It’s another March and that means another edition of WWE 2k. The game returns all of it’s customary modes of play – Regular, Showcase, MyRise, MyFaction, MyGM – but is there anything new to it or is it a Madden-esque ‘New Rosters and That’s it’ situation? The short answer to that is NO. But is the new stuff good, bad, or even necessary? Let’s dive in and take a look.
Showcase
Showcase Mode involves a subject – last year it was 40 years of WrestleMania – that you get to relive several historic matches from to unlock hidden characters on the game. In each match there are certain tasks you have to perform and if you get them all you unlock everything for that stage while just finishing the match (usually by winning) unlocks the arenas.
This year’s Showcase Mode is all about the Bloodline, but with some new twists. Normally you relive several historical matches, going through them as they played out in real life with the real life finish, but this time around you do that for some matches but play out alternate ‘what if?’ endings for some other and playing some fantasy matches as well. There is also a new twist to the gameplay itself in that some of the in match objectives have a time limit to them, like 1 minute to hit 2 heavy combos, which adds a new angle and makes it a little more challenging.
I found these to be nice changes. Showcase Mode is usually just the same gameplay with a different set of matches and people to unlock. The time limited objectives can be frustrating, but they’re supposed to be. Also for the first time I remember in a while there is a ladder match in the Showcase – the 2017 Women’s Money in the Bank match. The fantasy booked matches had some strange choices, like Peter Maivia vs George the Animal Steele in a cage match at…..WWE Day 1, a show that did not exist when those guys were active. But all in all I give this section a thumbs up.
My Faction
My Faction is essentially a Pokemon game, where you collect cards of WWE Superstars with different power levels and play against other people online or against the computer in different kinds of matches with different requirements. Some only allow you to use certain people while others only allow certain power levels or certain versions of people. As you play an win you get virtual currency that you can use to buy more cards…..or you can just pony up your own cash to buy them the easy but more expensive way.
I got hooked on My Faction over the last two years of the game, and there have been some changes over that time. The ones for this year are that the Proving Grounds section has been changed to World Tour, and the Match Action requirements have replaced with limits on which wrestler cards you can use in each match. So now instead of needing to get 90 Match Action points, you’re limited to whether or not you can use a gold or silver card or something higher. There are also quicker rewards in each section and no more having to do 500 dives or something like that along with winning all the matches in a section. That part is welcome, now if they can just lower the VC prices on some of the packs….
My GM
My GM made its return in WWE 2k23, and it’s a form of game where you get to compete as a GM against other people or against computer controlled GMs. You get to draft a roster, sign free agents and book shows while trying to gain fans, make money, and keep your talent happy. You do this across 5 seasons and the GM with the most fans at the end wins.
Last year they locked in the 25 week, 5 PLE per season schedule and this year they made some big changes. Now instead of the fifth week being a PLE in each brand it’s a cross branded PLE where each brand contributes one match, but the opener and main event are cross branded stipulation matches where the winner gets a special power card. The fourth week in each month is now a Go Home Show where you can settle feuds internally and get a boost going into the PLE. The Go Home Show is essentially your brand PLE now, which allows you to settle feuds faster but also can put a crunch on the recovery time for your wrestlers. They also added several names to the list of people you can use as GMs, like Ava and Shawn Michaels from NXT and Miss Elizabeth and Sensational Sherri. (Maybe one day we’ll get to use Daniel Bryan as one.) The last big change is that there are fewer restrictions on using the power cards on each other. In 2k24 several cards were not allowed to be used the week before the PLE, which took away the absolute despair of having a ‘Can’t Use 3 of your champions’ card played on you during a PLE week but also felt kinda soft. Now you can drop the hammer on people once again, or get it dropped on you. I really do like those updates; My GM is always fun for me but it was time to add something new to the equation.
Universe Mode
Universe Mode is where you get to make your own version of WWE with TV shows and PLEs. You can pick your champs and book your feuds, and can either simulate or play through all of them yourself.
Promo scenes are back, yay! Taking those was a real bummer if you like to do e Feds and broadcast them like I do. They’ve also updated the PLE structure so you can schedule Saturday PLEs and 2 night PLEs, and multiple PLEs on the same night so you can run NXT Stand & Deliver with WrestleMania Night One. There remain a couple of things that I think need to be fixed. One, you still can’t copy all the settings for your game roster over to a Universe Roster so you have to recreate every tag team or faction that isn’t already set up in the default game roster. The other is that in the rivalry section still has too many cut scenes off limits in the early goings of a feud, leaving few variations for how to get a feud rolling until you’re a few weeks in.
Until those things are changed Universe Mode won’t be all that it can be, but this year’s updates are huge and a big improvement. So thumbs up to this section.
Creation suite
The creation suite is the true lifeblood of the WWE 2k games, whether you are a creator or just a user like me. Every year I gleefully wait while some truly artistic and creative people make models of anyone who is not on the game. As soon as some good models are up of Sid Vicious or the NWA guys I grew up with like Magnum TA and the Road Warriors or the AEW guys and gals, I load them up and get rolling. I’ve seen some comments from longtime creators that things haven’t been upgraded in a while so I will defer to them on that but for me it’s always been good and the scope and range of things your allowed to create puts WWE 2k25 above all the other 2k games (see my review of NBA 2k25 for more on that).
My Rise
My Rise is like My Career in NBA 2k, where you get to make your own wrestler and go through a career story where you face and interact with real life WWE superstars and wrestlers made up just for the game.
To be honest I never get very far on My Rise. No knock against it but it’s just not my cup of tea even though I give it the old college try every year.
Other Things
As someone who enjoys making fantasy matches (see my collection here), I really wish they would institute a way to run a show as a standalone card. The way it’s always been is that if you want to run a standalone WrestleMania with a full slate of matches you have to go into Universe Mode, create a whole Universe, and make it there. Or just do each match individually which I guess is fine but is a bit tedious if you’re trying to stream or put something on YouTube later. The Gameplay is fine as it always is, although there is a new way to grab objects to win a ladder match that I had to learn the hard way when I was in Showcase Mode.
The DLC Packs look mostly good this year. The first one, dropping in May is a good catch of people who recently came on board in the Motor City Machine Guns, Giulia, and Stephanie Vaquer. Last year’s Pat McAfee and friends pack had more than a few people irritated; I didn’t mind it so much but wish they had done it last instead of people like Lex Luger.
The Island
The Island is a new feature to the WWE 2k series. Based on the Island of Relevancy as Roman Reigns called his corner of WWE, it contains different sections based on WWE characters – there’s a whole place dedicated to the Undertaker, for example – and is an open world kind of setup akin to the Lego Adventure games after you finish the story mode. As you walk around you get messages from Roman and Paul Heyman and have matches to achieve milestones and get new messages and unlock more people. I’ve only dabbled in this a little but so far, so good.
Overall Verdict
I give it an A. The issues I have do not deter me from having a really good time playing it and the new elements for this version are more than welcome from me. We’ve come such a long way from 2k12 that I began my 2k journey on. If you’re a regular buyer I highly recommend and if you’re not I still think it’s worth checking out.
If you want to follow my WWE Universe, you can here.
Stroke of Genius 