WWE Immortals biggest issue is the same issue that most mobile games of its ilk have: if you sit down and consume too much of it, you tire of it exceptionally quickly.
Of course, being a portable experience, the idea is not to deal with it in such a fashion.
You pick it up, have a couple of fights and then put it down till the next time you find yourself on a bus/train/airplane/elephant…
Essentially the Injustice Smartphone experience – or a very straight-forward beat-’em-up where you construct a team of three wrestlers which can then tag in/tag out as and when you see fit – the twist here is that The Authority (f**king idiots) have opened a portal to multiple universes and different versions of WWE Superstars have come spewing out of it… except for Daniel Bryan, who is just Daniel Bryan. Aside from his ‘evil’ version. Where he has some horns. Okay…
The Authority opened up portals to different dimensions. Because they stole Bray Wyatt’s lantern. Yep…
As you may have figured out, you spend the majority of your time tapping and swiping away to punch people in the face. Most contests quickly break down into making your fingers move faster than if you were playing Track & Field, and your adrenaline bar is on-hand to ensure after you’ve smacked someone’s skull enough times, you can perform a wrestler’s signature move.
There’s certainly a rhythm to proceedings, and chaining together enough attacks will reveal the opportunity to finish your combo with a well-timed swipe. Successfully pull it off, and you’ll feel rather proud of yourself, even though in reality you barely did anything.
Despite this simple template, developer NetherRealm’s latest is at its best when the challenge put in front of you is actually a difficult one. Every fight sees your cast of characters level up in some fashion and the game skews the experience as such, but it’s only when events get tough where you have to demonstrate a level of intelligence: making timely tags, taking advantage of your signature moves, nailing your combos.
You can’t just mash your way to victory.
It’s slightly frustrating that ‘boss’ brawls take this a step too far and spike worse than a piledriver, but it does ask that you bring your a-game… or does it?
Falling into the pitfalls that are yet to be ironed out, WWE Immortals is completely shaped around in-app purchases. Want a new character? Pay for it. What to recharge your stamina? Pay for it. Want a Booster Pack of cards? Pay for it. Want to make those nights a little less lonely? Pay for it…
Like real-life, The Big Show looks stupid…
There are ways to unlock some of this content through sheer dedication and play your way to such a dream, but it’s designed to eventually steal away some of your cash.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with such a model should you have the disposable income to support it, but it does mean those who don’t may shelve Immortals sooner than others.
There’s only so long you can bring the pain with Roman ‘Holy Shit. I’m So Overpowered Because Vince Wants Me To Get Over, Even In Video Game Form’ Reigns, Nikki Bella and Sheamus. A fighting game’s roster is often its biggest draw. Here it feels a little cornered off.
Also, and unsurprisingly, no one is more expensive than Triple H…
WWE Immortals looks great, and you can feel the amount of money that’s been poured into the presentation. Furthermore, as a small dose of entertainment, it’s pretty decent. Whether or not you’ll still be interested in a few weeks from now is a completely different matter…
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