It’s a great time of year to be a World Wrestling Entertainment fan. You’ve just had the giant 30 contestant Royal Rumble and all the juicy storylines are kicking into gear on the road to WrestleMania. It also means, of course, that a new WWE 2K game is here to satiate that hype!
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Hello, Old Friend
With these yearly 2K sports games, you’re really getting the same thing as last year but with a sprinkling of something extra. Which isn’t a bad thing, as you can read in my review of WWE 2K24, they are already delivering a highly immersive wrestling experience — and that hasn’t changed with 2K25.
You have all the staples: the massive roster with competitors from the very dawn of the WWE to now, amazing animations — true to the way they move and hold themselves in real life — you’ve also got MyRise and MyGM modes, which offer weeks of gameplay on their own.
And, no surprises, back is the occasionally janky controls. Last year I complained that the worst part of this wrestling game was in fact, the wrestling. That hasn’t changed, and it has become an increasingly frustrating part of this franchise. Although the depth of the moves list is beyond comparison in WWE 2K25, to pull off these moves can be way too circumstantial.
Tabling Frustrations
If you are not in exactly the right spot, your move will not trigger. For instance, I was trying to put Randy Orton through a table — to do this I first had to lean him up against the table and then perform a separate command that would then power bomb him through said table… Sounds simple enough, but as I cumbersomely dragged my opponent across the ring to the table I had formerly set up for such an occasion, I was finding it difficult to find the specific spot to attach Randy to it.
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After a bit of bumbling about, I leant him up against the wood, and my excitement grew as I was about to pull off one of wrestling’s most iconic actions. But no, I was too close to the ropes and the move couldn’t be executed, so I had to detach Randy from the table, drag him around the other side and do it all again!
It shouldn’t be so hard to smash someone through a table in a wrestling game, but thankfully the new modes and everything else this game has to offer make up for these irritating moments.
It’s A New Day, Yes It Is!
As for those extra sprinkles, WWE 2K25 has a few new additions to get the blood pumping. In terms of gameplay, the new dynamic camera angles stood out; when watching a Superstar’s intro walk to the ring, you can now switch between the standard animated camera or a crowd cam. It’s really cool, with certain angles in this camera mode make you feel like you are in really there, watching the match live.
A third person mode is now available, which has the camera following your Superstar down the walkway to the ring. You can move the camera around like you would in any third person adventure game, really putting you in the shoes of your wrestler, seeing everything from their point of view.
Actual matches can also be played in this view, which I’m surprised has taken this long to implement. It makes it so much easier to see what’s going on and immerses you even deeper.
Showcase Mode
Even with all the annoying controls and frustrating matches, there is one thing that brings me back every year for the new WWE 2K game: the Showcase mode.
The past few years’ showcases have been incredible, taking us through the career of the G.O.A.T. John Cena and highlights from the last 40 years of Wrestlemania. This year’s showcase starts off with another iconic WrestleMania moment, when megastar Roman Reigns finally lost his title after a mind-blowing 1300 days as champion.
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The showcase then takes you back in time to document the ascension of Reigns’ family tree, one of the most iconic wrestling royal families dating back to the beginnings of the WWE.
You get the chance to play as many of Roman Reigns’ relatives, from the Uso brothers and Rikishi through to possibly the most famous man on the planet at the moment, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in some of their most memorable matches. Leading up to what is now called ‘The Bloodline’, possibly the most dominating faction in wrestling today.
The Showcase mode is second to none. Even if you’re not a wrestling fan, there is no way you can’t get caught up in the hype of this presentation. Playing out like a full, interactive documentary on ‘The Bloodline’, hosted by charismatic wise man and Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, it’s hard not to get hooked. In fact, I only intended to play a match or two before moving on to the game’s other new mode, but ended up spending hours in the Showcase, it’s just that slick.
The Island
Speaking of that ‘other mode’, The Island is WWE 2K25’s big update. In The Island, Roman Reigns has sent out a challenge to the WWE Universe, urging wannabe wrestlers to travel to his private island to compete in a series of challenges. If he deems you worthy, you could snag yourself a WWE contract.
The Island itself is a virtual WWE theme park and an absolute treat for fans. As you traverse The Island’s four distinct areas (or lands), you will find all kinds of attractions that offer nods to your favourite WWE Superstars. Unfortunately you can’t always interact with these attractions, but they are cool nonetheless.
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You create your own wrestler to compete in The Island’s festivities, and let me tell you, this came is a customisation dream. From the get go you can change just about any aspect of your wrestler’s appearance. And if what you’re looking for isn’t there, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find it in one of the many shops across The Island — there’s even a Nike store!
This mode plays out as a bit of an action RPG, with a steady narrative that sees you interacting and competing in a series of matches with other unknowns vying for the WWE contract, as well real life WWE Superstars.
It’s a fun and immersive ticket into the WWE Universe, but it does feel a bit undercooked.
Matches start out of nowhere and sometimes it is hard to know where you need to go. The interactions and dialog are mostly text based, rather than voice acted. After the spirited Showcase mode, this is really dull.
And That’s The Bottom Line, Because Fish Said So!
Just like real wrestling, the actual ‘wrestling’ part of WWE 2K25 is the least interesting. The Superstar models look and move real nice, but the frustration that comes with some of the matches is at a throw-your-controller level.
It’s all the hype and fanfare around the matches that really brings WWE 2K25 into a worth-purchasing realm. As a fan, I loved competing for a contract in The Island and reliving some of my favourite moments in the Bloodline Showcase mode. And as with every year, I’ll spend hours in the MyGM mode.
So if you’re like me and love WWE, you will love this game. 2K continues to provide the benchmark for wrestling video games.
WWE 2K25 is coming to PlayStation, Xbox and PC via Steam on March 14th, it retails for around $120 AUD.
Quest Daily scores WWE 2K25:
7.5/10
A copy of WWE 2K25 was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
