Review by: James Fudge

WWE '12 feels like it was thrown together at the last minute and rushed out the door to appease a strict deadline. When you work for a publisher who expects a new product every year, time is not your friend, and starting from scratch is usually not an option. Whatever the reasons for the final product, there’s no denying that it feels rushed, broken, and stitched together. There are some new ideas in 2012 and a much more refined overall presentation, but the sum of this game’s parts doesn’t work very well together. Frankly, it doesn't make any sense why Yuke's essentially started from scratch when WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2011 would have been a solid base to build on for this year's game.

The take-away for fans is that you will feel like a jobber - fresh meat sent into the ring to be throttled, clocked, and ultimately robbed of victory after victory - because one core component in the game is utterly broken. Some might say that the AI is too aggressive, but I’d argue that even an aggressive AI opponent can be dealt with if the player has mechanics in place that work.

My main complaint with WWE ‘12 is the new countering system, which makes even the simplest of matches feel like a handicap match. The idea behind the new countering system is a good one but is poorly implemented; instead of having to push several buttons to counter grapples, strikes, and other moves (the left or right trigger in previous games) you are supposed to press the right trigger at a certain time undetermined. I say undetermined because even though the game provides a visual on-screen prompt, getting it to work is nearly impossible most of the time. In WWE '12 the best offense is to forget about defense altogether. You’ll find yourself forced to go on the offensive at all times, avoiding grapples and strikes in favor of constantly striking, running away from and grappling your opponent. If you don't adjust the AI's countering abilities, you'll be in for a tough fight and even when you turn AI countering off completely, the AI still counters to some degree.

This is a shame, because the game also offers a new grappling layer that lets you target specific parts of the body. By holding the right bumper and the A button you initiate a special grapple that will let you target the legs, arms, body or head. This new system is perfect for softening up an opponent, and if you are a submission specialist, it’s the perfect way to set yourself up for a submission that will quickly end the match. Unfortunately, the countering system runs interference on this new feature, making it harder than it should be to pull off one of these special moves.

The deep flaws in the gameplay trump everything else that Yuke’s was trying to accomplish in WWE ‘12 and make the game ridiculously difficult at every turn. This becomes even more apparent during the game’s single player storylines (Road to WrestleMania) as you fail specific challenges and are forced to repeat them ad nauseum until you get them right. Chances are you'll eventually muddle through these challenges, but going through the three storylines (one for Sheamus, another for Triple H and one for your created character) is more of a chore than a challenge.

Speaking of Road to WrestleMania, you are limited to just three storylines and unlike previous games, there's no room for choices because everything is heavily scripted. Instead of just winning matches, the game gives players specific challenges that have to be completed in order to advance the story. The problem is that the game doesn't explain exactly what it is you are supposed to be doing. For example, it tells you that you have to beat an opponent but it fails to tell you that you have to press a specific button to make that happen (like pressing the Y button at a certain point). Besides hiding important information like that, the game often takes control of the story and the outcome of the match anyways making that beating you just gave your opponent irrelevant.