WWE 2K14

“*Become immortal.*”
―Tagline
***WWE 2K14*** is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. The game was released on October 29, 2013 in North America. It is the first WWE game to be published by 2K and the sequel of *WWE '13*, following THQ's bankruptcy and is the 15th WWE game overall.

## Gameplay

### Exhibition Mode

Many of the gameplay features from *WWE '13* have been updated. These include the navigation system, allowing for more fluid walking, running and dragging motions. Characters also move faster than previously. Before running, characters display "starting up" animations, to prevent players from spamming running attacks. All chain reversals now result in offensive attacks, to make for quicker matches by avoiding continuous reversal stalemates. Catapult finishers can now be used offensively. Some characters can launch an opponent into the air and catch them for a catch finisher. Seven new *OMG* moments have been added, allowing certain finishers to be done on two opponents, and players to interact with the arena environment. The nearfall system too has been improved, with more two counts. Few new matches have been added, though a Slobberknocker Mode, adapted from The Streak season mode, had been added as a gauntlet match.

### Creation Suite

The long-standing mode, "Create-a-Superstar" has been tweaked to have an expanded character save slot that can be filled with up to 100 created superstars. While the mode itself remains much of the same, the ability to use existing superstars as a template for new custom variants has been added. The player continues to have the option to create their own entrances and finishers. The ability to create a custom WWE championship is also available, having been made more reminiscent to previous iterations after having limited creativity in *WWE '13*.

### WWE Universe

The sandbox mode, "WWE Universe", returns, though overhauled to a degree. Continuing the previous features, players get the option to customize existing WWE Shows, bring back retired series or create their own original shows and choose the superstars participating and the titles available. The ability to choose the status of a WWE superstar, whether assigned to one show, several, a legend or a free agent is also available. The ability to delete shows is once again present, as is a further renovated WWE statistics system. The ability to reset a Universe Mode, should it get too "clunky" is once again available. Continuing the ever expanding story mode options, *WWE 2K14* offers the most control in customizing a player's "universe" by giving them more control over storylines through a new Rivalry Manager. Corroborating with the statistics tracker, the Rivalry Manager can stat-track all rivalries as well divide storylines into periods based on dates during which period the rivalry will continue depending on in-ring decisions. All previous storylines from earlier WWE games containing Universe Mode are present, but have been revamped to fit into the Rivalry Manager.

### 30 Years of WrestleMania

*WWE 2K14* features a new single player campaign called "The 30 Years of WrestleMania", a nostalgia-based gameplay mode that recreates nearly three decades of WWE history, including 45 matches, classic WWE footage and many legendary characters. Like *WWE Legends of WrestleMania* and *WWE '13*, the campaign revolves around historical stories rather than original ones. The mode features a distinct roster of wrestlers and alternate gimmicks, who wrestled at WrestleMania (especially in main events).

### The Streak mode

The game has a mode that focuses on The Undertaker's WrestleMania winning streak of 21 matches (21-0) at the time of the game's release. In "The Streak" mode, the player chooses to defend the streak as The Undertaker, battling waves of opponents, or to attempt to break it, with any character. When facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the difficulty level is higher than in any previous WWE game. The Undertaker can chokeslam the player if grappled at the head, submit the player with the Hell's Gate when The Undertaker is grounded and can appear once behind the player in an animation previously used for if the Undertaker interferes in a match, if he has a finisher stored.

## Roster

The game has 83 playable characters on Day 1 release. There are a total of 45 current Superstars and Divas in the game. The other 38 slots are made up of retro versions of current Superstars and legends associated with the 30 Years of WrestleMania mode. Two downloadable superstars, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall of The Outsiders are exclusive to the Season Pass. The superstar in *italic* means downloadable superstar.

### Current Superstars

**Superstars**

* Alberto Del Rio
* Antonio Cesaro
* *Big E Langston*
* Big Show
* Brock Lesnar
* Brodus Clay
* Chris Jericho
* Christian
* CM Punk
* Cody Rhodes
* Damien Sandow
* Daniel Bryan
* Darren Young
* David Otunga
* Dean Ambrose
* Dolph Ziggler
* Drew McIntyre
* *Fandango*
* The Great Khali
* Heath Slater
* Jack Swagger
* Jinder Mahal
* John Cena
* Justin Gabriel
* Kane
* Kofi Kingston
* Mark Henry
* The Miz
* R-Truth
* Randy Orton
* Rey Mysterio
* The Rock
* Roman Reigns
* Ryback
* Santino Marella
* Seth Rollins
* Sheamus
* Sin Cara
* Tensai
* Titus O'Neil
* Triple H
* Undertaker
* Wade Barrett
* Zack Ryder

**Divas**

* AJ Lee
* Aksana
* *Brie Bella*
* Kaitlyn
* Layla
* Natalya
* *Nikki Bella*
* *Summer Rae*

### Legends

**Superstars**

* André the Giant
* Batista
* Big John Studd
* Bret Hart
* *Bruno Sammartino*
* *Curt Henning (nWo)*
* Diesel
* *Dusty Rhodes*
* Eddie Guerrero
* Edge
* *The Giant (nWo)*
* Goldberg
* Hulk Hogan
* JBL
* *Kevin Nash (nWo)*
* *Kevin Nash (Outsiders)*
* King Kong Bundy
* Mick Foley
* Mr. McMahon
* Randy Savage
* *Randy Savage (nWo)*
* Razor Ramon
* Ric Flair
* *Rick Rude*
* Ricky Steamboat
* *Scott Hall (nWo)*
* *Scott Hall (Outsiders)*
* *Scott Steiner (nWo)*
* Sgt. Slaughter
* Shawn Michaels
* Stone Cold
* *Syxx (nWo)*
* Ted DiBiase
* *Ultimate Warrior*
* *Virgil*
* Yokozuna

**Divas**

* Lita
* Stephanie McMahon

**WWE Retro**

* Big Show (Retro)
* Brock Lesnar (Retro)
* Chris Jericho (Retro)
* Hollywood Hulk Hogan
* John Cena (Retro)
* Kane (Retro)
* Ric Flair (Retro)
* The Rock (Retro)
* Shawn Michaels (Retro)
* Triple H (Retro)
* *Undertaker (Biker)*
* Undertaker (Retro)

### Managers

* Bobby Heenan
* Miss Elizabeth
* Mr. Fuji
* Mr. Perfect
* Paul Bearer
* Paul Heyman
* Ricardo Rodriguez

## Arenas

### Weekly Shows

* Raw
* SmackDown
* NXT
* Main Event
* Superstars

### Pay-per-Views (PPV)

* Over the Limit '12
* No Way Out '12
* Money in the Bank '12
* SummerSlam '12
* Night of Champions '12
* Hell in a Cell '12
* Survivor Series '12
* TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs '12
* Royal Rumble '13
* Elimination Chamber '13
* WrestleMania 29
* Extreme Rules '13
* WrestleMania 30 Moment

### 30 Years of WrestleMania

* WrestleMania I
* WrestleMania 2
* WrestleMania III
* WrestleMania IV
* WrestleMania V
* WrestleMania VI
* WrestleMania VII
* WrestleMania VIII
* WrestleMania IX
* WrestleMania X
* WrestleMania XI
* WrestleMania XII
* WrestleMania 13
* WrestleMania XIV
* WrestleMania XV
* WrestleMania 2000
* WrestleMania X-Seven
* WrestleMania X8
* WrestleMania XIX
* WrestleMania XX
* WrestleMania 21
* WrestleMania 22
* WrestleMania 23
* WrestleMania XXIV
* WrestleMania XXV
* WrestleMania XXVI
* WrestleMania XXVII
* WrestleMania XXVIII

## Marketing and release

Casey Collins, the WWE executive vice president of consumer products, revealed on June 4 at the WWE Global Business Partner Summit, that The Rock would be featured on the cover of *WWE 2K14*.

In July, The Ultimate Warrior was announced as a pre-order exclusive playable character. On August 1, 2K Games announced a special "Phenom Edition", which will include Undertaker -themed extras, including the "American Badass" playable character.

## Reception

*WWE 2K14* received positive reviews, with the Xbox 360 version receiving "generally favorable" reviews”, while the PS3 version received "average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic which gave the Xbox 360 version a score of 75/100 based on 42 reviews and the PlayStation 3 version a score of 74/100 based on 21 reviews.

## Trivia

* The replay system was sponsored by Totino's.
	+ Surprisingly, it was served as a sweepstakes when they win one of 1,000 copies of this game.
* Two WWE Hall of Famers, Mankind and Roddy Piper, are exclusively created via WWE superstar heads.