Five Features That Should Be Adopted From Fire Pro Wrestling For Future WWE Games

The annual hype train for the next WWE Game has started with news of the roster and possible playable Sting for WWE 2K15, which is slated for a Fall (roughly October/November as usual) 2014 release date. I don't want to piss on anyone's parade but we go through this series of emotions every single year a WWE title is announced. I haven't put myself through that since WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 and I seriously doubt I will EVER invest $59.99 (or more if you want the Season Pass, Online Pass, and additional DLC) on these games unless the following features were adopted from the Fire Pro Wrestling series.

#5 - 8-Man Matches

'Nuff said. This was possible back for the first PlayStation 2 WWE Smackdown! title, Just Bring It! and we haven't seen it back since. I doubt they are using that many resources for these games' AI and graphics, as there are times when these newer games on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 look WORSE than some of the previous WWE Games on PlayStation 2. Plus, let's not forget about this comparison on visuals.

Yeah, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are out so there's no more excuses for this crap.

#4 - Gender Equality

THQ's excuse was that they were trying to simulate WWE's real life programming so they took the ability for Divas to fight Superstars in the more recent WWE Games. The only way to do so currently is via hacks or modifying your game save.

In Fire Pro Wrestling, there was an option in the Wrestler Edit menu, where you could decide whether or not if you wanted that particular female wrestler to bleed in hardcore matches or not. 2K Sports could easily add that to the Gameplay options menu to toggle Divas vs. Superstars on/off, along with the tab for getting busted open as well.

I don't know about you guys, but I was sad for Diva fans in previous years when Beth Phoenix and Kharma were playable but they weren't able to be used in the Royal Rumble like how their real life counterparts did.

#3 - Bring Back Stamina and Enforce It Hardcore

Back in WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2006, THQ enforced a stamina system. It could be turned off, but it continues to exist in the current WWE Games to this day. What I'm asking for is to rework it. To go along with my suggestion about fighting styles, each particular class should have a set base amount of stamina. High Flyers should naturally have more stamina than Giant/Powerhouses who should get winded after a few "big" moves or running around the ring.

Additionally, to add a layer of depth for advanced players, managing stamina should be vital to winning high profile matches on higher difficulties or against other skilled opponents. It should work like meter management in any current 2D fighting game (Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, etc.). Should you gamble your stamina on that big move in hopes that finishes your opponent off or should you ration it sparingly in case things don't go your way? Remaining stamina would be shown by visual cues on your wrestler - no stamina would have you collapsing to the canvas if you try to run/sprint, while low stamina would show your wrestler visibly winded (when standing still) and your wrestler is normal at full stamina.

To take this concept even further, I would like to see moves fail when your stamina is low or possibly give your opponent a large window for reversals in turn. In Fire Pro Wrestling, your wrestler(s) even took more damage the more winded you were.

At the end of the day, if casuals think this system mechanic is too much, they are welcome to turn this off in the Gameplay options menu.

#2 - Moveset Restrictions, Bring Back Fighting Styles & Abilities

In the Fire Pro Wrestling series, base damage from all of your attacks was universal in a sense. You could do your finisher and signatures at any point of a match, but their damage output was only amplified by how much you were over with the crowd (babyface) or how much they hated you (heel). This mechanic would be a bit over most average players who tend to play these games, but tend to think that other fighting games are a bit too complex to grasp. Instead, I suggest adopting Fire Pro Wrestling's Classes system in a way that retools how the former Fighting Styles (such as those found in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 and WWE All-Stars) to work in a similar grading hierarchy.

To this day, I wish THQ kept the fighting styles and moveset restrictions in the game as it would reduce the number of dysfunctional players online - at least those without the access to hacking the game anyway.

In Fire Pro Wrestling, every in-game wrestler was assigned with at least 1 or 2 fighting styles/classes. Those two fighting styles determines how capable that wrestler is with other moves in the game. For example, you want to make The Big Show a Powerhouse and Brawler? Cool, nothing wrong with that, but if you want to give him something, such as a Shooting Star Press or a Diving Moonsault, the damage is going to be F tier (meaning the worse). The WMD and Chokeslam would be A or S tier compatibility since they are associated with his moveset.

In the video above, you should notice that Daniel Bryan has an A compatibility rate with most of his moveset. Anything B or above is great in this game, but anything lower than C pretty much blows. D is stretching it if you're going for that one odd ball move, but I would rethink the entire moveset if your entire compatibility tiers are showing D's and C's across the board.

Before everyone has a bitch fit about moveset restrictions coming back, allow me to take this example further. In Fire Pro Wrestling, you were able to assign moves outside of your classes, but they were usually significantly weaker than your more compatible moves to your fighting style. This in turn, forces players to be much more realistic with their movesets and would assist in balancing out online play in a way.

Honorable Mention - Ability to assign ANY move in your moveset as a finisher or signature

There was a limit of 4 signatures max and 1 finisher in Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, but you could clip on a audio clip to as many moves as you liked. Something minor I wouldn't mind seeing in WWE Games.

#1 - CPU/AI Logic Editor

Before the WWE Games' fans defend the recent games, here me out. I'm not talking about a bullshit hit-or-miss AI slider. I'm talking about an in-depth AI Logic Editor that would be part of EVERY single CAW and in-game Superstar/Diva.

I doubt most people are going to watch a 48 minute long tutorial on how it works, but here's the short version. Thanks to the AI Logic Editor in Fire Pro Wrestling, you can make your favorite creations behave EXACTLY just like their real-life counter-parts. You want your original CAW to use particular moves in a certain situation? You can fine tune their AI to do whatever you want to a variety of parameters and in-match situations. The amount of creative freedom this gives players is limitless. On top of that, we as players can adjust the stupidity on THQ or rather 2K Games' brain-dead AI logic.

For example, I want Shawn Michaels to ONLY use the Sweet Chin Music (the one with him stomping his foot in preparation) when his opponent's damage is critical/danger while his opponent is down near the center of the ring. Yes, I can adjust the AI to do so, just by opening up HBK's AI Logic window and adjust the parameters to meet my simple request.

Imagine this, combined with the robust functionality of My Universe Mode. There is no limit for e-federation owners and simply just players who want to run their own in-game Universes. This would make the game more fun to play AND watch. If this was included in a new WWE title I would race to the nearest store to preorder my copy.

Closing Words

At the end of the day, I don't work for 2K Sports, so I can't make their business decisions for them but I would love to see WWE Games adopt these features sooner more than later. WWE represents the "best" in mainstream wrestling and it's about time their games represent that as well. 

While SPIKE's future with the Fire Pro Wrestling series looks bleak, I hope that 2K Sports borrow a few ideas from their games for improving WWE Games.