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Since Visible Ideas’ WWE 2K wrestling recreation collection hit current-gen platforms after a yr off – skipping a 2K21 – it’s been a genuinely nice collection as a substitute of a middle-of-the-road yearly sports activities launch. From WWE 2K22 onwards, the video games have been steadily bettering with good modifications and new options, and WWE 2K25 is as soon as once more an awesome wrestling recreation that improves on what got here earlier than.
Evaluation data
Platform reviewed: PS5 / PS5 Professional
Accessible on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Collection X|S, Xbox One, PC
Launch date: March 14, 2025
The core wrestling seems like an awesome combination of arcade and simulation kinds, with counters, combos, and freeform carry strikes giving every wrestler a deep moveset. This yr’s entry brings again the Chain Wrestling mechanic that was final seen in WWE 2K20; this enables matches to kick off in a much more reasonable method. Wrestlers will lock up in a seize and use a minigame to maneuver round their opponent to get the sting at the beginning of the match; it’s solely accessible originally of a bout and provides the early match a momentum extra akin to what you see on TV, versus simply going all out immediately.
It’s additionally the best-looking recreation but, with wrestlers now being coated in welts and bruises as a match goes alongside, and people who put on physique paint having it come aside over the course of the match. In the meantime, the TV-style presentation is top-notch, with digicam cuts akin to actual WWE TV.
The massive new addition this yr is intergender wrestling, permitting women and men to compete in opposition to one another. This options closely on this yr’s My Rise storyline, however exterior of that, I really feel prefer it could possibly be extra. For instance, title matches can be found within the mode, nevertheless it’s just for designated ‘intergender’ titles, which principally encompass 2K’s made-up titles and a handful of official WWE titles just like the 24/7, cruiserweight, and hardcore titles, however with out having the ability to have Chelsea Inexperienced win the WWE Championship, it feels a little bit half-baked.
Bloodline guidelines
This yr’s 2K Showcase focuses on ‘The Bloodline’ – the WWE canon identify for the Anoaʻi/Maivia household of Samoan skilled wrestlers, together with the likes of The Rock, Roman Reigns, Yokozuna, and Umaga. The place earlier editions have adopted single wrestlers, you tackle the function of a majority of the relations this time round.
This mode is introduced and narrated by Paul Heyman this yr, who’s already the best talker in WWE historical past, and his rundown of the occasions is unbelievable and retains you engaged all through the lengthy cutscenes.
Since not all Bloodline members are created equal, 2K25’s matches are break up into three classes. The same old reliving distinguished wins (like Yokozuna beating Hulk Hogan at King of the Ring 1993) returns. However for these members who don’t have any huge wins or standout matches, there are rewritten and dream matches like Tamina successful the primary girls’s Cash within the Financial institution or having The Wild Samoans tackle The Dudley Boyz.
The previous couple of years of 2K Showcase intercut real-life match footage throughout gameplay, resulting in gamers sitting and watching matches with out commentary as a substitute of taking part in the sport for lengthy stretches. This yr, 2K has mercifully ditched that and recreated match cutscenes in engine and added new commentary from the sport’s announce group. This fashion makes Showcase method much less of a slog this yr and turns it right into a standout mode.
The one actual problem with the mode this yr is the targets. When recreating matches, the sport desires you to redo sure beats from the true match, which is able to unlock new gadgets when accomplished accurately (you may play the match usually too, however you’ll miss these unlocks). This yr’s recreation introduces timed targets, which often require you to do a sure transfer or an quantity of harm. However should you don’t get it in time, it’s skipped, and also you’ll have to replay the match totally if you would like one other crack at it.
A few of these timers are ridiculously brief, and in multi-person matches like Cash within the Financial institution, one other wrestler doing one seize to you is sufficient to assure you failing it. The dream match targets, then again, are terribly bland, principally being ‘do x quantity of harm’ after which ‘now win.’
Mutiny on the Bounty
This yr’s My Rise – an authentic story following your created wrestler – is a combined bag. It’s far and away the very best storyline present in any of those modes. It follows a faction of former NXT wrestlers making an attempt to take over WWE with their new NXT Mutiny model, and your character main the combat in opposition to them. It’s stuffed with nice twists and turns and saved me engaged the entire time. However, as a substitute of the 2 gender-specific tales, this time it’s a must to make a male and female-created character to undergo the story.
Finest bit
The Bloodline showcase options highlights of many family members. However the part devoted to Umaga was not solely the very best match on this yr’s mode however was additionally a genuinely beautiful tribute to an unbelievable expertise gone too quickly.
The massive deal this yr is selections. There’s stuff that can have an effect on sure story beats, like the place your wrestler got here from (Indies, MMA) and their relationship with the opposite wrestler you make (used to this point, greatest pals) that introduce totally different dialogue. And there are greater selections, like which wrestlers you recruit to combat Mutiny. This implies there’s a much bigger concentrate on replayability too, which turns into a little bit of a hindrance when there are unlockables concerned. From what I can inform, you’ll in all probability have to play by way of the mode a great three or 4 occasions to get the entire additional characters and arenas accessible.
There solely being one story isn’t the one cutback this yr both. There aren’t any extra aspect missions, and the runtime feels shorter than in earlier years. There are ‘Dwell Occasions’ that will let you do generic fights, which even have unlocks hooked up to your star score. Assuming you get five-star matches each time (which takes some time), it’s nonetheless 56 fights to unlock every part. I can’t assist however really feel like issues had been lower down in favor of one other mode.
Right here comes the cash
The Island is the brand-new mode unique to the current-gen variations of the sport (not PC, although), and regardless of being the massive factor for WWE 2K25, it’s simply the worst factor about it. The mode performs out like a nasty MMO the place you go discuss to NPCs, play matches, and compete in opposition to others.
However the mission construction is so bland; one of many early questlines has you strolling out and in of the identical constructing to speak to 2 totally different units of NPCs a number of occasions. Plus, the story is advised through nonetheless pictures with textual content, with the occasional video of Roman Reigns. It might be a innocent, type of bland mode, however then its character development exhibits its true colours.
You create a brand new character for The Island, and this character’s stats are upgraded through VC – the sport’s premium paid forex. Not solely that however there are additionally unique beauty gadgets on your characters that additionally price VC. You’ll be able to earn VC whereas taking part in matches, nevertheless it’s a pittance in comparison with the costs of substances, main you to both grind like mad or pull out the bank card.
Each on-line match (which took ages to seek out and disconnected instantly most occasions) within the mode positioned me in opposition to the sweatiest-looking created wrestlers with maxed-out stats, so the mode can be mainly pay-to-win, though fortunately it’s not attention-grabbing sufficient that I care. I play these video games for round 80+ hours yearly, however I don’t see myself touching this mode after the evaluation.
Talking of cash, My Faction – 2K’s tackle Final Staff – returns with all the identical issues as earlier than. Unique characters are locked behind ‘Persona’ playing cards, that are both an enormous grind to get or require random drops from card packs. The brand new ‘World Tour’ inside My Faction is the very best factor added to the mode in years (permitting you to unlock a few of these ‘Persona’ playing cards), nevertheless it additionally has partitions that require you to have particular card sorts to proceed by way of it.
My GM is one other mode that has related issues to earlier than. I like GM Mode with all my coronary heart, however the bizarre penalties in 2K’s model are off-putting. Characters all have roles and kinds; some vibe effectively with others, and your matches are worse off should you don’t have the correct pairings.
However this isn’t emblematic of what WWE is like in actual life; CM Punk and Seth Rollins are within the midst of a blood feud proper now on TV; each of them are good guys. This mode has the potential to be the very best factor about WWE 2K, however the identical outdated restrictions as soon as once more overwhelm any enhancements.
WWE 2K25 is the very best wrestling recreation of the trendy period. The Showcase and My Rise modes are the very best they’ve been with some minor points, and the core wrestling feels nice with an ever-increasing variety of match sorts conserving it contemporary. However the money-hungry Island and My Faction modes – which might’t even be ignored as a consequence of their unlockable content material – maintain it again from its rightful place on the head of the desk.
Must you play WWE 2K25?
Play it if…
Do not play it if…
Accessibility
Accessibility-wise there’s not a lot to put in writing house about. The varied mini-games for the likes of pins and submissions are customizable. There’s speedy button urgent for submissions, which could be switched for a slider minigame, whereas pins are a timed minigame that may be swapped for speedy urgent. There’s additionally an choice for speedy press inputs to get replaced by holding buttons. Nevertheless, these modifications aren’t accessible in any on-line modes (together with vs the CPU in My Faction).
How I reviewed WWE 2K25
I performed 30 hours of WWE 2K25 between a PS5 Pro on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar. I additionally performed on a PS5 on a Samsung Odyssey G5 gaming monitor with a PlayStation Pulse 3D Headset.
Throughout this time I performed the entire Showcase mode (together with either side of the Wargames match), one playthrough of My Rise, a yr of My GM, just a few months in Universe, and about 5 hours of My Faction. I additionally performed by way of the primary few chapters of The Island, with a few PVP matches within the mode.
First reviewed March 2025