Even the most forgiving WWE fan will admit that WWE 2K20 was an unmitigated disaster. Being the first to be developed entirely by Visual Concepts, which took over from experienced wrestling game studio Yuke’s, it was a bug-laden mess with some superstar character models that looked more melted waxworks than their real-world equivalents. It caused both publisher 2K Games and the developer itself to take stock, postpone the annual series refresh and effectively start again.
That’s a significant reason why WWE 2K22 was a step in the right direction once more. It got the basics right and improved the visual aspects greatly. Indeed, it could be argued that it was the best WWE game since the Smackdown vs Raw titles of the mid-2000s. There were a few minor quibbles and the gameplay could still feel a little spongy at times, but it’s a game we’ve continued to enjoy over the last year.
Now its replacement is nearly here and we got to play three modes on a work-in-progress build. Here are our initial thoughts.
All the modes
For our hands-on session, we were able to play one-on-one matches in the Raw arena, the Royal Rumble with a truncated selection of superstars, and the new match type in this year’s game, WarGames. This latter mode apes the classic match renewed initially for NXT and, most recently, used as the main event(s) for Survivor Series. The preview build allowed us to experience WarGames in both the current NXT arena (sited at the WWE’s own Performance Center) and the one used for the last Survivor Series.
Huge upgrade in character models Arenas look more realistic Superstar entrances are superb Gameplay feels smoother and more fluid
An iterative upgrade, it seems Too early to say about anything else
WarGames can be set up as a 3v3 or (like the event itself) 4v4 match, either in single- or multiplayer. We got to play a 3v3 match, choosing an all-female lineup of Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler, and Bayley on one side, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Charlotte Flair on the other. Like with the Royal Rumble, it gives you control over one of the stars while the others are happy to duke it out using AI. However, you can change the character you control in the settings (albeit at the loss of some match stars to that point).
The match-up works much like the real thing. You fight across two rings surrounded by a steel cage. Weapons (chairs, tables, etc) can be introduced as a new superstar enters and the match can’t end until all competitors from the two teams are inside. In practice, also like the Royal Rumble and other game modes with multiple participants, it can be a bit chaotic but also great fun. You can climb up to the cage walls, although we didn’t make it to the top to find out if we could perform the same crazy spots that we’ve witnessed over the years. It’s shortened in comparison with the real event, with new members joining rapidly (in the preview build, at least). And you don’t see them coming out of a small cage on the main stage to do so. We got enough playtime with it though to tell it’ll be a popular new feature, especially in online and local multiplayer.
The Royal Rumble is pretty much the same as it has been for years, while one-on-one matches are exactly what you’d expect. Everything seems to flow better though, which we put down to enhanced character animation and smoother transitions between moves.
The only other mode on offer during our session was one match from the new Showcase - this time featuring the career of John Cena.
Showcase of the immortals
The Showcase mode has been a staple of the series for a while, focusing on a specific superstar or group and allowing you to take control in some of their most iconic matches. This often means you have to hit specific goals to complete the match the way it panned out in real life and therefore move on the chronological story.
Considering the star this time is John Cena, that means you get a heck of a lot of big main events and moments. The one we got to play was Cena’s infamous title match against Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand - the 2006 pay-per-view that again saw the now WWE-owned brand return to the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York for one last hurrah. Well, until WWE brought it back again as an ill-fated off-shoot and effectively killed the name for good anyway.
What’s interesting about this match in the game is that you actually get to play as RVD rather than Cena himself, which is not surprisingly considering (spoiler alert) Van Dam won. The arena looks superb, especially so as it’s decked out in classic ECW garb. And the spots you have to pull off are great.
The Showcase also has Cena talking between each match, which works well considering how good a presenter and actor he is these days. Some might not like him as a wrestler, but you can’t fault his charisma.
Body building
Bar the different modes, what also stood out during our gameplay session were the graphics - both in and out of the ring. The character models for each of the superstars we played as and observed are vastly improved year-on-year. They look so much more like their real-world counterparts. We started the game with a one-on-one match between the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre and even just their entrances caused our jaws to drop. Textures on clothing and skin are excellently rendered. The movement of the avatars are natural too.
This continues in the ring as animations seem to have been enhanced ten-fold. Switching from one move to another is much more intuitive thanks to the characters feeling more responsive. There are still some long-winded move sequences where you don’t feel particularly in control, especially during signature and finishing moves, but less so during the meat and bones of the match. We also found it easier to counter moves than before, although we suspect we were locked into an easier difficulty than we’d normally use.
One specific gameplay addition we noticed was a new way to escape a pin. You now get a bar with a green zone in which you must stop a sliding line by flicking the right thumbstick upwards at the right time. As it becomes harder to get up (if you’ve taken a lot of punishment or a finisher) the green zone is smaller and harder to stop within. It’s a small change to what’s gone before but feels slick enough. Apart from that, much of the gameplay innovations introduced with 2K22 return and it plays very similarly.
First impressions
In all honesty, an hour or so of play isn’t really enough to find out all the nuances of a game. But, from what we have played so far, it’s clear that WWE 2K23 is a better looking, better moving upgrade to last year’s outing. However, it does only seem an iterative update rather than a revolutionary one.
That’s likely down to the fact that WWE 2K22 was such a massive leap over the bug-addled previous game, there wasn’t as much reason to rewrite the book again. Plus, we’ve not seen every new addition yet and there’s bound to be some extra announcements between now and the mid-March release date. Career mode is definitely something we’re looking forward to having a stab at, for example.
As it stands, WWE 2K23 is looking like it’ll be more than enough to sate the appetite of fans, especially during Wrestlemania season. It’ll be interesting to see if it’ll be able to hold off it’s first serious competition in years, with AEW: Fight Forever joining the fray. It’s certainly a main event we can’t wait to experience.
