WWE 2K Battlegrounds, which was first announced in April as a replacement for the canceled WWE 2K21, was given a release date earlier today. Not only that, but details regarding the game's single-player campaign have been shared, confirming that it will feature a story.
In an interview, executive producer Sean O'Connor provided the general concept behind the campaign mode. It sees WWE agent Paul Heyman searching for a new WWE Superstar, with assistance from Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was also one of the first characters confirmed for WWE 2K Battlegrounds.
Players are given seven wholly original wrestlers to choose from and must then take part in various matches to earn a contract and eventually reach WrestleMania, with events told in a comic book style, according to O'Connor.
O'Connor also clarified that players won't simply be playing through a linear series of matches and there will be branching paths with different side objectives to complete for extra rewards.
"I can't even remember exactly how many matches and nodes there are - it's kind of a branching thing. There's some things you can do off on the side and earn different rewards, or you can just do the golden path straight through the middle to finish it sooner if you want."
As for what sort of rewards can be earned, these include new arenas, vanity items to help customize the player characters, and even new power-ups, like an earthquake that destroys the ring itself. Battlegrounds aims to be a more arcade-like title, drawing clear inspiration from WWE All-Stars, which was praised for its more over-the-top spectacle and style compared to the grounded mainline games.
O'Connor explains:
"We're trying to be over-the-top, arcadey, easy to pick up and play. A lot of stuff to master, though, so you can really take your game to the next level. It goes very much with the art style [...] where it's kind of a wider appeal - it's clearly not realistic, right? And our moves are not realistic, as you've seen. Think about throwing somebody into a crocodile! That's not very realistic, but it's super fun and it's super over the top, and the power ups play really well into that as well."
As for those who are more fans of tabletop card games, a WWE take on the genre has recently been announced and will be releasing by the end of the month, acting as a recreation of a Royal Rumble match.
The next wrestling sim, however, is still a long ways off, having been given extra development time so as not to be a disaster like WWE 2K20 was. 2K has promised that it won't be making the same mistakes and has even listed beloved games like WWF No Mercy and SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain as inspirations for WWE 2K22.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds will release on September 18th for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
Source: IGN