WWE 2K17 Updates Providing a Coat of Polish

Game updates have become the norm as opposed to the exception in the gaming world, and the WWE 2K series is no exception. With two major gameplay updates within a week of each other, the game we gave a 7 to, mainly due to the abundance of glitches, has seen the worst of the bunch alleviated. But what changed? Let’s dive in to the most important fixes:

Glitches

The most important fixes resolve corruptions to game-save data. Prior to the updates, there was a significant chance your saved data would become corrupt if you downloaded a Community Creation with over 14 custom logos. PS4 users also dealt with a complete loss of their game save if they attempted to resume a game from rest mode. Both of these issues have been thankfully alleviated through the recent updates, and you can start your Universe Mode with no paranoia of losing your hard booking work.

Gameplay

The “alternate submission system” introduced to the series this year has been updated to extend the time of the mechanic, while the CPU on higher difficulties now has a better chance of delayed inputs. Prior to the updates it seemed submissions would be finished in a matter of seconds, whereas post-patch in MyCareer I had a match against Jack Swagger where I was in the Patriot Lock for 26 seconds before I escaped. This made the new submission system feel more “back and forth” to me, which is a welcome addition to what used to be a frustrating experience.

The referees are now fully operational. Previously they would ignore some pins, eject managers that attacked wrestlers during a ref bump or just stop acknowledging count outs during Iron Man matches. Those issues are now non-existent, and you can use all of the heel tactics you want (just remember to “accidentally” punch the ref in the face first).

Don’t forget to check out the new animations for the Phenomenal Forearm and Barricade Back Suplex (you will need to add them to A.J. Styles and Randy Orton’s move sets, respectively).

Online

We can start with the biggest issue facing the online crowd: the pin glitch. The kickout meter would intermittently become unresponsive. Users also experienced extremely lengthy load times when using custom Superstars online. Both, in addition to other minor fixes, have been ironed out, making it time to start your journey to the online WWE Hall of Fame (full with induction by the Iron Sheik)!

MyCareer/Universe

Tag, teams rock! Tag, teams rock! In MyCareer, you now get more tag team matches when you are in the tag rankings, and you won’t be tagged with a potential rival. You also won’t get random title matches when you are in a different championship’s ranking. T-shirt sales have been updated to begin after the tutorial ends. (Pro tip: Create a generic T-shirt in your alternate attire to get an easy source of VC every week).

Universe Mode now allows you to add matches without worrying about additional matches being tallied to the card. You will also see more dynamic rankings changing within the championship system. Did I mention you can FINALLY *long pause while looking up* control your partner in tag matches? So go win the belts with Breezango — those boys deserve it.

Presentation

Highlight Reels now show the moves that cause pinfalls and not just the pins. This is a huge win for those of you that create entrance videos (which you ABSOLUTELY should be doing for your MyCareer character). The crowd sounds more vibrant during a number of superstar’s entrances (no more Baltimore Raw crowds sitting on their hands when Seth friggin’ Rollins comes down the ramp). Also, alternate attires no longer appear like the characters were action figures dipped in baby oil.

These are just a few of the biggest changes in the two game updates since WWE has released. We are also waiting on a plethora of DLC (I need to hit Samoa Joe with a Shinsuke Nakamura Kinshasa sooner rather than later) as well as a few more bug fixes (you still can’t edit Money In the Bank OR the Royal Rumble in Universe Mode without it affecting the outcome of the match, the individual saves in Universe share attribute ratings, and attires and titles still change hands via DQ or count out at times), but WWE 2K17 is in a much better place than it was just two weeks ago.

You can check out the complete patch notes here (Patch 1.03, as of the time of this writing, has not released on Xbox One):
Patch 1.02
Patch 1.03

What changes from the updates have affected your WWE 2K17 experience the most?