''WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. I CHANGE THE CULTURE''
Developed: Visual Concepts
Published: 2K Games
Genre: Sports, Simulation
Release Date: March 14th,2025
Platforms: PS5/PS4/PC/Xbox family of systems
*Review copy provided by 2K Games. Review as part of 2K NextMakers
WWE 2K25 is that latest entry into a long line of WWE games and it is developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2k Games. With the last two entries really shaping a great foundation to build upon for this franchise, Visual Concepts decided to up their game with Showcases focusing on The Bloodline and new addition of The Island. However, were the tweaks, fixes and new elements able to make this a must play for wrestling fans? or should it have stayed in the oven a bit longer to finish cooking? Only one way to find out, so lets go!
''BEHIND YOU ROMAN, YOUR HEAD IS STALKING YOU''
GAMEPLAY:
With each years entry into the series, there is usual on focal point of each titles showcases, some range from the best Wrestlemania moments of all time to play through, historic career of moments of legends like Rey Mysterio and even just the legends of this industry in general being the highlight, and here in WWE 2K25, that remains no different, but this time focusing on the history and family of The Bloodline. With a strong focus on members of The Bloodline being the focus, such as The Rock, Roman Reigns, Jimmy, Jey, Solo, Rikishi, Umaga and more, fans get to see the rich history of this family and the legacy they have left and are currently leaving in and on WWE in general, minus us trying to forget about Battle Of The Billionaires that was a hair vs hair match that pitted hand chosen people by current President Donald Trump and Vince Mcmahon against each other when Umaga took on Bobby Lashley. I love Umaga but this match was just yikes, even with my boy Stone Cold as the special guest referee.. but I played through for you guys, I went through the torture because much like Rikishi ''did it for The Rock'', I did it for... The Chicky. Right from the get go, you can see Visual Concepts aimed to set another standard as this years showcase immediately immerses you in Wrestlemania's chaotic last moments that saw Cody Rhodes take on Roman Reigns with interference from the likes of Solo, John Cena, The Rock and even the deadman himself, The Undertaker, and instead of just watching the action unfold, you must recreate these iconic moments by giving attitude adjustments to Roman Reigns as John Cena and then doing the same to Solo, but this time putting him through the announcers table. I'm sorry bro. I LOVE... YOU... SOLO!. But what really set the tone for me as the use of camera work this go around, not only do you get the same cinematic pan shots that you are used to, but also get introduced to a first person point of view from the wrestlers perspectives themselves, further engaging you more than ever before - which carries over as well to normal matches with different camera perspectives that rage from static camera, tv angles, and a brand new third person free control camera that lets you see all entrances from a 360 degree perspective, which is freaking awesome. Thankfully no Kevin Dunn experience, so we got lucky.
In addition to The Bloodline being the focus of Showcase, they're also the headline feature of the brand new mode called The Island, which is 2K's new open world like feature for the WWE games, much like you've seen in 2K's NBA games called The City. Here in The Island, it attempts to immerse you in a decently sized virtual world, similar to again, The City or if were really reaching, something akin to Street Fighter 6 type of hub. To get you caught up to speed, you're guided to glory by none other than The Wiseman himself, Paul Heyman and The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, where you must begin your rookie career as a brand new superstar aiming for that good ol WWE contract. All I'm saying though, my contact better include wrestler themed Ice Cream bars, or just like Christian said, '''IM GOING TO SUE... THE WWE''. I'm sure Pepsi man agrees with me on that, right Punk?. Here further into The Island, you can come across an environment that offers you various challenges to complete to keep you engaged, live events, unlockable content that relates to specific storylines - on paper it seems like it would be a hit and uhh.. it might be on release but early access for people like myself, it feels sparsely populated and just makes me think of Call Of Duty 4 with the moniker ''50 thousand people used to live here, now its a ghost town''. While it may be true in early access, I definitely think with its full world wide launch, it will open up way more and be far more enjoyable than it is right now since right now there's really not much to discover and do besides exploring by yourself and obtaining currency for cosmetic upgrades - but when more people are involved and more matches can be played, I feel things will be a lot different. But for now.. its okay I guess?. But what really holds the game together in my humble opinion are the gameplay adjustments, animations, camera functions and the fluidity of chain wrestling that has never felt better. Heck, special guest refereeing is now back as well, which further gives me reasons to re-live my glory days of WWF Smackdown on the original Playstation and be a total jerk to screw over wrestlers worse than the Montreal Screwjob. I screwed over Cody Rhodes? no, Cody, screwed, Cody. Cause wrestling has more than one.. royal A-Hole. Adrenaline in my soul, being an ass to Cody Rhodes, doing it and make you go to sleep, the crowd is here, about to blow, they yell to me ''oh cody no'', I'm kind of like the worst asshole, WOAHHH. Ok screwing over Cody aside, there is more to do that just being a jerk to others, I swear.
The gameplay in WWE 2K25 is further enhanced with slicker looking and refined graphics and animations that this time manages to show wrestlers bruising, sweat, accurate blood both on their bodies and soaking the actual ring mats as well leaving then blood stained throughout your matches, which keeps things immersive when taking part in a heavy hitting hardcore much like No Holds Barred, Cages matches and Hell In A Cell. As stated before one of my favorite additions to the mix is chain wrestling, which involves a joy-stick based mini game which initiates choices that allows you to counter with back and forth punches by aligning your bar with correct timed punches or getting into an extreme grappling contest with some technical wrestling as you and your opponent attempt to out wrestle and reverse each other, which feels amazing because it gave me flashbacks to the good ol days of watching wrestlers like Dean Malenko, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, William Regal and the many more work their craft and tell a story through grappling. Which of course I got into my own grappling match too versus the YEET destroyer himself, Gunther as I took him on as THE BEST IN THE WORLD, CM Punk. Back and forth we went, reversing, trading blows and trying to get the upper hand and the entire time I was just thinking, man these animations are as smooth as butter and everything just perfectly clicks. Heck you can even have intergender matches this time, which for some reason Rhea Ripley wanted to come for my World Heavyweight Title. LEAVE ME ALONE RHEA, I dealt enough with the ''getting interrupted by Judgement Day'' meme, I dont need to hear THIS IS MY BRUTALITY, 500 more times too. On topic again, wrestling has never felt better control and visual wise and they seemed to find the perfect balance to what worked last year with this year and it came out to near perfection, letting us live out our ringside chaos as much as we want, both in the ring and backstage, especially with over 300 Superstars to play as, the biggest roster ever, which gives fans of nearly every era of WWE their fan favorite to play as. Finally coming to My Rise mode, which changes it up this year with inter-gender wrestling that merges male and female superstar storylines into one singular narrative where you ca meet the likes of Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bayley and more as you try to push yourself to the top of the rankings to become the next great WWE Superstar, starting with NXT. This mode offers you a fun personality driven storyline with choices you make determining whether someone becomes and ally or your next big rival... only downside, the voice acting for some of these characters are.... really really awful and makes Resident Evils ''DONT OPEN THAT DOOR'' dialogue seem oscar worthy. But while THAT is REALLY bad, its still not as bad as NBA 2K's voice acting from a few years back. YIKES.
''WRESTLING DISNEYLAND''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, WWE 2K25 once again raises the bar for wrestling simulators. While its not perfect with the semi barren land of The Island, special guest referee mode only allowed to be turned off during Hell In A Cell matches, some bad voice acting during My Rise mode and glitches here and there during matches, even so, with reimagined third person camera that has an over the shoulder perspective, Bloodline Rules matches that deliver chaotic mayhem, Showcase mode narrated by Paul Heyman and Roman that go through family history and classic matches, My Universe mode that lets you play weekly television and PLE's as your favorite superstar, My GM that adds online multiplayer for four people, My Faction mode that brings back persona cards, fluid controls and that keeps you in the action alongside amazing chain wrestling - all of this makes WWE 2K25 a lead forward and a step up even from last years entry. If you're a WWE fan, then I suggest not skipping this years entry as it might just be the best one yet. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW.
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