Great new start but still needs work.
Bad: Road to Wrestlemania doesn't give the player the freedom of last years game. WWE Universe Mode isn't very diverse in the match types it generates. Character movement in game can often cause frustration.
Ok, so I was really hyped up when this game was getting advertised. I am a very big WWE fan and I have every SvR game that came out. As soon as I started to play the game, despite my difficulty learning the new controls, I found it very fun and entertaining. THQ really did a good job replicating all the stuff we see on TV from the camera angles to the detailing of each wrestler. I've played through the Road to Wrestlemania and as fun and as real as it can be, it doesn't give you the backstage freedom last year's game offered. Plus, you can run right through each week and never know what you unlocked or how far you are in the progress of the game. When I finally did quit playing for a while, I was very surprised to see how much I had unlocked. At the same time of being happy about all I had accomplished, I was also kind of disappointed since I didn't really feel like I did anything special accept play the game.
WWE Universe Mode is a favorite of mine that i'm still trying to figure out in WWE 12. Last year it was pretty easy to follow what was going on and each show had their own diverse matches and story going on. I really enjoyed it. I was really looking forward to what this years game had to offer only to be disappointed. I don't know if there is something that I haven't quite figured out yet or if it's just the way the mode is but the Universe doesn't really do too much to mix things up. Every week, unless I go in and change each and every match, all the Universe can seem to generate are one on one matches. Once in a while I'll see a superstar w/ manager match but for the most part, it's just one on one. Again, maybe it's just my lack up understanding but that is all I've experienced so far in my 20+ hours of game play.
Other than that, the create modes are still satisfyingly in depth and of course THQ kept the WWE Community Creations which I was very happy for. They even added a couple of categories like "What's Hot" to help the search out.
Bottom Line: This game still has things it could work on (we seem to say that every year) but being the big WWE fan that I am, I am still addicted to the game like a drug. I hope THQ can go in when they produce next years game and fine tune WWE Universe to really give it a mind of it's own while still giving us room for our own little creative touch. I also hope they bring back the free will the Road to Wrestlemania mode had to offer from last years edition of WWE. If your a huge WWE fan like me, definitely add this one to the collection, if you just occasionally buy wrestling games just for the thrill of beating the sense out of someone, I would still get it for the big name wrestlers and matches that the series still offers.