WWE 2K16: Release Date, Roster, New Features, Superstar Ratings and Preview

WWE 2K16 is released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on Tuesday, October 27. This year's game looks to be beefed up from WWE 2K15 as it pertains to features and options.

It starts with the roster.

Two versions of Steve Austin lead the largest roster of WWE Superstars ever in a video game. As usual, there are some Superstars—such as Austin—who appear with different personae, but the list of unique characters is still lengthy.

Current	Bad News Barrett
Legend	Booker T
Legend	Colonel Mustafa
Current	Daniel Bryan
Current	Emma
Current	Eva Marie
Current	Finn Bálor
Legend	General Adnan
Current	John Cena
Current	Kalisto
Current	Kane
Legend	Lord Steven Regal
Current	Paige
Current	Seth Rollins
Current	Sin Cara
Legend	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin & "Stunning" Steve Austin
Current	Summer Rae
Current	Tamina
Current	Triple H
Current	Adam Rose
Current	Bo Dallas
Current	Brie Bella
Current	Brock Lesnar
Legend	Goldust
Current	Heath Slater
Current	Hideo Itami
Current	Jack Swagger
Current	Kevin Owens
Current	Neville
Current	Nikki Bella
Legend	Ric Flair
Current	Roman Reigns
Current	Sami Zayn
Current	Stardust
Current and Legend	Sting (Current, Late 1990s and Classic)
Current	Tyler Breeze
Legend	Ultimate Warrior
Current	Zack Ryder
Current	Alicia Fox
Legend	Bam Bam Bigelow
Current and Legend	Big Show & The Giant
Current	Cameron
Current	Cesaro
Current	Darren Young
Legend	Diamond Dallas Page
Current	Dolph Ziggler
Legend	Fit Finlay
Legend	Kevin Nash
Current	Layla
Legend	Lex Luger
Current	The Miz
Current	Naomi
Current	Randy Orton
Current	Sheamus
Current	Titus O'Neil
Current	Tyson Kidd
Current	Aiden English
Legend	Andre the Giant
Current	Batista
Current	Chris Jericho
Current	Curtis Axel
Current	Dean Ambrose
Legend	Edge
Current	Erick Rowan
Current	Fandango
Legend	JBL
Current	Luke Harper
Legend	"Macho Man" Randy Savage
Current	Natalya
Legend	"Ravishing" Rick Rude
Current	R-Truth
Current	Ryback
Current	Santino Marella
Legend	Sgt. Slaughter
Current	Simon Gotch
Current and Legend	Stephanie McMahon & Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
Current	The Rock
Current and Legend	The Undertaker (Current, Early 2000s and The Ministry)
Legend	Billy Gunn
Legend	Bret "Hit Man" Hart
Legend	The British Bulldog
Legend	Cactus Jack
Legend	Christian
Current	Damien Sandow
Legend	D-Lo Brown
Legend	Dude Love
Legend	Farooq
Legend	Haku
Legend	The Honky Tonk Man
Legend	Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Legend	Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart
Legend	Kama
Legend	Ken Shamrock
Legend	Mankind
Legend	Mr. McMahon
Legend	Rikishi
Legend	Shane McMahon
Legend	Shawn Michaels
Legend	Vader
Legend	X-Pac
Current	Baron Corbin
Current	Big E
Current	Bray Wyatt
Legend	Brian Pillman
Current	Colin Cassady
Current	Enzo Amore
Current	Jey Uso
Current	Jimmy Uso
Current	Kofi Kingston
Current	Konnor
Current	Mark Henry
Legend	Mikey Whipwreck
Legend	Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
Current	Rusev
Legend	Savio Vega
Current	Viktor
Current	Xavier Woods
Celebrity	The Terminator (preorder bonus)

The additions that will come from the WWE Season Pass DLC only adds to the depth.

New Features

Upgraded Creation Suite

The lifeblood of a wrestling video game is its creation suite. No game will ever be able to include all of the wrestlers, arenas, championships and belts a hardcore fan will want to have access to. Fans will almost always want to create themselves in the game as well.

With that said, WWE 2K16's creation suite looks to be one of the best in wrestling game history. From the use of hair dye, to the more complete customization options allowed for Create a Superstar (CAS) and Create a Championship, this aspect of the game is stacked.

Best yet, gamers can still share their creations within the WWE 2K community.

More Created Superstar Slots

With all the options you'll have to create Superstars and Divas, it's nice to know that there are now 100 slots for your creations. Last year, there were only 25. That severely handicapped your ability to add to the roster.

If you were to use all 100 of your CAS slots, you could take your roster well over 200 wrestlers.

MyCareer Improvements

In WWE 2K15, 2K Sports introduced its very popular MyCareer mode to the franchise. Conceptually it was nice, but like a few other spots in the game, there were issues with depth. 

That should be less of a problem—if it's even an issue at all. The MyCareer Invasion feature that allows you to inject the CAS of anyone on your friends' lists returns. You'll be asked at the beginning of your MyCareer experience whether you want to have your career invaded.

That's different than last year, where the setting to buy in was somewhat hidden. There's also more role-playing in this year's mode. Your Superstar will shape his path with the way he responds to questions in interviews, etc.

Also new this year, your MyCareer journey doesn't end when you win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Your career lasts 15 years, and the object is to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Taking the Chains Off Universe Mode

Universe is sort of the equivalent to a franchise mode in traditional sports games. It takes some imagination and time to fully enjoy the experience.

If you're a gamer who digs this type of mode, then you know the developer's responsibility in the equation is to equip the game with the options and customization necessary for you to have fun in your own little world.

It seems as if 2K Sports has borrowed from their excellent MyGM and MyLeague modes in NBA 2K16 in that regard. Many of the restrictions from WWE 2K15, such as repetitive booking and less-than-flexible roster construction, are gone.

Gamers can create shows with fully customizable branding and rosters. The feud system has been reworked and hopefully will lead to the type of sandbox mode that Universe is supposed to be.

New Reversals, Submission and Pin Systems

There are some new features that are gameplay-related. 

In the past, matches between gamers who have experience with WWE games became a reversal fest. It could get annoying pretty quickly.

This year's game will give each Superstar or Diva a set number of reversals at the start of every match. More can be earned from positive actions during the battle. This is a smart move by the developers, as it forces gamers to use the reversal option more wisely.

That's generally what you see on WWE television. Key reversals happen late in matches and can eventually decide the outcome.

The changes to submissions and pinning will take some getting used to for veterans of the series. There's still a meter, but the functionality is different.

Breaking Point submissions are now a mini-game that tasks the player applying the hold with occupying his opponent's space in the meter for as long as he can. The player in the hold must move his indicator to evade his opponent's marker, thereby escaping the hold after a set amount of time.

The longer the player applying the submission occupies his opponent's space, the tighter the hold and the better chance he has of winning by submission.

The old pin meter has been changed to a more dynamic gauge that moves as the player being pinned is trying to escape. This should be a little more challenging than before.

Superstar Ratings

We haven't seen all of the ratings yet, but according to The SmackDown Hotel (second post), here's a list of the Superstar marks that have been confirmed:

• John Cena: 95
• Brock Lesnar: 94
• Daniel Bryan: 92
• Seth Rollins: 92
• Kevin Owens: 91
• Sheamus: 90
• Cesaro: 88
• Rusev: 88
• Finn Balor: 88
• Sami Zayn: 87
• Neville: 86
• Dolph Ziggler: 86
• Bad News Barrett: 86
• Stardust: 86
• Ryback: 86
• Luke Harper: 86
• Hideo Itami: 85
• Big E: 85
• The Miz: 84
• Damien Mizdow: 84
• Kofi Kingston: 84
• Sin Cara: 84
• Tyson Kidd: 84
• Curtis Axel: 83
• Kalisto: 83
• Tyler Breeze: 83
• Xavier Woods: 83
• Colin Cassady: 82
• Baron Corbin: 81
• Enzo Amore: 80
• Simon Gotch: 80
• Aiden English: 80

Quick Hands-On Impression and Outlook

I had the opportunity to play the game in August during SummerSlam weekend. While it felt similar to last year, there were notable improvements in collision detection, and the new reversals system improved the flow of matches.

Superstars like Cesaro and Kevin Owens had great move sets, and the 2K Showcase featuring Austin felt historic and engaging. That experience and the information that has been rolled out since have me eagerly awaiting the retail release.

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