IGN Offers First Hands-on Preview of WWE 2K15 Video Game Featuring CM Punk

The first WWE video game under the 2K license came out last October with WWE 2K14. The 2K elements were there, but the company had not really been able to sink its teeth into the franchise due to the complications with THQ. This year, WWE 2K15 should provide a much different experience, and IGN has offered a first hands-on preview of the new installment in the series.

Firstly, the site reports the team has taken the game more in the direction of a "wrestling sim" and that the one word to describe the game is "different." Little details have changed, such as the height of the ropes, but the developers have also made some larger mechanical changes to more accurately reflect the action fans see on television.

You cannot, for example, simply run up to your opponent right after the bell rings and plant them with a spinebuster right off the bat, because real WWE matches don't work that way. Instead, the matches now feature a chain wrestling system complete with collar-and-elbow tie-ups in which you jockey for position and then deliver some blows to your opponent once you gain the advantage.

There is also a new stamina system, which prevents the annoying habit of players to just sprint around for an entire match to avoid attacks. If you try that in WWE 2K15, you'll wind up gassing your wrestler and be unable to throw a punch with any strength behind it for the rest of the match. This attention to detail has been lacking from the franchise for a while, but it seems the developers have taken the care to get it right this time.

IGN also notes the game's makers captured animations in a full, regulation-sized ring to properly recreate the wrestlers' scale compared to their surroundings, how fast wrestlers hit the ropes off an Irish whip and how they climb the turnbuckle. "All these subtle things that have been wrong for so long are finally right, and while no one thing truly pops, the sum of it all is a more believable match, the site reports."

Fans who have been following the news on the game likely heard about the 2K Showcase mode, which will allow fans to play 33 matches in two great rivalries from WWE history. The choices, however, are not what one might expect.

Rather than the usual Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon rivalry or Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels or Stone Cold vs. The Rock, all of which have been done to death, 2K and company went with Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels from 2002 to 2004 and John Cena vs. CM Punk from 2011 to 2013.

Yes, this confirms CM Punk is not just in the game, but prominently featured. One wonders if that has anything to do with this tweet he sent out around the time of the press release that revealed this news.

Of course, Chris Benoit, who tragically killed his wife and child before he took his own life, was a significant part of the HHH-HBK rivalry, as he won the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 20 in a Triple Threat Match with both men. We're more likely to see rain start falling upside down than we are to see WWE put Benoit in one of its video games, so it remains to be seen how this story mode deals with (or more likely, completely avoids) him. Those behind the game simply offered a "no comment at this time" when asked about Benoit.

The company did say, though, that more rivalries might become available through downloadable content after the game's release, which opens up a host of possibilities.

For more about WWE 2K15, head over to IGN. But for now, let us know your preliminary thoughts about the game in the comments below.