WWE 2K25 | Review

WWE 2K25 is a big video game. New modes, an enormous roster, and more are all here to try and eat up your time and dig into your wallet.  The production values are through the roof, and the new Island mode tries to bring that 2K mtx-focused social hub to the ring. Many parts of the franchise are as good as they’ve ever been. The one area that I feel is in a bit of a holding pattern is the in-ring action itself. Still, there’s a lot to break down in this yearly release, so let’s dive right into it.

Modes

WWE 2K25 has a ton of returning and a new mode, making it one of the biggest titles in sports entertainment history.  We have:

Play

Your bread and butter exhibition mode. It features 27 different match types, each with their own bevy of options to change up: Normal, Tag Team, Extreme Rules, Underground, Bloodline Rules, Special Guest Refee, Brawl, Royal Rumble, Battle Royal, Hell In A Cell, Steel Cage, Elimination Chamber, Table, Ladder, Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, Gauntlet, Gauntlet Turmoil, Gauntlet Eliminator, Wargames, Casket, Ambulance, Iron Man, Falls Count Anywhere, Last Man Standing, Submission, No Holds Barred, and Tournament…. Phew.

MyRise

A story mode where you can play a series of matches during a choose your own adventure style storyline.  Women’s or Men’s divisions, you’ll have many choices to make as you try to take over the company as the face of its “new era”.

Showcase

This year’s showcase mode is fast and furious, as it’s all about family. The bloodline dominates the industry, and their family history is told through a series of decently well put together matches in which you can repeat or even change history.

The Island

This is the big new mode, it’s like the MyCity mode in the NBA 2K titles. You’ll create a character and slowly walk around an ad-filled hellscape while constantly being bombarded with the fact that you can spend VC Coins to make your character better, faster.  It was empty during the review period and will live and die on how well it can hook people into making this their forever game as they take on other players or do basic PVE quests.

MyFaction

Your typical card-backed squad builder.  You’ll once again grind or spend money to unlock new packs as you build a roster to beat the CPU and other players alike. They gave us the “bloodlines edition” for review, a ridiculous $120 value. I used the VC Coins it gave to immediately have a far stronger roster than I could have otherwise.  It’s fairly deep, looks slick, and offers decent rewards if you don’t want to spend extra.

Universe

The “build and book your own company” mode returns. The classic sandbox mode is there, alongside a new Superstar mode, where you’ll choose one character to play as while you choose a show to try and dominate in. It didn’t seem too different from last year’s and, thankfully, isn’t microtransaction-focused in any way I could see.

MyGM

Lastly, there is MyGM, where, solo or with friends, you can set up rival organizations that try to book the best talent and shows. Whoever keeps within their budget and puts on the best show wins. It’s a decently fun balance of trying to have the best talent, the comfiest arenas, and the smartest match setups.

Creations

The Creation section is back, allowing you to edit most aspects of the game.  You have Superstar, Entrance, Championship, Show, Image, Video, Move-set, Victory, Money in the Bank, Arena, Custom Matches, and Signs available.  It’s an enormous suite that should keep people happy as they bring in every classic wrestler, anime star, and people not in the vast WWE organization over time.

The Rest

Finally, there are Lobbies to join for multiplayer matches, Leaderboards for online statistics, and others creations to find in the Online section.  You can also choose your online region and whether you want cross-platform creations to show or not.

The Extras section has links to the store, lets you see the full roster, watch credits, go through the game’s vast collection of music, look at the controls, change gameplay settings, visit the Performance Center for tutorials, and set the audio.

Graphics and Gameplay

WWE 2K25 is a damned good looking game, most of the time.  It goes for a photorealistic look on character faces.  Once again, the lack of constant animations leads to an uncanny valley experience. The game wants everything to look, feel, and sound like you’re watching wrestling on TV in a world that thinks it is unscripted.

You can unlock dozens of arenas and hundreds of wrestlers, and you can feel the dedication put into making it all FEEL like the real thing. Animations flow well in 1v1 setups, though things break often when multiple fighters get into the mix. You’ll use the right stick to swap between targets, and it felt decent at times. In more chaotic situations, the game tends to ignore someone trying to attack another if they’re already locked into a big animation.

Lack of Control

My main problem with the act of playing the game is that loving detail to making it feel like it does on TV means you spend large parts of matches with little to no control. The most important button in the game is Y, as it is your only chance to break out of moves.

For a split second, most of the time, when someone tries to hit or grapple you, the Y button will pop up over your head. You have between .1 and a full second to hit, depending on the skill level of your fighter. As the fight goes on, you’ll get less and less time to counter. It can lead to some brutal sequences.

If you’re new to the series, there is a lot to learn. For old hats, it all feels relatively familiar and smartly streamlined compared to past iterations.  I never felt confused about what button to use in a given situation. The Performance Center tutorial is massive but worth it for anyone who hasn’t played a 2K wrestling title before. One nice change is the co-ed fighting. You can pit anyone against anyone, and pummel the crap out of each other.

Audio and Presentation

WWE 2K25 did something I thought impossible, it has announcers who aren’t annoying or in the way. During matches they may repeat lines a fair bit but it’s never frustrating or annoying. It’s a different story for the modes where voice acting comes in to play.

During MyRise the recordings sound pristine, which makes little sense when you see they’re set in back rooms. It doesn’t feel like I’m listening to people talk to each other. I know it’s not a deal breaker, but it did break the immersion for me. The stilted-wooden line-reads didn’t help much, either.

The crowd noises, music, and sound effects are all good enough. Nothing stood out while playing on an Xbox Series X. It ran well with zero hiccups, though the lack of HDR did hurt to see on my OLED. WWE 2K25 is a nice-looking game as far as the wrestlers and arenas go. The crowd isn’t quite as nice, with a lot of repeated models standing close to each other.

Wrapping Things Up

These yearly sports title releases can be tough to review. I don’t get to live in them like so many people reading this will choose to do. From someone who has reviewed the last few, this one feels like a solid iteration on what last year accomplished. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel so much as refines it to run more smoothly. WWE 2K25 is a big game, with an enormous amount of content on offer whether you’re into the online part of it or not.

WWE 2K25

Played on

Xbox Series X

PROS

• Variety of modes
• Roster size
• Customization Options
• Character model quality

CONS

• Lack of control for long periods during matches
• The Island mode controls are stiff

8.0 out of 10

GREAT

XboxEra Scoring Policy

Available on

Xbox Series | Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | PlayStation 5

Developer

Visual Concepts

Released on

March 6, 2025

Publisher

2K

Rated

Teen

Price

$69.99

See on the Xbox Store