WWE 2K25

WWE 2K25 is so packed with content that it's hard to take in. There are over 300 characters, the most in WWE 2K history, and all game modes have been made bigger than before. Plus, a brand new game mode in The Island has been added. But this quantity over quality is a dangerous path to walk, something that the NWO would learn around the turn of the millennium. An idea that starts out as something very entertaining (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan) is easily ruined if you keep stuffing it with more stuff (NWO had a total of 36 members). But is that something that the latest title in the series suffers from?

As Daniel Bryan once put it: 'No! No! No!'. In fact, the game is filled with more goodies than a promo from CM Punk. With one major exception: the new The Island mode. So I guess that's a good place to start considering this is supposed to be the game's big draw. The developers chose not to include this in the PC version for some reason, but it's there for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The Island is scissored directly from the NBA 2K series with their The City. That is, an online hub that mostly feels more like a shopping centre with stores everywhere I turn. In a nutshell, you are invited to this island by Roman Reigns where the story line is that it's a type of competition where the winner will get a contract with the WWE. You can then run around this area and play matches against other players. Follow the substandard story line or .... buy stuff!

Your created character can improve his/her abilities, and buy new clothes, for virtual currency. This can be earned by playing games, but of course only a very small amount is given. It also feels like a very downgraded version of the NBA's ditto. None of the conversations have voice recorded dialogue and only have text to still images. Also, there is no map, so if I need to talk to someone for the story, I have to run around looking in this 'open world'. However, the different parts of the map, like Undertaker's cemetery or Asuka's neon arcade, are very well designed. The bottom line is that this is a completely unnecessary game mode that is a big cash grab and extremely pay-to-win.

Something else that is usually associated with pay-to-win in sports games is Ultimate Team modes. And a few years ago, the WWE 2K version, called MyFaction, was added. The first year I just shook my head at this. There were no online battles and everything was offline orientated, despite paying for card packs to make your team stronger. Year by year they've tried to add things to improve the experience and now it feels like a mode that could just as easily exist in other sports games. There are ranked and unranked battles online, and offline there's a bunch of choice. While it still feels like money is required to have any chance online, you can absolutely play it without spending.

The game mode I always start with is Showcase, which lets us play through matches from history. In the past, we've gotten to play through the careers of Rey Mysterio and John Cena (where we got to play as all of his opponents), among others, and go through 40 years of Wrestlemania. This year, which focuses on Roman Reigns, we get to play through the incredibly successful Samoan Islands in wrestling. In addition to Reigns, they include The Rock, the Usos, the Wild Samoans, Nia Jax, and High Chief Peter Maivia. It's really impressive how these families have dominated wrestling for such a long time. Each match is wonderfully introduced and narrated by Paul Heyman. Each match is set up with different challenges based on the real matches, like throwing three heavy punches, attacking someone outside the ring, and more. On the plus side, the commentators are back during the matches and they've managed to do something I didn't think was possible, which is to have them on a level so my ears don't bleed from how bad it is. On the minus side, they've removed film footage of the real matches while you play. In the past, it has seamlessly transitioned from in-game to real footage. For example, if you threw someone out of the ring as a challenge, the character would start flying over the ropes to transition to film from the real match in the exact same spot. I don't know why this was removed.

New this year, there are timed challenges, such as using a specific move within one minute. If you win the match and complete all the challenges, you unlock characters, titles, arenas, and more that you can use in other game modes. One of these is the Universe Mode sandbox. This has had some small improvements, such as being able to have your pay-per-views (or premium live events as they now call it) over several days à la real-life Wrestlemania. Another is that promos are back where it is now possible to choose different answer options for different branches on the promo tree.

That said, content is plentiful because I still have two game modes to mention: MyGM and MyRise. The former was something that gamers had been asking for since WWE Smackdown Vs Raw in 2008. It made a return in WWE 2K22, but was somewhat of a disappointment with how little content it had. Three years later, they're on the right track. Finally, there is the option for online co-op. You and three friends (or enemies) can play against each other to try and book the best shows. Book matches, try to keep the wrestlers happy, and get more fans than the others. This year is probably the year I've had the most fun with this, even if it's only against computer-controlled opponents, since the Smackdown vs Raw series. MyRise, on the other hand, is the game's story mode and this year the two different storylines depending on whether you play as a woman or a man have been merged and both genders, and your created characters, are now part of the same story where a mysterious gang is trying to take over the company by harming its stars. It's up to you to make sure the good guys win. CM Punk, who returned last year as DLC, has a big role, and as one of the best promo guys in wrestling, that's always a welcome addition.

But all these modes would be forgotten if the matches weren't fun to play. Then it's a good thing that the fights themselves are fantastic. Inside the ring, there is so much entertainment to be had. The new focus on giant, very big, characters is welcome. Andre the Giant, Yokozuna, Nia Jax and the like start the fights with an extra heel counter. A shield, basically. A lot of attacks don't work on them either and running into a behemoth with a smaller person is like running straight into a brick wall. You're the one who's going to get knocked on your arse, not the massive opponent. Eventually, this wall wears down and they can be hurt in the usual ways too. It may seem a little too powerful, but as a counterbalance, these characters can't do the more gymnastic things, like diving from the top of the corner, among other things. This, along with some new match types, like the Underground where the ring has no ropes and the Bloodline Match, where it's one-on-one, but where three teammates can be called in for help makes it feel like progress has been made.

Perhaps the biggest improvement of all in this year's version is the ability to use a free camera as the wrestlers walk down the ramp during their introduction. If you play a lot of matches with the same character, it can feel a bit repetitive, but now you can spin the camera 360 degrees around the character or zoom in and out. This provides completely new angles we don't normally see. Something we don't usually see either, especially in today's WWE are intergender matches, that is, matches between men and women. However, this is added in this year's version, if you want to kick Dominik Mysterio's arse as Rhea Ripley.

Unfortunately, the game is plagued with some small problems that I'm starting to doubt they'll ever fix. The title belts still hover a few inches above the shoulder when wearing the belt there, and are like a ring a bit out from the waist if the belt is there instead. The hair physics can really be laughable where it goes through clothing or the body. And things like ring ropes or weapons can get stuck on the characters. These are things that the series has had as problems for many years. Overall though, the game looks very good, with some people getting better models in the game than others, and the soundstage is nothing to complain about.

2K has really picked itself up from the fiasco that was WWE 2K20. I've barely recovered, five years later. It was so disastrous that they didn't even release a game the following year. From the return with WWE 2K22, year after year they have improved the series and WWE 2K25 is probably the best game in the history of the series. The matches are as phenomenal as AJ Styles and all game modes have received some type of update. The completely unnecessary addition of The Island, which is a worse The City copy from NBA 2K, and which is more a shopping centre with a little wrestling than the other way around, unfortunately pulls down the overall impression.