WWE 2K24 is here, and it's more of the same, in a good way. In this WWE 2K24 review, we explain how this is possible, and how describing the game as an XL-sized expansion isn't a bad thing for a game series that releases a new entry every year. This is our review for the special game 2K put out for Forty Years of WrestleMania.
WWE 2K24 Review: What is WWE 2K24?
WWE 2K24 is the annual release of the WWE 2K sports simulation fighting video game of the sports entertainment product. It features a roster of over 280+ playable wrestlers and managers across its different game modes: exhibition matches, online matches, Universe Mode, Showcase Mode, MyRISE career mode, MyFACTION mode, and MyGM Mode.
Each game mode features a different overarching mechanic while staying mostly the same when it comes down to the ring. The gist of each game mode remains the same from its iteration in previous entries, although there have been significant improvements in most of them. Meanwhile, Showcase Mode and MyRISE both feature an entirely different focus from their past incarnations and thus offer completely new experiences.
While most players would just spend all their time playing quickplay matches or creating impromptu matches using the exhibition game mode as if the game is a proper fighting game, there are a lot of features tightly packed in a single product here, and so much so in this year's offering where almost every single aspect of its previous release was expanded upon, with improvements ranging from subtle to significant making a better product overall.
However, if you've played through WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K23, you'd feel as if you've already played this game before. This is already par for the course for annual sports games like WWE 2K and NBA 2K, but unlike similar titles, WWE 2K24 succeeds in making it feel like a fresh package rather than a soulless rehash of the previous year. The amount of changes, improvements, and new features make you feel there has been an evolution for the product, but deep down inside it's still the same base game.
To put it bluntly, we've seen expansions of other games in other genres that introduced the same amount of additions that WWE 2K24 introduced over the 2K23 iteration, so to some extent, this game feels like a stand-alone expansion. But contained within the sports video games genre, 2K24 offers unprecedented additions and improvements never before seen in an annual game release.
Just to quickly run through the different game modes for those who have never played a WWE 2K game before, here's a brief description for each one.
Exhibition matches allow you to play through the game's different match types for two to eight players at the same time. A limited selection of match types can also be played online. There are a few new match types to this game that weren't present last year, which are the Special Guest Referee match for 1-on-1 bouts, the three different kinds of Gauntlet Matches, the Ambulance Match, and the Casket Match.
The Backstage Brawl match type has also seen significant improvements, expanding the area where players can brawl by four times the old area, while also introducing new interactable elements and weapons as well as the ability to play Backstage Brawl with up to four players. Royal Rumble has also been improved to allow up to eight simultaneous players in online play.
Universe Mode is where players can fantasy book their wrestling program. They can use custom shows, existing shows, or historic shows, and use both current and past WWE superstars in their program. This year's Universe Mode probably had the least evolution, only improving on its rivalry features, new cutscenes and promo types, and the incorporation of the new match types into the game. One significant new feature in Universe Mode is the ability to settle rivalries with a “Loser Leaves Show” match.
Showcase Mode also doesn't offer any structural change this year but instead has a completely new story for players to follow. Past titles had players follow the careers of Rey Mysterio (2K22) and John Cena (2K23), while this year celebrates Forty Years of WrestleMania and features 21 matches spanning four decades of the Show of Shows, with 1 additional match as a bonus.
One notable addition to this year's Showcase Mode is the introduction of multi-man matches, which has not been present in previous iterations of the game mode. Many of the game's unlockables are also found in this game mode, especially Arenas of previous WrestleManias as well as Legends and past versions of superstars.
MyRISE is back this year, featuring two parallel career paths again for Men and Women. This year's MyRISE features more unlockables that make it more worthwhile to go through, although the storylines still remain contentious at the very least. We'll talk more about these stories later in this WWE 2K24 Review.
MyFACTION is WWE 2K24's version of MyTEAM and FUT. Players collect wrestler cards and add them to their faction, making the unlocked wrestlers playable in the game mode. New to this year's revamped MyFACTION mode is a lite rogue-lite system for its matches, CAW and MyRISE characters appearing as cards, a shop to buy and sell cards, and a ranked online game mode for MyFACTION.
Finally, MyGM also received a massive update this year with the ability to trade wrestlers between shows, new available shows, new available GMs, revamped logistics mechanics, a revamped free agency and scouting mechanic, a more sophisticated UI, and much more subtle quality of life improvements. MyGM sees players compete as the best booker for each show and vie to become a WWE Hall of Famer by being an effective general manager of their show.
As you can see, there's a lot to do in WWE 2K24, and the best part is it's fun to play through these things. With a lot of improvements across the board, WWE 2K24 is the most fun iteration of WWE 2K ever in my book, even if it's still just more of the past two years of WWE 2K experience.
WWE 2K24 Story
The story of WrestleMania Showcase this year sees players play through some of WrestleMania's most iconic matches throughout its illustrious history. While the selection already encompasses a lot of memorable matches, there are still many notable snubs, which cannot be helped given that you're trying to tell a well-woven story out of forty years worth of storylines, betrayals, and upsets.
The story in this year's Showcase is told by Corey Graves, making him the narrative voice for the entire 6 to 8-hour experience. His voice also serves as a replacement for the matches' commentary, which I think is a shame because some of the most iconic moments in these matches are a big part due to the legendary commentary of its announcers.
As for the selection, there's a sense of cohesiveness with the selected matches, with Corey seamlessly transitioning from one rivalry to another, from one era to another, from one disparate WWE match to another one happening several years later. The storytelling is straightforward and undramatic, but it does the job of reminiscing about the matches being presented.
Some matches feature one of the wrestlers in the match providing their insight into the match, giving their retrospection on the event, which adds a nice, familiar flair to the game mode similar to how it's presented in the past two years.
With this year's Showcase failing to deliver the drama, its storyline counterparts for MyRISE are full of it. Some may say that it's overdramatic and overacted, but some of wrestling's most memorable storylines are exactly that. There are also plenty of silly moments and over-the-top acting, and while the wrestlers' voice acting in the game mode is a hit or miss, it's not hard to enjoy the ride that MyRISE offers to the player.
This year's MyRISE also offers more choices to the player. In Unleashed, the female wrestler career storyline, players can assume a range of different personas and gimmicks that were not seen in previous games in the series. The male career storyline in Undisputed is more grounded but similarly lets players experience a larger-than-life story that pits them against WWE's monster champion, Roman Reigns.
In both career modes, the story is more malleable now and reacts more to the player's choices, leading to parallel career paths that offer different rewards for the rest of the game. MyRISE is easier to enjoy now that the game is much more polished compared to before, and because the stories always make sense even if they are silly at times.
That's not to say that the stories told in these game modes are going to win any awards for their plot or presentation. It's just that they're enjoyable for what they are, never overreaching, and do not overstay their welcome.
WWE 2K24 Graphics
This year's game is as graphically impressive as last year, with subtle improvements that are easy to miss but are nonetheless value-adding to the overall product.
There are loads of new animations made for the game, including dynamic facial animations that make matches more life-like and believable, new move animations and entrance animations, as well as simpler animations like the way wrestlers bounce against the ropes. There are also new idle animations like selling animations while wrestlers are down on the mat, which is a nice touch.
Blood physics has also been updated this year, with dripping blood now sticking on surfaces and body parts and spreading more naturally compared to before. The blood does look weird, however, with the texture not matching the texture of blood in real life for some reason. It's a small nitpick, but we hope it gets patched soon.
The arenas are also worth mentioning with the game's arenas making matches feel big and awe-inspiring. They make big matches feel like they matter a whole lot more, making you sometimes forget that it's all scripted and this is just a video game. The cheers and the volume of the crowd do wonders in the presentation, and it's a great way for the game to sell the fantasy of wrestling to the player.
The improved UI also makes the game easier on the eyes, with better contrast and design. However, there are a lot of sections in the game where the text looks too small or icons are incomprehensible. If you're playing on the Steam Deck or sitting far from your monitor or TV, then this could be a problem. The biggest offender for this is the MyGM Mode, with lots of text already hard to read in big monitors when I'm sitting close by.
WWE 2K24 Gameplay
WWE 2K24 is as fluid as you can have a wrestling game in this day and age. A lot of the clunkiness present in the previous games, such as when wrestlers collide after an Irish whip, or unresponsive physics when moves interact unexpectedly, have either been entirely removed or revamped for the better.
One example of this is the ability to dive into a group of opponents. Previously, even when you visually hit others on your way down from the top rope into a group of opponents, you're only going to end up hitting the one you targeted, with the rest of the others clumsily moving away as they adjust away from your hitbox. This year, groups of opponents now collapse if they're all within the drop zone.
Another way this was improved was in how Irish Whips now have easier payoffs. The time window for executing a grapple after an Irish Whip was widened, with the wrestler now no longer awkwardly grabbing forward into thin air if the grapple button was pressed too early. Instead, the wrestler now goes into a waiting stance and automatically executes the grapple when the enemy is within range.
Wrestlers will now also jump automatically and do a leapfrog when no input is given and an Irish whipped opponent approaches them, giving players a second chance to do a rebound strike or hold. It's also now possible to fake an Irish whip and do a ripcord maneuver instead.
Finally, new animations were made for reversals to make the game more fluid. Irish whip reversals now result in Irish whips as well. Some moves also transition more cleanly now to new moves when reversed.
Outside of the ring, the improvements on both WWE 2K24's MyFACTION and MyGM game modes are vast and finally make MyFACTION a game mode worthy of our time. Making MyFACTION wrestlers now playable in other game modes is a huge win for the fans, as this means any live-service content released in the future will potentially become available game-wide.
This increases the potential of the game in terms of post-launch support, and because of this, it's not hard to imagine a world where all you'd need to play is WWE 2K24 and never have to upgrade. But that's in a fantasy world where 2K will continue supporting WWE 2K24 after 2K25 comes out, which, of course, isn't happening. For the purpose of showing its potential, that's how much the game has expanded due to the changes in MyFACTION.
Meanwhile, the addition of an online ranked leaderboard for MyFACTION also adds more reasons for players to collect stronger wrestlers and invest their time into their factions. While you will still have to be inherently interested in ranked leaderboards to get the most out of MyFACTION, it's still a great improvement compared to before when MyFACTION simply led to nowhere.
MyGM is now shaping up to be one of the most complex management game modes in sports video games. It has a lot of new features and mechanics that make the game mode more versatile, challenging, and enjoyable. How ECW offers an alternative, asynchronous show is a nice touch. How you can now set match types into unlockables instead of making them accessible right from the start adds more variety to the experience.
There are still a lot of balance issues when it comes to the GMs and the shows with the power cards they come equipped with, but overall the game mode is a fun distraction for those who want a lighter way to book shows and cannot invest their time into Universe Mode.
All in all, WWE 2K24 has expanded a lot in terms of gameplay features and mechanics, although just falling short of what one would expect from a full sequel release. As mentioned previously, WWE 2K24 feels like an XL-sized stand-alone expansion, a game that could stand on its own but isn't entirely its own game.
WWE 2K24 Music and Sound Design
I'm not a big fan of Post Malone's curation of songs for this game and I'm frustrated that my favorite Postie song isn't in the game. It's okay, though, and sits just right if you're playing Universe or GM Mode because of how chill the songs are. The music played during Showcase again fails to impress, but at least the music succeeds in drumming up the tension and drama of the matches.
Of course, the music themes of the wrestlers are accurately and faithfully rendered in this game, which is a very important part of the game that should not be taken for granted.
The commentary team is just as lackluster as it's always been, and this is a case where I would actively advocate for AI technology to be used to produce a more reactive and dynamic commentary team for the matches. It's also a shame that we still don't get to have Pat McAfee or Wade Barrett in the commentary booth three years into this new WWE 2K series.
Sound effects give life to the action and communicate quite well the devastation of moves, the epicness of moments thanks to the crowd cheering, and the impact of the countless weapons in the game. The sound of metal hitting flesh, especially when you throw weapons (which is another small new feature found in this game), always feels satisfying.
Verdict: Is WWE 2K24 Good? Is it Worth your Time and Money?
WWE 2K24 is definitely an instant buy if you don't have WWE 2K22 or WWE 2K23 in your library, or it's the first entry you'll be purchasing on the Xbox Series X or the PS5, but your mileage might vary depending on your interest on a more updated product if you've already played through the two past games. Buying this game at full price might feel a bit too excessive, as you'd practically get a larger and improved version of WWE 2K23.
But if you're a big fan of the game or if you don't mind shelling out the full price, WWE 2K24 is a worthwhile purchase. Season Passes and Deluxe Editions still lock significant content behind a paywall, so the full experience of the game will cost you more than just the usual $60 price tag.
For those who can afford to wait and can tide through the FOMO of not having the latest game right away, this game will still feel like new and updated when the game probably goes on major sale later this year around SummerSlam or when Royal Rumble next year rolls around. For a game that feels like a glorified stand-alone expansion, it should also be priced as such, at around $30 to $40.
I'm more than comfortable to spend the entire price for the Forty Years of WrestleMania Edition, but that's because I'm a massive mark and I enjoy playing the latest version of the roster more than downloading CAWs of my favorite returning wrestlers. While I think the game, in a vacuum, could stand on its own, I still think the game would be more palatable for returning players for about half the price.
Score: 9/10
Editor’s Note: ClutchPoints received both a PS5 and a PC WWE 2K24 review copy to allow us to cover this game. This copy did not, in any way, affect this WWE 2K24 Review’s final score and verdict.