You’d be hard-pressed to find a more persnickety group of people than pro wrestling fans … unless you also know avid gamers. While both groups are among the most passionate around, they’re also very apt to notice the small details that they deem need attention, and they’re not shy about letting people know. Trying to please the intersecting area of the Venn Diagram between the two, like the developers of “WWE 2K24,” seems like an arduous task.
Yet the team behind 2K’s latest WWE video game also tackles its job with gusto, which is why its members are always so excited to get each annual release (save for one dark spell a few years back) into the hands of the players. This time out, they attempted to spice things up without fixing what wasn’t broken, and their efforts were aided by a big WWE anniversary.
“Do You Want More?!!!??!” You got it
(With a h/t to The Roots.)
Since the WWE 2K series made its way back from the abyss with “WWE 2K22,” the general vibes around it have been pretty good. Last year’s edition was the best-reviewed installment since 2K first acquired the WWE license a little more than a decade ago, which means there’s not a lot of urgency to make wide, sweeping changes.
That could be a disappointment if that’s what you’re after, but what is on offer is a lot of additions across every game mode. That starts with the roster, which is always a primary focus of wrestling gamers. While the devs are careful not to make claims that “WWE 2K24” has the largest roster ever, it certainly is massive, with more than 200 characters playable at launch (and a couple of high profile omissions, which we’ll circle back to later).
Not only are there a ton of wrestlers, including current Raw and SmackDown superstars, NXT talent and legends — with a few first-timers like George “The Animal” Steele — but there are alternate versions of quite a few of them too. Want to play as the Doctor of Thuganomics era John Cena? He’s in here, albeit inspired by his 2020 appearance in the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36.
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“WWE 2K24” even gives gamers looking for more roster options a reason to play more MyFACTION, the team-building mode which feels like it’s received the least attention over the past year. New “Persona” cards unlock alternate rung attires for characters across all modes, which is a fun tweak that makes grinding in MyFACTION more intriguing even for those who don’t generally play it.
Four new matches have made their way into the game this year as well. The Ambulance and Casket Matches are somewhat similar in the sense the goal is to stuff an opponent into something and close the door on them. The Special Guest Referee Match was one of the most highly requested match types from the community, according to the devs. And the Gauntlet Match is more like several new matches since it can be configured in multiple ways. All are fun, though it would be surprising if someone’s enjoyment of the game was ruined by their absence.
The same could be said for this year’s gameplay improvements. The one that stands out the most is the Trading Blows mini game, which one dev said introduces an element of “strong style” to any match. It’s not a new mechanic per se, since so much of success in the ring in “WWE 2K24” is based on timing, but it is a cool way to simulate something that happens in a fair number of real life bouts.
MyGM has been buffed by the introduction of several new General Manager candidates and brands, each with their own power cards. Playing against the game’s AI becomes a little more challenging as a result, which you’ll know once you’ve been hosed by whoever’s running ECW a time or two. The most promising new features include trades between shows and scouts to uncover “new” talent, with the quotation marks there because many of the upper echelon wrestlers are actually WWE legends.
In the Creation Suite, there are now Create-A-Referee and Create-A-Sign options, which are exactly what they sound like. The latter is unusually timely since the return of The Rock appears to have ushered in a new era of in-arena signage, a trend that’s only likely to keep increasing as we head to WrestleMania 40.
Speaking of that milestone event …
This year’s Showcase is the best one yet since it’s WrestleMania-centric
To be clear, it’s not like playing through the careers of Cena and Rey Mysterio, the subjects of the previous two Showcase modes wasn’t a lot of fun. It’s just that the “2K Showcase… of the Immortals” has so much more to work with since it is about reliving 40 years of WrestleMania history.
The Slingshot tech 2K uses to mesh together playable sequences and video highlights isn’t new, but it feels more vibrant then ever before. There are also less roadblocks to advancement thanks to the devs making goals within each famous match a bit more straightforward (not necessarily easier) to achieve. Lots of unlockables within the Showcase make it worth checking out.
But it’s hard to imagine most players won’t want to dive in and see which matches are included from four decades of WWE’s biggest and most prestigious event. Could you quibble with the selection of matches that made the cut? Sure, but that’s part of the fun.
Undisputed or Unleashed? Both are worth exploring in MyRISE
Just like last year’s game, “WWE 2K24” features a pair of separate themes for men and women wrestlers in MyRISE, the single-player story mode. Both have good hooks as high concepts.
In “Unleashed,” you’re the face of a successful, rule-breaking indie promotion who gets an unexpected chance to make the WWE roster after turning the company down several years before. Will you hold onto your unique sensibility to shake up the women’s division on Raw or SmackDown? Or might you have to become a bit more of what you once fought against than you’d like?
The “what if” aspect of “Undisputed” is also a blast. Roman Reigns has stunned the WWE Universe by announcing that he’s relinquishing his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, and your created wrestler gets invited to a tournament to see who might be next to hold that coveted prize. But as always, the Tribal Chief has motives on his own, and not everything might be as it first appears.
What’s immediately noticeable about MyRISE is that it has more voice work from top WWE stars than ever before — including Reigns for the first time in the series. That certainly adds to the immersion, even if you’re likely to still spend a lot more time talking to William Regal than Roman. Um, not that that’s a bad thing by any means.
Bonus points, too, for some continuity between MyRISE from one year to the next, as “Unleashed” features a prominent NPC who gamers will recognize from one of the storylines in “WWE 2K23.”
The gang’s all here … almost
One of the talking points ahead of the game’s release was exactly how much some of the real life drama involving two prominent WWE figures would affect what made it into the game. The fact that Vince McMahon is scarce is no surprise, not with his scandals reaching even greater heights in 2024 and leading to his resignation.
Brock Lesnar is an even thornier case. While Lesnar wasn’t mentioned by name in the Janel Grant sex trafficking lawsuit that led to McMahon’s departure, he was implicated in it. Lesnar was clearly set to be an important part of “WWE 2K24,” with pre-release cover art picturing him beside a number of legends on the “40 Years of WrestleMania” edition.
He didn’t make it onto that cover and isn’t on the playable roster, either. Why? Reports suggest that WWE asked 2K not to include him. When Wrestling Junkie reached out to 2K on the topic, we received this statement:
We are always in lock step with the WWE on how our game reflects what’s happening in the WWE universe. Certain personalities play a role in the historical 2K Showcase and in the narrative-driven MyRISE experience, but are not available on the playable roster.
Sure enough, McMahon and Lesnar are in those modes. Sources we talked to within the wider gaming industry say our hunch on why is probably correct: It’s one thing to make a character non-playable, and another entirely to remove them from a story mode where there are numerous interconnecting pieces or to erase them from WrestleMania history.
The verdict: Whether you need “WWE 2K24” may depend on how long it’s been since you’ve played another title in the series
A good friend and longtime WWE fan asked me whether he should buy this year’s game, and while I couldn’t tell him yet, I did ask how long it’s been since he last tried any of the WWE 2K games. He said it had been since 2019, in which case I’d tell him now that he definitely should pick up “WWE 2K24,” because the experience has simply come a long, long way since then.
It’s trickier to say if “2K24” is essential if you own and enjoy either of the two titles that preceded it. The WrestleMania Showcase and new MyRISE stories are certainly solid and could sway that decision. Other additions and improvements, while welcome, don’t seem like they’d carry quite as much weight.
But then again, it helps to remember what we said about wrestling fans back at the top. Certainly, someone out there has been waiting for an Ambulance Match, and someone else can’t wait to see The Judgment Day with their most up-to-date entrance themes and graphics. That likely means “WWE 2K24” will feel essential for more people than I think, which means the team behind the game has done its job.
Pros:
- Almost every mode has something new
- A focus on WrestleMania during an anniversary year was a wise choice
- The already massive roster has a small but welcome connection to MyFACTION to add even more visual options
Cons:
- None of the new match types is as significant as WarGames was in “WWE 2K23”
- Real world considerations have intruded just a tad on the playable roster
Overall score: 8.5/10
Disclosure: Wrestling Junkie was provided with a complimentary copy of the WWE 2K24 40 Years of WrestleMania Edition for PlayStation 5 for the purposes of this review.
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