If John Cena ’s recent move to the glowering side has taught us anything , it ’s that no babyface is immune to a bounder turn . That ’s an inevitability that I venerate 2 chiliad games are countersink us up for withWWE 2K25 .
Do n’t get me wrong . This twelvemonth ’s pro wrestling simulator is another solid offering from a serial that has successfully rebuild itself into a independent eventer after bottoming out in 2019 . It ’s the Cody Rhodes of video game franchises , go from unsuitable to undeniable . The core brawling is still strong , standout modes like MyGM are better than ever , and the roll just continue getting bigger . But the seeds of a not - so - lurid twist are starting to stab out from under the halo , as2K25teases the sort of corporate play that TKO board appendage Dwayne “ The Rock ” Johnson would be proud of .
revel the franchise ’s current babyface run while you may : WWE 2K25could be the dealership ’s last experience safe moment if new modes like The Island are any indication of where the story is go next .
Maintaining the core
do it it or hate it , it ’s hard not to honor how strongWWE 2K25 ’s core is . The wrestling simulator is still in great shape follow 2024 ’s life history - defining entry . Not much has been changed here , and that ’s for the best . The cardinal wrestling is for the most part the same as what we saw inWWE 2K24 , with all right - tune up tussling fulfil with hand-to-hand struggle and dramatic reversals . Though it could still stand to well explain its ten thousand of nicety to players , it ’s still a clean gentle system to pluck up and enjoy .
Thebulk of the changesare small ones . Players can do suicide honkytonk , the meekness bicycle minigame make its return as an optional motion , and there ’s one whole unexampled musical theme in chain grapple . That last one is another minigame that can take place early in a match that has players choose a compliance and then wobble a control stick to find a angelic spot on a wheel to execute it . It ’s a bit perplexing , and adds yet another minigame to a organization with one too many at this point , but it ’s for the most part unnoticeable and a fun fashion to replicate a more expert expression of pro wrestling that ’s hard to adjust .
The only thing that really stands out to me here is that rag squad matches are significantly improved this year . That ’s thanks to a tweak to computer - controlled characters , who will no longer break up every single pinfall they can . If their cooperator is probable to kick out on their own , their crony wo n’t get require . It make tag end matches palpate much close to the real matter , turn one of the series ’ bad gibe type around . That ’s the form of nitty spunky pinch that developer Visual Concepts is now in a billet to make since it has everything else down to a science . A game like this should get better and good with each raw debut when it comes to stark gameplay , not deteriorate.2K25has problems , to be sure , but not where it matter .
you’re able to never have too many options in a WWE 2 K game .
Beyond that,2K25does a great task of expanding a wrestle sandbox that find like it had nowhere leave to go . Intergender matches are a great addition that launch the door for direction more pipe dream scenarios . womanhood are allow to bleed in matches just as men can , which adds more intensity to those bout . Underground matchesare a fun little accession that ’s easier to savvy for cursory thespian , while Bloodline Rules match supply a minute more run - in chaos . There ’s nothing too groundbreaking here , but you may never have too many option in a WWE 2 K plot . This yr ’s entry mostly feels up to date with the product , apart from its want of Netflix stigmatization , which is exactly what you want out of these game .
This year ’s rosteris perfectly satisfactory too , even if it prominently features a surprising amount of freshly released wrestlers . The already loaded list of superstars gets a courteous extract of classic natural endowment this yr thanks to 2K25 ’s Bloodline branding . The entire parcel is themed around cover star Roman Reigns and his extended folk of Samoan legend . It ’s heavy to see star like Peter Maivia , Samu , and Haku right alongside kinsfolk like The Undertaker and Rob Van Dam . The roster finger fairly up to date with current stars like Jacob Fatu as well , and even newcomers like Penta are already affirm for DLC . Anyone that ’s missing should be gentle enough to create in the returning creative suite , which remains the serial ’ most powerful instrument .
Doubling down on greatness
Those fundamentals are strong , but they ’re only ingredients in a WWE 2 K game . The material trick is cleverly shuffling them into a boniface of modes , while still making each taste dissimilar . It ’s the Taco Bell feeler to engineering Mexican cuisine — and that ’s an liable comparison considering that2K25 ’s modes range from delicious to nauseating .
First , there ’s the goodness . Universe mode still provides an excellent wrestling model that spits out astonishingly weighty stories . My current run has Kairi Sane heeling it up with Asuka against the Unholy Union . The feud has been filled with chintzy shots and streak - ins that make it actually feel like a linear TV feud rather than a limited figurer simulation . One match end when Alba Fyre beat Asuka to a pulp on the outside before dramatically diving back in the ring to mystify a 10 enumeration and win . The next mate had her trying for the same move only to virtually have it backfire in her face . That was n’t scripted ; it was a totally emergent here and now that speaks to how inviolable the simulation is .
If I had to give an award for Most ameliorate , it would have to go to MyRise .
The standout MyGM mode continues to impress , especially with its much - take online play this twelvemonth . I still have n’t grown tired of booking my own show and managing a growing roll of egos . This year shakes things up in some fun agency too , with go home show , deal periods , and time of year - change fillip that are awarded after a premium live case ( PLE ) . The only change that does n’t entirely set down is a new advance to PLEs that plough every show into a crabby - brand event . Competing role player only get to book two matches apiece . The opening match and principal event are always reserved for sword vs. brand friction match . There ’s no mode to really ramp up a news report for those , so they just end up feeling like random exhibition bouts with no stakes on the line aside from bragging rightfulness ( I guess it ’s a fairly accurate representation of Survivor Series before its War Games 24-hour interval in that sense ) .
If I had to give an award for Most amend , it would have to go to MyRise . I ’ve long been a critic of the mode for its cheap presentation and dull storytelling . To my surprise , this year ’s drive might be my favorite piece of the package . Rather than ca-ca two disjoined campaigns like previous years,2K25 ’s MyRise severalise one singular form tarradiddle that has participant control two superstars . The story revolves around a scorned group of disrespected NXT wrestlers who take WWE hostage . Players control a red-hot complimentary agent who finds themselves in the crosshairs of the rapscallion group . In my story , I played an MMA hero who had to call in back - up from her luchador ex to help oneself get the situation under controller . It ’s a playfulness , wacky tale that play with the very real tautness among wrestle fans about how NXT stars are often misbooked when getting promise up to the principal roster .
The only classic style that feels like a downgrade here is this year ’s Showcase , which takes histrion on a tour of Samoan hand-to-hand struggle history . On theme , it ’s great . Paul Heyman leads the documentary , giving players spate of historical background on the decorated Anoaʻi menage , from the WWF days to present . What ’s a bit of a ignominy , though , is that Visual Concepts has ditched its signature Slingshot tech , which would seamlessly transition gameplay cutscenes to clips from actual wrestling account . A developer I spoke to during a preview in the first place this year mention that the move was done to keep players in gameplay more often , but that does n’t really check out . tangible footage is just replaced with longsighted animated sequences . The hands - off sentence is the same , but without the excitement of feel like you ’re playing a docudrama .
broadly speaking , Showcase finds itself in an cumbersome transition form . It feel like Visual Concepts is trying to get forth from the docudrama panorama of it and turn it into a more flexile campaign . This yr ’s screw thread full phantasy matches in between actual unity , which just makes it experience creatively incohesive . It almost finger like WWE is strain to push some revisionist history to pump up The Bloodline ’s historic impact by imagining a world where The Headshrinkers were allowed to go over at Wrestlemania . It ’s still a merriment mode with lots of match variety peppered in , but MyRise usurps it as the main standoff for those looking for a fun exclusive - player hunting expedition .
Heel turn incoming
While those modes give fans a lot to cheer for , there ’s a drab side here that I fear may turn the series into a full - on heel within the next few years . WWE 2K25is pervade with dismaying microtransactions on top of a full priced biz . I ’ve never been a fan of MyFactions , the serial ’ wit game mode that exists to milk cash out of traditionalist with gacha booster inner circle , but it ’s at least a mode I mat I could ignore . It has its fan , and I do realise why . It ’s fun to collect wrestler and shuffle them into customizable factions . It ’s not my cup of afternoon tea , but it ’s always been a somewhat polished style for folks who want something like it .
I ca n’t say the same for The Island,2K25 ’s with child new addition . The unused mode is WWE 2 K ’s interpretation ofNBA 2K25 ’s The City , where Roman Reigns has created a wrestling amusement park of sorts that players can freely explore . I do n’t hate the conception in hypothesis . Street Fighter 6showed me that an open - world constituent can work on in a scrap secret plan if it ’s implement well . That ’s not the case with The Island ; it ’s so embarrassingly depleted - calibre that I ’m traumatize 2 K Games allowed it to ever see the Inner Light of daytime .
It ’s the kind of despicable business organisation you ’d expect from The Final Boss .
The closest parallel I can think of here is a licensed Rugrats game from the Nintendo 64 geological era that you ’d find at the bottom of a deal bank identification number . The island itself is tawdry in its visual purpose , all decorated with the kind of gimmicky booths you ’d get at a rooter expo . away from some filmed insert of Roman Reigns , most of the dialogue with NPC takes billet in ugly , static deed of conveyance cards with no voice acting . In fact , there ’s practically no sound invention at all in the mood . It is eerily still as I take the air around the area between quiet quest - givers . It feels like a leak pre - alpha figure of a cancel mode .
Why release something like this at all ? Money . The Island is n’t a way that exist for players . It exists for 2 potassium Games . When I first make my character reference , I go through the mental process of assigning squirm stats to her . When I sustain , I earn that all those stats will cost currency and I ’m quickly kicked into a shop where I can corrupt up to $ 100 worth of credit entry with veridical cash . deal that PVP is a part of The Island , you may connect the pay - to - win dot there . When I ’m not wrestling match or look at a JPG of R - Truth , I can go into shops to purchase cosmetics , where I can also spend real money . Brands like Nike have their own shops here , for some reasonableness . It ’s like a satirical joke someone would make if they were trying to make fun of the video recording game manufacture ’s obsession with microtransactions .
I ’d say that you should just ignore it all together ( and you ’ll have to bet on what platform you own , because The Island is n’t compatible on past - gen consoles despite expect like it was built for PS1 ) , but there is something so profoundly misanthropic about The Island that has me worried about the series ’ prompt time to come . Even just the fact that you have to buy certain cosmetics from it feels like a feature built to prey on those who live by the originative suite , the very players who serve keep the serial exciting every year for destitute . spoilt of all is that The Island feels like it was make for fry first and foremost , with its goofy paper parkland attractions and fantasy humor . The use of microtransactions here feels sheer predory in a direction that I never quite felt in MyFactions . It feel like 2 K Games spent the last few years building up practiced will here just to pull the carpeting out just when it had won over its audience .
you could even see that in the release scheme for this year ’s biz . WWE 2K25“launches ” on March 14 , but that ’s not really true . It in reality launched on March 7 . That ’s the day that anyone who pre - ordered one of its pricey exceptional edition could get to the game one week too soon . Those who did were greeted by secret plan - breaking bugs including one that made MyRise mostly inaccessible for its first weekend . Imagine give over $ 100 for a video secret plan to play it early , having it not work right , and then pop into two modal value that are implore you to pony up further . It ’s the sort of wretched concern you ’d expect from The Final Boss .
I ’m still quite positive onWWE 2K25overall . I ’ve been having a blast in Universe musical mode and MyGM , where Ethan Page and CM Punk are having the title feud of a life . There ’s so much content here that you really can ignore its two gross modes and still get your money ’s worth and then some , but this yr ’s entry feels like the start of a villain arc . The Island is a new low for a serial that has ensure tilt bottom ; if you ’re run short to squeeze money out of actor , at least give them a good show , not the Wonka Experience . I hope that 2 K Games will take the proper object lesson from Wrestlemania 40 and listen to the fan next year . All heat may be expert heat in wrestle , but it is n’t in TV game .
WWE 2K25was tested onPS5 Pro .
