WWE 2K25 Review

2K and Visual Concepts are back this year with WWE 2K25. The 2K WWE games are wrestling sim that requires quick fingers and quicker reflexes if you want to win your way to the top. If you’ve played previous entries, you know what to expect. If the last wrestling game you played was WWF No Mercy on N64, you’re in for a shock in terms of gameplay difference.

WWE 2K25 is a mix of simulation and combos. The fighting is based on attacks and reversals. You can use both attack buttons (X and A) to create combos, but don’t over do it as your opponent will counter you at some point. And on the flip side, once your opponent is on the offensive, you’ll see a Y button prompt appear over your character’s head; you’ll need to press it quickly in order to stop the beating and take back the advantage. The Y button also serves as a dodge action.

Additionally, 2K and Visual Concepts brought back the Chain Wrestling mechanic. If you grapple an opponent with B and hold the button is instead of pressing it, you’ll enter a timed mini-game to inflict (or receive; if you’re not quick enough) damage. You’ll see two circles, one for you and one for your opponent, prompt on screen. The goal is to move around the left joystick until you find the perfect spot so your circle fills out before your opponent’s in order to dish out some damage.

And as 2K announced, new features are (re)introduced with WWE2K25. Along the return of Intergender matches, there’s a new submission mini-game where you have to chase around your opponent’s slider in a round meter to escape or maintain a submission move. Players can also now jump from barricades when fighting on the outside. 2K and Visual Concepts also introduced a new, more tense, mini-game for ladder matches.

The MyRise mode is where you get to experience your own Create a wrestler’s rise through the ranks of the WWE. You’ll need to choose the gender and then the brand you want. It’s basically wrestling RPG; as you compete into matches, you’ll earn points to increase your skills. Through conversational choices, you’ll be able to dictate your path. Before locking yourself in a path, the game will warn you. Having multiple paths, is a great way to increase your replay value, mostly if you’re curious to see 100% of it. Without divulging too much, the story here is that NXT is fighting back against the main roster and you have to stop their plans. You’ll make friends and enemies throughout your story; who can you trust?

Universe mode lets players pick their favorite superstar and climb the ranks of the WWE; rack up wins and championship. The development team also brought back the opportunity to do promos (self-promos, callouts, accepting/issuing open challenges, etc…). Along with the aforementiond Intergender matches, Visual Concepts added Underground (failed fake MMA concept), Bloodline Rules (another way to say no-DQ match), and new brawl environments. There’s also a straight forward play mode where you pick your character(s), arena, rules and just go nuts.

The MyGM mode is back and it’s same formula as last year, but improved. You can go head to head with up to 3 other brands/gm as you compete to offer the best wrestling experience, earn fans and keep your roster happy. There’s also a layer of strategy in order to pull off the best cards. Not all wrestler skill work well together. Using two heavyweights will result in poor fan reactions as opposed to a striker and a technician might win the crowd’s favors. As with previous entries, you can play, watch or simulate the cards. One of the new features is that the PLEs (a.k.a. PPVs) will include matches from all brands you’ve enabled in your playthrough. To ensure your path to the top, you also need to respect certain criteria. If there’s a rivarly between two of your wrestlers and one might ask for a match against the other before a deadline. Giving it to them will keep them happy, however not fulfilling the request will frustrate the wrestler and they might walk out.

And yes. The Showcase Mode is back and this time around it focuses on the Samoan lineage of wrestling; you’ll get to play various matches with Yokozuna, the Headshrinkers, Rocky Maivia and WWE 2K25 cover star, Roman Reigns. Each match has a set selection of objectives to complete; it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the controls (tutorial aside) as they’ll push you to pull off all sorts of moves. Annoyingly enough, there are timed objectives, so if you miss it and you’re a perfectionist, you’ll have to replay over and over. And no, there’s no mid-match checkpoint save. My main gripes here is why is 90% of former stars have their faces blurred out in video montages. And they re-did commentary for all older matches and they are really dumbing down the experience due to the lack of experience and sometimes knowledge and inaccuracies. For example, during the HeadShrinkers/Steiner Brothers match from WMIX, they refer to Fatu’s jump from the top rope as the Uso Splash… something that was made up in the 2010s when the Usos came up. If you’re like me and are a fan of wrestling history & accuracy, this will make you cringe.

The Island is a brand new mode exclusive to current-gen consoles. It’s basically MyRise, but online with a bit more freedom. You have to create an Island specific character. You can walk around the island, separated in four districts, where you’ll visit shops & unique establishments such as The Arcade of Tomorrow, challenge other players online, competle quests, and also see quite a few WWE related easter eggs scattered throughout the island. All of this is guided through current superstars assisting you in your rise. The main nuisance here is the lack of map; it’s surprisingly expansive and sometimes just having instructions of where to go is not always 100% obvious.

MyFaction is a card battle like mode where you have to pick a pack of cards and then have to use the wrestlers obtain within the cards and go through matches (on or offline) and each VC and MFP (in game currencies) to be able to purchase additional cards and perks. Given you don’t actually get to pick the character(s) you prefer or are stronger, you have to play more carefully as some lower ranked superstars have lower stats. For example, I picked Jaida Parker, but her stamina was incredibly low that after a combo and a half (or whacking someone with multiple chairshots), her stamina was completely drained.

One of my favorite mechanic of the game is the ability to actually unlock skins, new characters, arenas as you progress through the game’s myriad of game modes. This encourages replayability and also offers more variety when choosing your character. It’s also annoying that they still had to go the DLC route for additional characters. I would’ve played forever and always to actually unlock New Jack (R.I.P.).

The game looks great but let’s not kid ourselves. At this level of high technology, it’s becoming increasingly harder to see huge improvements and gaps in visuals. It’s not to say it doesn’t look better than last year’s effort, but the differences are barely noticeable. Some character models are a new level of fugly (Alundra Blayze ’94’s render or Rocky Maivia’s face in his ’97 Showcase match against Triple H comes to mind). But overall, characters look like their lifelike counterparts. The crowds look great and are highly animated. The game’s soundtrack is a diverse one with a mix of rap/hip-hop, rock and metal. It also serves as a reminder as to how absolutely horrible the current rap scene is. Shoutout to 2K for including Electric Callboy. Voiceovers are for the most part enjoyable; some people are clearly not made for voiceover work as to how bland they sound.

And yes, with a game of this magnitude, you can expect a few issues. The first, not necessarily, but more of an omission, are accessibility features. While this serves as a wrestling simulation, the prompts can be quite small (even on a big ass HD tv) and easily missed. Also the prompt can be “lost in the crowd” causing, again, a missed opportunity. There’s also quite a lot of content recycled from WWE 2K24; when starting MyRise, not only did I recognize the generic CAW I used last year, but I swear to god I had a Déjà Vu experience. Also claiming that your roster features 300+ characters/wrestlers is quite the false advertising; if you don’t read the fine prints given a handful of them will come later via DLC.

Also if you’re doing too well, the A.I. will go into rage mode and pummel until you somehow manage to mount a comeback if you’re lucky. Also, I understand the usage of the grapple system, but not being able to get up any time after being knocked down, especially if your health is still in the green, is incredibly annoying. You have to lay dead in the middle of the ring until somehow picks you up and you counter their move or you finally get up of your own volition after a few seconds. Same can be said after an opponent kicks out of your pin attempt; why is my character temporarily stunned? There are also a bit of character inaccuracies. For example, the Headshrinkers being cheered at WM9 or Terry Funk celebrating a win by milking the crowd reaction.

If you’ve played the last 2-3 entries in the WWE2K series, you know what to expect, except better. More wrestlers, more features (new and returning), and a plethora of gameplay value. If you’ve been on the fence, whether since the disastrous 2K20 or a previous era of wrestling gaming, WWE 2K25 is the best game to pick up if you’re looking to step back into the virtual squared circle. Yes, there are some annoyances like DLC (I wish New Jack and Guilia would’ve been available from the start), lack of accessibility features, and questionable character/render design, but the core game is jampacked with content that will keep you hooked until next year. Question is: How can they improve on a near perfect formula? Highly recommended.