WWE 2K25 Review (PS5) – It’s that time of year again for 2K Games and Visual Concepts‘ annual WWE game, and at this point, I think it’s fair to say that drastic changes aren’t expected, but rather; refinement, and incremental steps toward the perfect formula for a wrestling simulator are.
With the increased challenge of implementing significant new ideas, the pressure falls more on the finer details, and as such; comparisons to beloved older entries of the franchise will be made. While those positive tweaks are present in WWE 2K25, there have also been some missteps, and definitely some unforced errors. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
WWE 2K25 Review (PS5) – Evolution Is A Mystery
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
While the vast majority of the gameplay remains the same as last year, there is a lot of fine tuning that has improved the bell to bell wrestling. Mechanics such as chain wrestling, trading blows, and rolling pin sequences all add another layer of realism, that I don’t tire of whenever I have to partake in them during any match.
These gameplay elements are mainstays in wrestling psychology, and I am very happy to see them return. Additionally, the CPU AI has improved to further bolster not just these aspects, but the wider simulation.
Seeing a superstar back up from its opponent’s limp body in the turnbuckle, to get a running start, and take momentum into their running move set is a real nice touch. The first time I saw it, I had to record the gameplay to make sure that’s exactly what was happening.
in WWE 2K24 we saw the developers add new match types such as special guest referee, ambulance, casket, and gauntlet matches. This year Visual Concepts has included even more impressive features.
First up is the The Bloodline Rules match, which fits the Bloodline focus of this year’s entry. This is effectively a NO DQ match that allows for a total of six run-ins, that are each acquired by filling a meter and spending it. Visual Concepts has also added the Underground Match, which removes the ropes to the ring, where a crowd of NPCs will occupy the space surrounding the squared circle. The gameplay in this mode has subtle, contextual changes on top of that.
Notably, the most significant inclusion are the intergender matches. Intergender matches seem to be a primary focus in WWE 2K25, which are available in every form of match and stipulation. The development team even goes as far as building the entire My Rise campaign around it, and introduce Intergender Championship belts.
The Cult Of Personality
With My Rise heavily focusing on intergender wrestling this year, that paves the way for some significant differences. In the years gone by, you would usually be expected to create one character for each campaign – both male and female superstars.
However, in this version you will need both for one singular campaign. At key intervals you will have to choose between diverging paths, which does allow for replayability. Unlockable wrestlers, attires and other such customization is locked behind multiple avenues, so if you want everything, you will find yourself replaying it a lot. Generally speaking, the unlockable content is spread far too thin across all modes.
This year’s My Rise is full of twists and turns that kept surprising me, and I’ve seen a lot of wrestling, so I think fellow wrestling fans will enjoy it as much as I did.
As a big fan of the Second City Saint, I was very happy to see CM Punk play a prominent role throughout the entirety of that story. I particularly enjoyed how it occasionally leans into the real rivalry between Punk and Drew McIntyre. In fact that’s a very fun recurring theme throughout other modes too.
Other modes have seen improvements such as My Gm, which allows you to play the role of a booker as they try to successfully plan your own wrestling shows. The biggest thing this mode was missing last year was online multiplayer, which I’m happy to report, has now been added. Plenty of other general managers are available now on top of that, including CM Punk, however, he is not available in the draft as a wrestler.
This mode still stands out as one of my favorites. The other aspect I would like to see is more flexibility in the booking itself. Pairing certain types such as brawlers and fighters, giants and cruisers, should be more of a bonus than something that is essentially required to beat the other GM’s.
The Island Of Irrelevancy
When it comes to modes, there is a big new addition this year. That mode being The Island. Based upon Roman Reigns’ Island of Relevancy which I had never considered was a literal island, until now. This basically sees you taking part in random bouts against both known wrestlers and random creations, leveling up your attributes, and grinding for currency to buy wrestling gear.
The Island is more or less The City from the NBA 2K games. You can even buy a pair of Jordans, maybe, if you want to grind away for currency in a fairly soulless mode, that is only brought to life by the Original Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns and his wiseman; Paul Heyman. Most importantly, you can buy Seth Rollins‘ big red boots.
I enjoyed the layout, somewhat. It was fun seeing all of the references such as The Arcade Of Tomorrow for example. Although, I’m unsure why Roman would allow any sort of Cody Rhodes- themed construction on his island. Beyond that, the fact it requires a third character to be created was quite frustrating.
Speaking of the Wiseman, the Hall of Famer plays a significant role of orator in the Showcase Mode, which naturally, focuses on the Bloodline as its subject matter. It may be redundant at this point, but Heyman is pretty much unrivaled when it comes to what he does. Heyman does a superb job of telling you the history of this legendary wrestling family, as if he’s cutting a full-blooded promo on any given Monday or Friday night.
While I usually quite like these trips down memory lane in the Showcase mode, there is certainly a handful of frustrating objectives, that usually come with time limits. Specifically, the Money In the Bank, the Tamina section is teeth-gratingly annoying.
This would usually be the part of the review where I talk about how much I dislike the My Faction mode. Which is still true, only now they’ve locked attires and characters behind this slog of an experience, forcing you into its Ultimate Team knock off. It is just a mode that I don’t enjoy, and out of all them, The Island included, is the one in need of a drastic overhaul. You can YEET this mode all the way out of here.
Bumps And Bruises
There are certainly some graphical upgrades, particularly in regards to certain characters to make them look less like wax models and more human. While I would say that is mostly the case, there are some that don’t look quite right. Unfortunately, longer hair and the physics that come with it continue to remain an issue.
Notably, there are improvements that will grab your attention. As the match progresses and superstars continue to take bumps, you’ll notice bruises forming on their body. The newly added directors camera is also surprisingly very cool. It’s always these finer touches that I really appreciate, and the overall presentation remains one of the WWE 2K franchise’s stronger attributes.
When I first loaded up the game, the commentary was drowned out by everything else quite significantly. I would recommend heading straight to the audio settings if you notice that, as I did. On top of that, there have been an array of glitches. The most frustrating was the game repeatedly quitting back to PlayStation home screen during character creation, potentially losing all of your customization up until that point.
Overall, WWE 2K25 is a quality experience, in large part because of its core gameplay, which is always king. There are more good modes than mediocre or bad ones, and with continuous evolutions on animations and presentation, there is still plenty to appreciate.
Inversely, that same evolution is not always found elsewhere. Modes such as The Island are not a step in the right direction and comes off as forcing NBA 2K’s The City into a wrestling framework, with the end goal of repeat purchases via micro transactions.
Taking meaningful steps in annualized franchises becomes increasingly more difficult with each iteration. WWE 2K25 is still a great game, it’s just in this year’s case, it’s one step forward and two steps back.
WWE 2K25 is out now on PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.