Following the recent announcement of an Undertaker-themed special edition for the next installment of WWE’s annual gaming franchise, 2K Games has revealed details of the single-player campaign for WWE 2K14.

Inspired by 2014’s milestone Wrestlemania 30 event, the “30 Years Of Wrestlemania” mode features iconic ‘Mania matches and superstars spanning thirty years of WWE history. Legendary superstars currently confirmed for the game include Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Randy Savage, The Rock and the Ultimate Warrior, which gives us a few hints about some of the matches on offer. Hogan/Andre from Wrestlemania 3, Hogan/Warrior from Wrestlemania 6 and Rock/Hogan from Wrestlemania 18 will all surely feature in the game, which sounds like you’ll be playing as Hogan a lot but at least he lost a couple of those matches…

With over 45 matches set to be included, it’s anyone’s guess at the moment as to which wrestlers will make it into the game. The full roster of playable superstars is set to be announced this weekend at WWE’s Summerslam Axxess event, and the big reveal will be streamed online at www.twitch.tv/2K from 8.30pm (BST) on Sunday August 17th.

As well as featuring a healthy roster of playable characters, 2K also promises unique presentation elements to make the whole experience as authentic as possible. Superstar ring entrances, clothing, and even arenas will be faithfully recreated to make you feel like you’re actually playing a piece of history. No mention yet of Bobby Heenan making his Wrestlemania 9 entrance facing the wrong way on the back of a camel, but fingers crossed.

On top of all this, objectives will be in place during the matches which will encourage players to recreate moments from Wrestlemania’s history. Completing these objectives will unlock in-game rewards such as additional playable characters, alternate attires, new arenas, and archive photos.

All of this might sound familiar to fans of wrestling games, as this set-up is pretty much identical to 2009’s “Legends of Wrestlemania”, but there’s one huge difference. The main criticism of that game was its stripped down controls and heavy reliance on quicktime events, but there’ll be none of that this time around. WWE 2K14 uses the same game engine that’s been in place in WWE games for several years now, meaning you will now have full control over your chosen superstar instead of having to wait for a prompt to flash up before manically trying to press the correct sequence of buttons. 

As if that bit of news wasn’t good enough, several tweaks, additions and improvements have been made to the engine since last year’s WWE ’13 game. These include enhanced animations, more reversals, “catch finishers” (the ability to intercept an attacking opponent by hitting them with your finishing move), environmental attacks around ringside, and the ability for certain wrestlers to hit their finishing move on more than one person at a time.

It seems that 2K have covered all the bases so far. Long-term fans will surely be delighted at getting the “Legends Of Wrestlemania” they’d hoped for a few years ago, and newer/younger/more casual fans should get plenty of enjoyment from this introduction to WWE’s annual “Showcase Of The Immortals”. With more details still to be revealed, WWE 2K14 promises to be a blockbuster title that no wrestling fan should be without.

WWE 2K14 will be available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 from October 29th in North American and November 1st

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