WWE ’13 – Review

THQ’s WWE ’13 brings back the Attitude Era, letting players relive some of the most famous moments in professional wrestling history, from the rise of D-Generation X to the rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon. While accessible to newcomers, the game is largely a tribute to fans who lived through the Attitude Era and have followed the WWE games series every year since. Alongside the returning Universe mode, which now allows a full reset if a save gets out of hand, the roster combines Attitude Era legends with current-day superstars for the largest lineup in the series’ history.

The centerpiece is the Attitude Era mode itself, split into six chapters covering different stretches of that period, starting with the emergence of D-Generation X and continuing through Stone Cold’s story and the Brothers of Destruction, among others. More than 60 matches make up the mode, interspersed with cinematics and background text that set the stage before each bout. Before each match, players are given a main objective, usually just winning, plus optional historical objectives tied to real WWE moments, such as hitting Mankind with a chair thirteen times during the 1999 Royal Rumble “I Quit” match, or recreating the Undertaker’s Hell in a Cell throw of Mankind from 1998’s King of the Ring. Completing the historical objectives isn’t required to progress but unlocks rewards. Finishing every chapter opens an “off script” chapter of additional Attitude Era matches, along with a ratings timeline and video/photo archives of unlocked content.

THQ’s creation suite returns in full, letting players build superstars, entrances, move-sets, finishers, storylines, arenas, logos and highlight reels, then upload them to Xbox Live for others to download, rate, and even edit with the original creator’s permission. New this year is the ability to correct or refine someone else’s community creation.

Not everything lands cleanly: quick time events and the reversal system were cited as weak points, with reversal timing described as inconsistent and hard to read, and the CPU reversing moves too easily at times. Audio issues also crop up, including inconsistent volume levels and a dropped word during Zack Ryder’s entrance, along with occasional unexplained camera cuts and some clipping/detection glitches. None of these issues were said to significantly detract from the overall experience.

Universe mode adds scheduling control over shows, presentation options, pay-per-view creation, over 200 new storyline feuds, customizable championship rankings, and the ability to wipe and restart a universe entirely. Online play includes standard match search/creation, a “fair fight” option limiting participants to the standard roster, and connection-strength filtering; server stability, a problem in the previous year’s game, was reported as improved.

WWE ’13 was scored 8 out of 10, with the review calling the Attitude Era the game’s main selling point and recommending it especially to longtime wrestling fans. The title released for Xbox 360 on October 30, 2012, developed and published by THQ.

The Attitude Era itself remains one of the most frequently referenced stretches of professional wrestling history, running roughly from the late 1990s into the early 2000s and built around the edgier storylines and larger-than-life characters that helped push the promotion’s popularity to new heights during that period. Building a mode specifically around it gives WWE ’13 a different focus than a typical yearly roster update, leaning on nostalgia for players who followed wrestling through that stretch while still offering the current-day roster and Universe mode for those more interested in an ongoing, present-day simulation.