment that this dialogue passed quality testing. The way you advance up the WWE ranks is questionable as well. It should be a little more challenging to advance, especially during the early stages of the game where Matt Bloom matches you up with Baron Corbin, who crushes you with his finish in under 30 seconds. I exited the ring and Bloom told me I was ready for NXT.
The promo system isn’t much fun to play at all. The point of cutting a promo is to stick to your originally point, so you are basically just picking from selections of dialogue that match up with the original main point of your promo. Overall, this mode is just not fun, but the potential is there for it to be great once it gets some attention. Roaming backstage, being slotted in feuds and matches with your created player, and advancing up to the main roster all sound fun, but the execution on this mode is still lacking.
I was so excited about the Road To Glory mode. You play online against other created wrestlers and if you earn enough stars from your matches you can advance to the PPV. The problem with this mode is that the servers just can’t support the traffic. I had to wait forever to get opponents and barely managed to earn my way onto TLC to face The Miz on the main card. As you play, you unlock free loot cases, which give you new items for your created player, virtual currency, and limited time boosts for your player during matches. You also rank up based on your performances as well and gain abilities and unlock spots to use boosts. If the servers were working better, this mode would be a home run, as it was a ton of fun to play when I could actually get a match.
Online play in general is a mixed bag. Sometimes I could get a match fairly quickly, but this game just seems slow in many respects. It takes awhile to get a match when playing regular modes and as previously stated, Road To Glory is going to be a mode people give up on because it’s nearly impossible to get matches up with an opponent online.
The game features a number of bugs. I haven’t seen this many bugs from a major league title that I’ve played. If you do a search on google or on twitter there are tons of videos showing odd glitches in WWE 2K18. Again, this is something that should be fixed before the game is released. Between the bugs, the loading screens, and the difficulty with online play in Road To Glory, it can be frustrating to try to play certain modes of this release. The most frustrating bug I encountered was when I was trying to beat The Miz in the final challenge of Road to Glory mode in a TLC match. When I set up the ladder to win the match, I froze gripping it. The Miz then recovered from the outside and came into the ring and punched me over and over. My created player no sold all of the punches, but I could not advance in the match and had to start again. It wasn’t easy to beat The Miz with my created character given his low ranking at the time, so it was really frustrating to have to start the match all over again when I was on a roll and had a chance to finish off The Miz and claim the big loot crate.
The actual in-ring gameplay is very good. Reversals feel right this year. There’s a new maneuver introduced into the game where you can pick your opponent up in a certain position such as the powerbomb or fireman’s carry. This is a really nice addition to the game and it’s fun as hell to powerbomb your opponent into the ring apron or over the top to the floor. The ring and the surrounding environment are more interactive than ever and it’s a lot of fun to be able to place your opponent in various positions in and outside of the ring and do the damage that you want to do. I’ve never been a fan of the chase the rabbit style submission meter and think 2K should take a look at what EA has done with their UFC games when it comes to submissions. I ultimately chose the button mash option for submissions and counter submissions because spinning a color bar in a circle while being chased or chasing my opponent to complete a submission was underwhelming.
The other elements of combat feel right. The stamina is much improved from a couple of years back when your wrestler got gassed in a what seemed like an incredibly short amount of time. It feels evened out. Having reversals limited is a nice touch as well. The pinning meter seems a bit difficult, but I got the hang of it. I still feel it should be tweaked and be a little more forgiving.
When I was able to get online, I had a blast. The gameplay was smooth. I wish there were more match options to play online with friends, but playing hell in a cell is a lot of fun. The problem is that from my experience, it takes longer than it should to get into an actual match. The regular online mode does seems faster than Road To Glory. I got into a match before I got frustrated waiting, but the servers should be much faster.
The roster is bigger than ever. There are a ton of legends, NXT, and main roster stars available. It’s really cool to see The Natural Disasters and NWO in the same game. It blows me away to see how many wrestlers they managed to fit into the game this year. The entrances look tremendous for almost every wrestler I saw come out.
It feels like it’s time for an overhaul of the game. The game engine feels outdated at this point. They have tightened things up, but overall the gameplay feels the same as it has going back over five years give and take some elements that 2K has played with since they acquired the license. For MyCareer to truly succeed, a new game engine would be for the best.
Overall score: (6.5) – There’s enough here to have some fun playing the game offline and online. The CAW mode is tremendous and insanely deep. Unfortunately, the other modes of the game that are really intriguing like MyCareer and Road To Glory aren’t that much fun. It’s a mixed bag, but there is some fun to be had. Hopefully 2K doesn’t roll out another edition of the game with the same game engine next year.
CLUTCH CHAIRZ WWE CRANK SERIES THE ROCK CHAIR
With a slew of big videogame releases hitting the market in recent months such as Madden NFL 18, FIFA 18, WWE 2K18, and South Park The Fractured But Whole, it’s important to stay comfortable while you play your games for long periods of time. Clutch Chairz recently introduced a new line of WWE themed gaming chairs into the market. Wrestlers/Stables like The New Day, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior, and John Cena all have their own unique designs.
The WWE branded Clutch Chairz come in two different series. One is the Crank series, which is for people that weight up to 265 lbs. The other is a more expensive WWE chair from the Throttle series, which features 4D armrests and is designed for people that weigh over 265 lbs.
The Crank Series The Rock WWE chair features a black/red/white design. The colors on the chair really pop and are impressive. In fact, all of the WWE chairs in this line have fantastic designs and if you look at the other chairs that Clutch Chairz makes, it’s clear they have the best looking gaming chairs on the market.
The chair weighs about 60 lbs when it arrives in the mail in the box. You have to put it together and it comes in multiple pieces. I am really terrible at putting things together in general and stay as far away as possible from nails and screws. I didn’t have a hard time at all putting the chair together, The instruction manual was very clear and it took me about an hour or so to finish putting the chair together. I would imagine people that are more familiar with putting things together and working with tools could assemble this chair in under an hour.
One of the things that really stands out is just how comfortable The Rock chair is. It comes with lumbar and headrest pillows that match that pattern of these chairs. These two pillows make the chair incredibly comfortable. After putting the chair through its paces while writing and playing video games for several hours, I found I did not get sore or stiff. One of the best features on the chair is the infinite tilt lock, which allows you to lean the chair back without reclining it. I found the chair to be most comfortable when I left the back upright for back support, but used the infinite tilt lock to lean it backwards.
The 3D armrests are tremendous as well, especially while you are playing videogames. Being able to move the armrests forwards, backwards, and sideways gives the chair a lot of versatility when it comes to comfort whether you are gaming or doing office work. You can also adjust the height of the chair as well with the class 4 gas lift.
This chair is pricey at around $400, but Clutch Chairz is always running promotions with discount codes. The WWE line of chairs from the Crank series were lowered to around $300 in August when they were on sale. After spending over a week with the chair, I thought that this was the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. My back never got stiff sitting for long periods of time because of the lumbar support. I could adjust the chair as I stayed in the seated position, which is a huge benefit when you are playing games or doing office work at a desk.
I would give Clutch Chairz my highest recommendation if you’re looking for a comfortable and fashionable chair to sit in. If you’re a WWE fan, you’re going to love the design of the WWE themed chairs. The Rock chair looks fantastic, the colors pop, and the chair is incredibly versatile depending on what you’re doing.
You can buy the Crank The Rock WWE Chair by visiting CLUTCH CHAIRZ
CONTENDERS CLOTHING WWE BOXER BRIEFS
Contenders Clothing has released a new line of WWE boxer briefs. The wrestlers/stables featured in the WWE line of boxers includes A.J. Styles, Roman Reigns, The New Day, The Ultimate Warrior, Steve Austin, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and John Cena (youth size only). The New Day have been featured holding the boxers on TV and once you see what is inside the package, they are nicely designed.
All of the boxers feature a pattern based on a graphic for the wrestler/stable featured. The Ultimate Warrior’s face paint makes a pattern for his edition of the boxers in the line, New Day has a cartoon pattern all over featuring Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E over a light blue/dark blue pattern, and Roman Reigns’s believe that catchphrase is featured over a black background.
I was pleasantly surprised by how these boxer briefs performed in the work setting and while working out. I wore them in a variety of settings for about a week and they were more comfortable than my go to brand Under Armour. Having worn Under Armour compression shorts to the gym for a long time and Under Armour boxerjocks, it’s safe to say that Contenders Clothing has a very comfortable product with the introduction of the WWE line of boxer briefs.
I give these boxer briefs a high recommendation overall. The ride control technology developed by Contenders Clothing is fantastic. If you’re a fan of any of the acts featured in this line, you’re going to be very happy with your purchase. Another nice addition to the package is that each pair you get comes with a collectible WWE card. The card is much bigger than your standard trading card and although it features a rather plain looking design, card collectors are going to want to get their hands on these.
You can purchase WWE boxer briefs from CONTENDERS CLOTHING. Enter the code WWESALE at checkout for 30% off while the sale lasts.
WWE AND FAMILY GUY ODD SOX
Odd Sox have made a new line of WWE and Family Guy branded socks. The idea behind the brand is to make attention grabbing sox. This is the perfect time to give them a try if you’re the bold type and don’t mind wearing attention grabbing apparel.
The all over design make these socks really pop. I’m a huge fan of the Family Guy designs. Being a big fan of the series, the Odd Sox Family Guy line grabbed my attention immediately. It doesn’t really get much better than wearing a pair of sox with an all over print of Peter Griffin on one foot and Quagmire on the other. I also really enjoyed the design with Brian on sock and Stewie on the other.
Odd Sox has expanded their line of WWE socks in recent months with a new legends line that includes wrestlers/stables such as NWO, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and Steve Austin. This new line really pops, but the cartoon versions of the wrestlers also look really good. I tried out the Roddy Piper and Doink socks. Unlike the Family Guy line that I tried where the pair of socks had two different characters with one appearing on each sock in the pair, the WWE Odd Sox line has the same cartoon print for both socks. I really like the artwork and the socks have colors that pop, especially for Roddy Piper and Doink.
These socks are extremely comfortable. They are 95% cotton and really give a nice cushion on for the bottom of your foot. I haven’t had a chance to try the new legend line, but if the cartoon style socks aren’t for you, the logo style socks have a great design. The NWO Odd Sox look incredible.
Overall, I give the Odd Sox line for Family Guy and WWE a high recommendation. The socks are extremely comfortable and look fantastic. If you’re looking something that is a bit toned down, the new Legend line of WWE Odd Sox look fantastic as well and feature a bold color design based around a wrestling logo.
You can purchase WWE Odd Sox HERE and the Family Guy Odd Sox HERE
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Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow Sean on twitter HERE. Follow and like Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook.com HERE
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