WWE2K24 PS5 Review 8/10 “Time to play the Game” 🤼‍♂️

Yearly wrestling games - and yearly games in general - have always had a ‘one step forward, two steps back’ problem. In years’ past, match types and modes would be added in just to be removed in the next instalment, so this year’s edition has rolled around, and I was very eager to see if we were still heading forward… or if we were about to take an unfortunate step back.

Well, it may not be a huge stride forward but I’m pleased to say the WWE2K series is moving forward. Now, if you looked at the gameplay it will feel very similar to last years’ game aside from a couple of small tweaks such as super finishers and the ever-popular ability to throw weapons being added, but largely it remains the same and as DDP would say, “it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing”. The base gameplay is good, the lighting and character models are great, some gimmicks are outdated - but that's going to happen with how much wrestlers change in a year. The matches and combat have been a highlight since 2K22, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. 

With a new game comes added match types, you can now shove your opponent into a casket, or ambulance, or run a gauntlet seeing if you can outlast several opponents in one go. Or, if you really want a change, you can don a ref shirt and try your hand at being a referee, will you be impartial or will you recreate the Montreal Screw Job? Going through the match types it really does feel large and varied. Two big thumbs up 2K! Here's hoping these match types stay in all future instalments.

Something that has also largely stayed the same is the showcase mode and unlike the gameplay, this does really need a reinvention, I’ve never enjoyed showcase mode, I find it sadly one of the most tedious things in gaming and I’m not joking, I hate every minute of it. I thought this year had the biggest chance of swaying my opinion as I’ve watched every ‘mania live since 17, been to 4 in person. Two matches here featured in the mode I actually saw in person, so I thought maybe this time it would sweep me away on a wave of nostalgia… nope. I still absolutely hate this mode and think it fundamentally doesn't work, having tedious, repetitive objectives like ‘throw someone into the ropes and hit a rebound move 3 times’, or ‘hit a suplex from the north-east turnbuckle on Sunday, but only when there is a full moon’.

I’m being facetious, but they are either so monotonous or oddly specific that they are simply not fun, and when you do achieve them, you get to watch footage of a match for a minute before you start having to do them again. The animation between gameplay to footage is impressive but it simply is not enough to carry this through. You might also notice so many thing are blurred out, refs, logos, billion-dollar former chairmen… and although I get why they all are blurred it is really off-putting, so even the great footage is spoiled. Luckily, for all of my negativity towards Showcase mode, My Rise is exactly what I want from a wrestling story mode, it’s the over the top, zany nonsense I yearn for, ridiculous fun that gets what is great about wrestling - tongue in cheek with some serious moments peppered in. I enjoyed both campaigns and can’t recommend them enough, I had such a blast and played them with a smile on my face, and joy in my heart.

Something that brings me some of the most joy in all of gaming is the My GM mode, I was one of the people for ten years screaming to put it back in. Then after years and years WWE2K22 descended from heaven and said, “Here my boy, your prayers have finally been answered”. After crying for a bit I played it and thought… ‘yeah, it’s not great’. It was clearly a base to work off and needed a lot work on it. 2K23 brought improvements and now 2K24 has made more improvements again, and I’m back to losing hours and hours of my life to this wonderful mode, the addition of trades, calling out tag teams, PLE’S actually being in the right order - it still has a few things I would like to see, like being able to choose what championships you want for your brand, but I’m just happy this mode has risen from the dead and now feels like a mode I will invest a ridiculous amount of hours into.

SUMMARY

Though showcase mode will never be my jam, the added match types, zany My Rise mode and the improved My GM mode will keep me pleasantly fulfilled for another year.