Editor’s note: This preview was written before recent allegations about Vince McMahon came to light. — David.
Last week I went hands on with the brand new WWE 2K24 game, and it was delightful. I must admit having felt some slight trepidation walking into the event, given that even-numbered WWE 2K games tend to have problems (WWE 2K20 was a particular lowlight). But, while 2K24 still needs some polish before release, it’s shaping up to be one of the best (or at least most interesting) WWE 2K games in a long time.
What’s good and new
There’s actually a lot of new stuff, which is always surprising in an annual game. And, shockingly, almost all of it was positive.
The big, central feature of WWE 2K24 is the celebration of the 40th Wrestlemania, named Showcase of the Immortals, which takes you through key fights and moments in Wrestlemania history. I loved spending time in this mode because I know little about wider WWE history. I love playing the games each year (and have played pretty much all of them since 2K12), and I’ve been to a bunch of live WWE shows, but I’ve never seen the TV show, so I have no idea why any of these people have beef or why they’re wearing such ridiculous outfits. This gives context.
The Showcase of the Immortals takes you through the history of the big Wrestlemania matches, with colour commentary from Corey Graves and archival footage to set the scene before you get to play that pivotal match. There are a bunch of different matchups, but the three I’m allowed to talk about are Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude (WrestleMania 5), Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair (WrestleMania 39) and Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes (WrestleMania 39). There’s a bit of back and forth between Graves and Rhodes as part of the intro to the last one, which breaks the fourth wall nicely and adds extra colour. For the fans in the room, this appeared to be an exciting and rewarding walk down memory lane, for me it was both interesting and fun, so there was something for everyone.
For those coming from the NBA 2K games, Showcase of the Immortals is like the Jordan Challenge but with less specific requirements and more room for personal flare. You just have to win; the rest is up to you.
In addition to that, there are now Ambulance Matches, an enhanced backstage brawl, and Royal Rumble matches. I had some issues with Ambulance Matches and Backstage Brawls due to bugs (more on that below), but I really liked the feel of Backstage Brawls. There’s just something so much more aggressive and mildly cathartic about beating the crap out of a coworker (or multiple coworkers) in the breakroom instead of waiting to do it on stage in the ring for glory. I understand that on the show, this is the equivalent of the women from Selling Sunset accusing each other of being on drugs while on a team-building retreat or arguing about exes at a Botox-themed open home, and it’s obviously a staple of all scripted reality TV shows. But Chrishell hasn’t yet been allowed to punch her coworkers or hit them over the back of the head with chairs and guitars, which is why WWE is superior.
What stood out most to me is that the characters now seem to be slightly less dead inside. WWE 2K games often have a slight “possessed action figure” vibe to them, whereas this is more “slightly wooden real people setting themselves up for a lifetime of joint pain”, which is closer to the real thing.
The best new feature, though, is the inclusion of some of the real referees. I’ve seen them excitedly post about it on Instagram, and that’s enough of a reason for me to be pleased. But whenever I’ve gone to the WWE live shows, the refs have been characters of their own who add greatly to the performance. Finally getting them in the game is a win for everyone.
What’s not great?
While I overall had a great experience with WWE 2K24, a couple of things gave me pause, and I’m hoping they are rectified in the final release.
First, the game is still not particularly friendly to new or casual players. I went into the event having come fresh off reviewing Tekken 8, so my reflexes and button choices needed some slight calibration. However, WWE 2K games have always been slightly user-hostile, with different timing and somewhat complicated controls that sometimes seem impenetrable. It could be that there is an amazing new tutorial on boot-up and an immersive, fun refresher course to teach you how to play better and master the nuances that just weren’t available (or obvious) in my few hours with the game, so I’ll reserve judgement until I get my final review copy. But it is something for newer players to keep in mind.
Another thing I found is that some of the matches are a bit buggy. Objects that I should have been able to interact with in Backstage Brawl didn’t act consistently, and the AI character in the Ambulance Match I played got stuck on the ambulance’s roof and wouldn’t come down. I couldn’t throw her down, she wouldn’t follow me down for an incredibly long time, she just stayed on the roof of the ambulance. This really put a kink in my plans of shoving her incredibly injured body into the ambulance. The Ambulance Matches, in general, were fun, as long as I could stop the AI from getting on the roof. This is probably something that’s going to be fixed before launch, and it would be deeply weird to have a preview event without some weird bug, but it’s still worth mentioning.
WWE 2K24 vibe check
My time with WWE 2K24 was extremely enjoyable despite my occasional frustration with the controls. You know a game is fun when you’re still having a good time despite being very bad at it. The stories that are in WWE 2K24 are compelling, and while I can’t speak to whether the fighting styles are accurate for each of the fighters, I found that bouts felt satisfying. It made me want to watch the WWE TV show, so I can imagine that if you’re already into the show, this is going to be gravy.
WWE 2K24 will launch for PlayStation, Xbox and PC platforms on March 8, 2024.
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