WWE '12

What THQ has done here serves its audience spectacularly. WWE '12 retains and improves upon the already-great presentation of its predecessors, capturing a likeness of wrestling that is uncanny. And it plays just as well as it looks. This should be considered a milestone for the wrestling simulation genre. It's certainly a much-needed breath of fresh air.

WWE '12 is the best game of the series. It is the more polished and a very solid base for a new wrestling franchise to be built upon.

One of the most feature-rich games on the market. [Jan 2012, p.82]

SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 was an ugly bastard. The graphical engine behind WWE '12 is much more evolved. The highly detailed wrestlers are a sight for sore eyes. There are some problems with clipping however. Arms that move through heads for example. [January 2012, p.80]

WWE 12 is yet again a great fighting game, but the game suffers a bit from some annoying bugs, visual mediocrity and repetitive gameplay. If you're a fan however, don't hesitate: there's enough content here to keep you busy until next year's outing.

With a greater sense of gameplay fun than ever before and a true evolution in controls, WWE '12 is an excellent wrestling game, but visual inconsistency and its overabundance of DLC hamper the game experience as a hole and hold it back from truly being a Great One.

WWE '12 is a step in the right direction. Yuke's implementation of a limb-targeting system adds a satisfyingly-strategic twist to the usual brawl and is accompanied by passable visuals and great sound. Loads and loads of content make this title worth every dollar spent on it.

WWE 12 is an excellent wrestling game with an enormous amount of depth. Matches are exciting, the presentation is great and there are enough extras and customisation tools to keep fans continually entertained. It's remarkable that even with the poorly-executed Road To Wrestlemania mode, WWE 12 still has enough about it to see us through to next year.

Still, the actual wrestling is terrific, and breathes new life into WWE gaming.

The best THQ-made WWE game to date, but there's still room for improvement. Regardless, fans of professional wrestling are sure to have hours upon hours upon hours of fun with WWE '12.

WWE '12 is one of the best wrestling games made, period. Each year THQ tops the previous performance – but this year they've really improved the creation and storyline elements to where the rebranding of the game feels appropriate. The game isn't without missteps, however.

At the end of the day, WWE '12 gives fans exactly what they want: a cohesive and fun wrestling game. There aren't a whole lot of different ways to do that.

Finally significant progress has been put into place, as the game's backbone is starting to feel sturdy enough to carry the weight of expectation.

It's a series that needs a lot of work and WWE'12 is the first step towards something that could be great. While it's nothing drastically different from what it was in the past, this game is still improving on a franchise that could have just as easily repeated itself into oblivion. The improvements made here aren't perfect but it manages to set the ground work for something great in the future and helps make this game stand out among its predecessors.

Falling back into an old style of controls, WWE '12 is streamlined and technical, but its baiting "Predator Technology" needs to shake its ring rust.

WWE '12 is the game of the big changes. Yuke's and THQ are doing a good job trying to innovate the franchise, working hard on the gameplay side. The Road to WrestleMania is quite disappointing, but the new combat system works pretty well. Next year everything will be better, but meanwhile you can enjoy this brand new wrestling game.

Quotation forthcoming.

Even though some things need to be tightened up, WWE '12 shows that the video game side of the franchise is still improving.

I didn't expect to be blown away by WWE 12, but I also didn't expect to be so disappointed by the final game. While the virtually limitless possibilities of Universe 2.0 do give the game an incredible amount of replayability, the questionable AI and disappointing second version of Road to Wrestlemania leave much to be desired.

As awkward as "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan wrestling today, WWE 12 delivers but a fraction of the changes it needed. [Christmas 2011, p.95]

All Stars proved that simple ideas could create a pick-up-and-play WWE title without sacrificing depth for the hardcore, and WWE 12 would have done well to learn from its arcade-focused cousin.

After a few years of steady improvements, WWE '12 marks the end of that era by delivering the worst overall game in years. It does a few new things relatively well, but really messes up some things that were done very well before, like the Road to WrestleMania mode, backstage fighting and the object interaction from last year's game.

WWE 12 is a reboot for the brand, but doesn't add and improve enough on the Smackdown series. In the end, it's still too poorly animated and just not that entertaining to play.

You have to give Yuke's credit for aiming high. The wealth of content and customisation options on offer is absolutely staggering and wrestling fans that wish to ignore the game's main campaign mode will certainly find plenty to entertain them here. WWE 12, however, isn't in the same league as the series' high-water marks. It is the nucleus of what could be a great game.

WWE '12 only introduces a few welcome elements. Setting up opponents for finishers with wake-up taunts is fun, the new comeback moments are a nice way of getting back into the match, players can now target specific limbs during grapples, and new creation options (like the new create-an-arena) make the series more customizable than ever before. However, none of these can make up for the awful Road to Wrestlemania.

Another year, another exercise in abject mediocrity, another Yuke's WWE Game. [Issue#212, p.96]