New WWE 2K22 Video Features Plenty Of Revamped Controls And Gameplay

2K Games has uploaded a new gameplay video for its upcoming WWE 2K22, providing a deep dive on the fine-tuned and overhauled gameplay mechanics for the sports entertainment simulator. As principal designer Jason Vandiver explained in the video, one of the key areas that the development team focused on was controls, an aspect of WWE 2K20 that was heavily criticized for making wrestlers feel sluggish in the ring.

Another crucial part of the experience that has been revamped is the reversal system. While previous games required quick reflexes to escape a beatdown, WWE 2K22 augments this mechanic with breakers and blocks for certain types of attacks.

"Grapples and combos don't use reversals, instead you counter them with a breaker," senior designer Derek Donahue said. "When you're doing a grapple or a combo on your opponent, they can counter that attack by pressing the same light, heavy, or grapple input. Knowing what attack you know your opponent wants to perform, can prime you on how to counter it. Then there's blocking, which is all new. If you hold down the reversal button, you enter a blocking stance that lets you withstand light, heavy, and running attacks. Then you can counterattack faster than your opponent can, after blocking."

Another option is to simply dodge an attack, using the right bumper on a controller to quickly slip out of an opponent's reach and follow-up with some heavy offense of your own. Elsewhere in the video, the Visual Concepts team also discussed dynamic animations, the overhauled lighting engine, and tweaked object physics.

WWE 2K22 releases on March 8 for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. For more on the game, you can check out a teaser of Bobby Lashley's almighty offense and a developer diary on the game's new General Manager mode. GameSpot's Wrestle Buddies Mat Elfring and Chris E. Hayner also attended the 2K Games press event recently, where they spoke to Rey Mysterio about him being the cover star of WWE 2K22. To catch up on that and more analysis from the podcasting tag team, you can listen to the episode below.