WWE 2K25 review: Head of the Table

WWE 2K25 features a roster of nearly 300 wrestlers, which include unlockables from Showcase and MyRise mode. The roster spans generations, from current stars like Seth Rollins and Bianca Belair, legends of the past such as the Wild Samoans and Andre the Giant, and the future stars of tomorrow like Je’Von Evans and Sol Ruca. Of course, there’s future DLC packs that’ll add more to this already massive roster, with Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, the Motor City Machine Guns, TNA’s Abyss, and even New Jack all teased for future release.

One of the most-requested features for many years has been intergender matches, and this year’s WWE title delivers on that front in spades. Women wrestlers can now mix it up in nearly every match against male opponents with impunity, and it should give would-be bookers a lot more freedom in building the dream matches they’ve always wanted. Want to finally have Rhea Ripley get her revenge on Dominik Mysterio in a No Holds Barred match or replicate Chyna’s run as Intercontinental Champion? in WWE 2K25, you most certainly can.

Two new match types make their debut in the form of Underground and Bloodline Rules matches. The former is a brawl inside a ring without ropes as popularized on NXT programming where the only way to win is to knock your opponent out or make them submit. The latter is the match type from WrestleMania 40’s Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns main event match where there are no disqualifications and run-ins can be triggered after filling up your special meter. With up to three “Bloodline Run-Ins” per side, this kind of match easily turns into chaotic fun when everyone gets involved.

New Backstage Brawl environments round out the gameplay additions, with the infamous NXT Parking Lot now available for your fighting pleasure, as well as the WWE Archives, which is a treasure trove of WWE artifacts. Players will certainly have lots of fun brawling on top of the SmackDown fist at the Archives like it’s 2002.

Visually, the brutality of matches are now more evident than ever in 2K25 with the scars of war being more pronounced as a particular match goes on. Bruises, welts, and blood mark brutal encounters well and should make for memorable screenshots and replays for players. The addition of a third-person camera for entrances and even gameplay itself adds a new perspective, and in the case of entrances, can help entrance enthusiasts get some great shots of their wrestlers making their way down to the ring.

The game’s soundtrack is solid and features songs from Eminem, Gojira, BABYMETAL, Jelly Roll, and Architects, to name a few. Mixed in with the soundtrack is the wide array of wrestler theme songs that you can add to the game’s jukebox so that they play in the in-game menus. Commentary remains great, with added specific lines for particular matchups a great addition for more realism.

WWE 2K25’s MyRise mode flips the script from previous editions by offering a singular story split between your created men’s and women’s wrestlers. This year sees the story revolving around a group called the Mutiny threatening to disrupt WWE as we know it, and it falls on your created wrestlers to take the fight to this literal NXT Takeover. Replay value is encouraged as multiple story branches can unlock wrestlers, items, and arenas depending on what choices you make. It even boils down to how the makeup of your custom wrestler’s personality shapes up to be. You’re given three choices of having them be a brash warrior, a comedic jokester, or a cold and calculating taskmaster. These choices help certain scenes play out differently, as a scheming wrestler might approach the threat of the Mutiny far differently than a comical one would. It’s fun to play through MyRise once again just to see how these different cutscenes play out.

As I dug deeper into MyRise, it became quite clear that the story was clearly inspired by both the infamous Retribution storyline from 2020 COVID-era WWE and 2010’s Nexus angle, but taken to its fullest potential. The addition of WWE Live Matches to proceedings, which allows you to unlock even more wrestlers – most of which are WWE 2K’s own cast of original grapplers – makes sure things are never boring in this year’s MyRise story.

The franchise’s signature Showcase mode puts the entire Bloodline in focus, as players get to relive classic matches featuring members of the famed Samoan wrestling dynasty, change history on some of these encounters, or even play out fantasy matchups not thought possible. One notable change for Showcase this year is the removal of “Slingshot Technology”, which previously inserted real-world footage into cutscenes to mixed results (largely due to the overabundance of blurring), in favor of in-game cutscenes, which makes things work out for the better a lot more.

I found Showcase’s prologue sequence, which neatly recreates the WrestleMania 40 main event as a way to set the stage for the mode itself to be an inventive way to get players acclimated to how Showcase works.

One addition that might be irritating for those looking to unlock everything Showcase has to offer is the timed objectives. Matches will feature a particular task that must be completed within a set amount of time. Not completing these in time will result in unlockables for that match not being rewarded, even if you win. And with how hectic matches like the Bloodline WarGames match can become, it’s easy to lose track of these objectives and get frustrated when you have to restart them again. 

Even with that aforementioned caveat, it’s quite clear that the Bloodline Showcase was a mode put together with the greatest amount of detail and attention. The videos between each match, hosted by Paul Heyman, add some grandeur and having the Wise Man himself describe the importance of these matches to the greater Anoa’i lineage as only he can is a nice touch.

MyGM sees the addition of online matchmaking, with up to four players being able to compete to see who comes out on top in a battle of the brands. Universe Mode, on the other hand, brings back promos, last seen in WWE 2K19, as well as adding the ability to host two-night PLEs to make things more exciting. MyFaction now sees the introduction of the World Tour, a set of matches with different rules across several locales that unlock Persona Cards of various wrestlers.

And now for possibly the most controversial addition to this year’s game: The PS5/Xbox Series X-exclusive known as The Island. Its announcement in the initial WWE 2K25 trailers was a source of divisive opinions among fans and with good reason. The Island is essentially a wrestling-styled take on the NBA 2K series’ City modes. And if you’re familiar with those modes, it’s one that incentivizes pay-to-win mechanics as you’re practically forced to plunk down real-world money if you want to boost your wrestler’s stats in a short time. On top of that, The Island also features cosmetic items that can be bought for your wrestler, most of which feature real-life brands, and all of which are overpriced with the purpose of pressuring you to spend on microtransactions to collect these items (a set of Air Jordans will set you back about 18,000 in VC, the currency used for this mode). 

Now, it’s possible to not spend any real money at all, but the payout for winning matches against AI foes and online opponents as well as clearing objectives on The Island is so woefully low that you’re practically being encouraged to expedite the process of boosting your stats/unlocking clothing with real money.

The Island’s interesting premise of having your wrestler fight to earn a WWE contract under the behest of cover star Roman Reigns and its window dressing of areas themed to other WWE wrestlers was honestly not enough to grab my attention and I just largely stopped after trying out the mode for a few minutes or so. Even putting aside the microtransaction aspects of The Island, the mode itself feels undercooked and not worth all the hype given prior to release.

Thankfully, aside from creation parts from The Island being available once unlocked/purchased (though with the unfortunate downside of being unable to edit these Island-exclusive parts at all), it’s skippable and doesn’t really require much attention if you’re not into this sort of mode. That said, I do worry that future games will make that even more impossible, especially if The Island ends up being popular.

Speaking of creation, that part of the experience seems to have less of a focus this year. While the WWE 2K creation suite remains the best in terms of character creation, modes such as create-an-arena and create-a-championship have seen less attention, getting little to nothing whatsoever. Further complicating things is that cross-generation creation sharing via Community Creations has been eliminated, meaning PS4, PC, and Xbox One users can only share creations with those consoles while PS5 and Xbox Series X users can only share creations amongst themselves. 

Final Thoughts

All in all, I think WWE 2K25 continues the franchise’s place at the head of the wrestling games table for the foreseeable future. The looming spectre of The Island and its unfortunate implications for future iterations is certainly cause for concern, but the gameplay remains as solid as ever and the new non-Island additions to the game do help make 2K25 feel like an enjoyable gameplay experience for wrestling fans old and new. 

Pros

• Core gameplay as good as ever with added QoL changes
• Intergender wrestling’s return 
• Visually impressive, especially with blood and bruises
• Underground and Bloodline Rules matches add to the fun
• Strongest MyRise story in the WWE 2K franchise
• Bloodline Showcase well-presented

Cons

• The Island is a huge disappointment
• Microtransactions in MyFaction & The Island
• Create-an-Arena & Create-a-Title unchanged
• No cross-gen Community Creations

Final Rating: 8.5/10

WWE 2K25 is now available for PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC.

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