WWE 2K24 review – finally a main eventer but not quite championship material
WWE games are continuing the hot streak for the franchise that kicked off after the series went on hiatus in 2020. WWE 2K24 delivers another solid entry in the rasslin’ series that continues to improve on the formula.
It's been mostly uphill for WWE 2K since the disastrously received WWE 2K20 sent the developers back to the drawing board, skipping 2021 entirely as a result. But since its triumphant return with WWE 2K22, Visual Concepts has finally been delivering what fans deserve – especially after putting up with the absolute mid entries like 2K17, 2K18, and the so-bad-it-caused-a-hiatus 2K20. This year is no different, with WWE 2K24 continuing to build on the momentum of its success by including some absolutely essential additions to help the available match types stand up to the series' peak with PS2 entries like Here Comes the Pain and Smackdown vs Raw 2006.
Returning this time around are Casket match, Ambulance match, and – my personal favourite – Special Referee match. Casket matches make their return for the first time since Smackdown 2 on the PS1, and while the match type isn't anywhere near as prominent on WWE programming as it was then, it's a fun match to throw in there. Ambulance match is functionally very similar to the casket, both involve throwing someone into something and mashing a bar to get them down.
These elaborate gimmick matches are cool, but the real highlight of 2K24 is the return of Special Referee matches. A match in which a player can take on the role of a ref and call the bout however they please. You can be as legit as possible and call things straight down the middle, or you can take things into your own hands if a wrestler pisses you off during a bout. However, the introduction of the Referee Gauge prevents you from abusing your power and wrecking the match. It's a great match type, but there is something to be said for this series bringing back content from earlier entries to market as new additions, with the Special Referee appearing as recently as WWE 2K14.
Something that really stood out to me in this year's entry are all the new small touches, like changing the camera to face the ramp, being allowed to throw weapons, or being able to have your wrestler pull down the straps of a singlet, like Kurt Angle and The Undertaker would do during the climax of an intense match. These may not improve the game majorly, but little touches like this make things that more immersive.
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Showcase of the immortals
Speaking of WWE 2K14, we’re now a decade on from the title’s '30 Years of Wrestlemania' 2K Showcase (a historical mode that has you relive iconic matches from WWE interspersed with footage from the matches), and WWE 2K24’s marquee mode is celebrating having another 10 years under its belt with a '40 Years of Wrestlemania' edition.
And truth be told, this mode felt like a bit of a missed opportunity in places. Especially compared to last year's John Cena losses Showcase, which was the best version of Showcase since the Daniel Bryan edition in 2K19.
2K14's edition had at least one match from every single Wrestlemania up until that point over the course of 47 matches; by comparison, 2K24 has 21 matches total which can be seen as a downgrade. Now to 2K24's credit, these are far more elaborate than the ones found in the original, but a handful of match choices here feel like wasted potential. Some of the most iconic matches in Wrestlemania history are included, of course, like Hogan/Andre, Shawn/Razor, and Austin/Hart, but then there are the more questionable choices; Orton/Rollins at Wrestlemania 31, Rude/Warrior at 5, and Hart/Piper at 8, while the latest event – Wrestlemania 39 – gets three matches on its own. This leads to some iconic figures like Triple H and Batista to be completely absent from the mode. It goes the other way too however, with some banger matches like Angle/Guerrero, and Shawn/Taker 1 being included after their shocking absence last time.
2K Showcases' biggest issue historically has been how often it takes control away from the player to throw up clips from the original matches (sans commentary, so you're left with silence and some generic music). While WWE 2K24 isn’t the worst offender overall, it does have the absolute worst instance by far in the series’ history: WWE 2K24’s Stone Cold vs The Rock at Wrestlemania 17.
While this is one of the most beloved main events ever, you spend the majority of the match not touching the controller. There’s around two minutes of gameplay followed up by a good five to eight minutes of watching match footage.This is 2K Showcase’s biggest downfall; the build up, commentary, and post-match breakdown are all great but the balance between gameplay and archival footage hasn’t found its footing yet.
The original MyRise campaign returns again this year, and features two storylines – Undisputed for the male player-created character, and Unleashed for the female option. Undisputed has you fluke your way into a WWE Universal Championship reign after Roman Reigns vacates the title – ending his historic run. Unleashed tells the classic 'worked your way up from the indies' storyline which I’ve yet to dig into.
MyRise doesn’t shake up the tried-and-tested formula we’ve seen over the course of the series,and is decent enough fun to play through, even if the writing is a bit unrealistic – the Undisputed protagonist would be absolutely hated by WWE fans considering he seems incapable of losing a match.
And millions
You'll be able to finish the story in WWE 2K24's two MyRise campaigns (2K)One thing you can almost always count on in WWE games is the best-in-class creation suite, and it continues to hold that title. All the classics return like Create a Superstar, Arena, and Title. But the new Create a Sign feature – which has been a glaring absence in the series – has finally made its debut. At long last, you can have a crowd hold up unique signs for your created wrestler instead of the generic 'the guy behind me can't see' signs.
MyGM mode returns once again, and while it's getting better with every entry, there's still some growing pains that don't quite make it as memorable or fun as the original versions of GM mode in the PS2 Smackdown vs Raw games.
The mode is played through in kayfabe (aka, wrestling isn't staged; you're playing as a character within the storyline too), meaning that you can't book rivalries or choose who wins each match, which can in-turn derail any storyline plans. The mode also places each wrestler into classes which affects how matches are rated; putting two heel bruisers against each other – something that happens on WWE programming often – will bring in a low rating, for example, which still feels severely limiting three games in. This is especially frustrating for the women's roster, where there's an abundance of ‘Cruisers’ but a severe lack of ‘Giants’, making it hard to follow the tutorial’s recommendation to pair the two opposing classes together for a good rating.
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Sadly, the mode is still only available for local play, despite online GM mode feeling like an easy slam dunk for the multiplayer suite. Actually, this entire mode feels like it could have been an easy win, after it was brought back from the PS2 era in WWE 2K22 but the class system lets it down by limiting player freedom. It's still well worth your time to play the mode though, for budding GMs, but some tweaks to the formula could really push it to greatness.
WWE 2K is continuing to build itself up to be the premiere wrestling game, but keeps driving into the same potholes with some of the modes. 2K Showcase’s overreliance on archive footage, and GM mode’s limitations continue to be my biggest bugbear with the series.
That being said, you can feel that the devs really care about making a great game; something that didn't feel like the case during the 2K15 - 2K20 era where things were extremely bland and iterative. I finally feel comfortable enough to say WWE games are good again – let's hope 2K keeps this momentum going and finally becomes the undisputed champion that it’s capable of being.
It's worth noting that due to his involvement in the Austin/Rock match, is included as a part of this mode, however, he is completely removed from the rest of the game.
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