WWE 2K24 Review

Another year, another entry in the WWE gaming franchise. I remember the last WWE game I was hooked on was WWE Raw vs Smackdown 2007. I remember that one for hours on end; solid gameplay, great roster, banging soundtrack and 2 years before the series got ruined with DLC and the such. As a casual fan, I didn’t see the need to get into every game, but in 2013, I decided to buy WWE 2K14. I returned it the same day.

Fast forward to 2023 when I bought WWE 2K22 for like 20$ on Amazon and I found my appreciation for this genre of “sports” game. While not addicted, I plucked in an hour or two and had fun. I skipped 2K23 but loved the demo I tried during an Xbox Free Play scenario. So when I was able to review 2K24, I was kind of expecting what I was getting myself into. And without further ado, let’s dive in.

First off, let’s take a look at the gameplay itself. The controls can be a bit overwhelming, which is why the tutorial is near essential. You can do quick attacks, strong attacks, do headlocks/grabs, block, pick up, throw your opponent. The key to combat is combo-ing your opponent with the face buttons. B button allows you to also take the opponent in a headlock. If they should get the upper hand, you’ll have a small button prompt over your head to counter.

The game is jampacked with content. While you can simply jump and do a match with the unlocked characters and match styles available, there’s some variety you can try as well. First up is the Showcase of the Immortals where you get to “relive” classic Wrestlemania matches. As one of the participants of each match, you’ll be required to complete objectives to make the match progress and intertwined with footage from the match you’re currently while Corey Graves (*sigh*) narrates it. Successfully completing matches in this mode also actually unlocks new wrestlers and skins.

Then there’s MyRise which has two different paths you can take. Unleashed puts you in the boots of a woman wrestler starting up in the indies and working her way up whereas Undisputed champ, Lazy… I mean Roman Reigns vacated the title and it’s up to you to take over. Both modes features an interesting storyline where you’ll also be able to make conversational choices (most of them unnecessary) and complete non-optional side-quests. Unleashed puts you on RAW whereas Undisputed on Smackdown. Both are lengthy and enjoyable story campaign; with odd choices such as using Shotzi, who’s a babyface, as a heel and a pain in your ass to start your Unleashed adventure.

Universe Mode lets you pick a wrestler and experience a true WWE experience as you perform on Raw and special events, trying to rack up wins and championships. Returning players will be happy to know what Visual Concepts added a few new match types such as Casket matches, Ambulance matches. The game also allows multiple people in the Backstage Brawl match type or if you feel like causing shenanigans, sign up as a referee and just go nuts.

While MyGM mode gives you the freedom to book whomever you want, it won’t necessarily go done well with your crowd. Ideally the game recommends you to pair different style of wrestler meaning you can’t really build your dream feuds. Personally I wanted to work a rivalry between Rhea Ripley vs Piper Niven but given their similar classes, fans gave it a poor reception. You can manage either Raw, Smackdown or ECW, choose your GM and build your roster. Throughout the “seasons” you can pick up new additions to your roster, increase the pagentry, release people. After each season, a new draft takes places and depending on your position, you can secure a set amount of wrestlers that are safe from the draft. You can simulate everything, or watch or play certain matches.

The game looks fine, albeit a bit dated. Visual Concepts’ engine for this flagship series is in dire need of a refactor; the visual leap isn’t much different than WWE 2K22’s visuals. There are a few visual discrapencies such The Miz barely looks (and sounds) like himself. And old school guys like Big Boss Man and The Steiner Brothers don’t look a lick like the real thing (from back in the day). The crowds do look great; they don’t look like cardboards anymore. The soundtrack is abysmal. Post Malone might be a decent, tolerable singer but he clearly cannot curate a videogame soundtrack to save his life. WWE Raw vs Smackdown 2007 remains untouched in this department. The announcing is a safe bet, but it comes down to your tolerance of the announcers. I find them all insufferable, so the game was often on mute during matches. Also some matches are set in the Performance center to silence… just like the Thunderdome era.

There are a few things that hold back this new entry from greatness. The first thing is WWE’s pettyness. During your experience, you’ll see footage from WWE/F’s vast video library, but they will have blurred the faces of certain talent such as referee Earl Hebner, Neville (AEW’S PAC); among others. Now, I agree about blurring Vince McMahon (they should’ve delayed the game to remove him completely), but given they have footage covering over 50 years, don’t tell me they couldn’t use footage where they didn’t have to blur faces out. And even using Neville as an example; the guy is now in AEW and is not recognizable from his days in the “fed”. Also: In what world does a strong attack does more damage than a chair shot?

Visually speaking, the lips aren’t synched to the dialogue, there’s some odd clipping like seeing my character’s tongue in MyRise’s Undisputed mode appear/disappear through his mask, the belts clipping through accessories such as shoulder pads. Every single character has a dead-pan emotionless face; I’m baffled that GTA V, an 11 year old game, looks better than this. The hair is straight out of 2005. The soundtrack might definitely be the worst part of this. While playing MyGM mode, the same 3 tracks would play over and over, including one of Post Malone’s songs where he sings with auto-tune with a very high pitch and it literally gave me a headache every time until I muted my TV. There’s also inconsistent voice pitch; some of William Regal’s lines sound like they inside a can.

And the last little nuisance is the lack of accessibility features. The button prompts to counter are very small (even when sitting only 6′ away from a 43″ TV) and it’s easy to miss it causing the player to suffer damage that could’ve been avoided. It’s also a crime that they are trying to erase Howard Finkel, long time ring announcer by re-recording match winners from the early days in Showcase mode by having the abysmal Mike Rome instead of the Fink. Also trying to put someone through a table or in a casket is way more complicated than it should.

While it may sound like I’ve been nitpicking, WWE 2K24 remains a great wrestling experiences that fans should definitely play. Most of the nuisances here are mostly aesthetics (outdated visuals, piss poor sountrack thanks to Post Malone), but the gameplay is solid. It does take a bit of time to acclimate yourself to the mechanics, especially the counter system because the prompts are quite small and never in the same spot on screen and the amount of stuff to play is insane. If you’re looking to have some good old fun for the foreseeable months, WWE 2K24 offers a lot bang for your buck. Yearly players will enjoy the new additions and newcomers will be pleased with the easy to pick up, hard to master gameplay and sheer amount of content to enjoy.