Feels like another chapter in Smackdown vs. RAW, despite its advertising.
In WWE '12, as in just about any of the new generation of wrestling games, the look of the game is phenomenal. The character models look spot on. Every strand of body hair, pore, scar, mole, tattoo, etc. is there in detail. The music is, like always, spot on as well. The sounds have also been changed a little and it makes most slams sound like they actually have impact this time around. The commentary also returns and is as generic as ever, but you can't really expect much there. The gameplay has changed a little and now has a quicker pace to it, resulting in a faster-paced match. The new control scheme is all about being pick up and play and while it may seem a bit confusing at first, it becomes clear as day after a few matches. The new 'Breaking Point' submission system is nice, simple and for some reason really gives you the feeling that you're trying to break your opponent. The new Road to Wrestlemania has a nice, new presentation featuring a more WWE-feasible story and voice-acting from the key Superstars. The WWE Universe mode returns and has its own upgrades. Players now have the ability to edit the shows almost fully; changing which rosters are used, which belts are contested, logos, etc. (You can change RAW into WCW Nitro if one were so inclined). Speaking of creating. the create modes of the game are back and in full force with the addition of the arena creator mode.
The Bad:
The game suffers from several minor things that detract from the appeal. Despite the developers' promise that this was a whole new iteration built from the ground up, you can still see its Smackdown vs. RAW origins and it feels like just another sequel in the series. The targeting plague is back once again and multiplayer matches, with A.I. or humans, often have you targeting an opponent you don't want to or even your teammate... or sometimes even no one at all. The reversal system has been stepped up and the A.I. is extremely adept at reversing resulting some frustrating matches. Also, the window for the player to reverse feels like it has been shortened and seems to require pinpoint accuracy to reverse. The Road to Wrestlemania story mode, despite its changes, still feels like just another rehash. And the WWE Universe mode's additions, while nice, leave some things that would have been appreciated; being able to create shows on the other days of the week and a stronger, better interface. In addition, while being able to almost totally customize your matches, you still can't change #1 contender matches at all without ruining them.
The Ugly:
The game, at this point, suffers from some pretty strange bugs. Characters heads will sometimes imitate the Exorcist... characters that are irish-whipped will go running through the barrier and the crowd... characters will sometimes 'float'... 'stretching' sometimes occurs... Luckily, these things don't happen very often. The bug that does occur most is that sometimes when you pause the game or have a pop-up appear, the game will play your custom entrance themes during matches. As for the roster, there were some odd choices for Legends to be included and the exclusion of Legends we'd like to see like Hot Rod "Rowdy" Roddy Piper or Bret "The Hitman" Hart make you wonder what the heck the team is thinking.
Overall:
In the end, WWE '12 is still another fun WWE title. The updated roster is always a plus (although I don't know why they couldn't just add the new boys/girls to the rosters of the old game... guess it's cheaper to churn out a whole new game than to improve older ones) and it's always satisfying to toss a Superstar off the top of the Hell in a Cell onto the announcer table. All in all, the game is fundamentally good, but it just doesn't feel like the big change that was promised.