Gaming 6.5

WWE 2K25 Review – The Island of Lost Potential

Nathan Birch • Mar 11, 2025 at 07:00 AM EDT

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Game Info

WWE 2K25

March 14, 2025

Platform

PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Publisher

2K Sports

Developer

Visual Concepts

The WWE 2K franchise has been in a rebuilding phase for the past few years, culminating in last year’s WWE 2K24, which was one of the best pro grappling games 2K and developer Visual Concepts had delivered in years. But as most seasoned wrestling fans know, it’s one thing to prove you’re championship material; it’s another challenge altogether to stay at that elite level. That’s the test WWE 2K25 now faces.

Does WWE 2K25 continue the series’ upward momentum? Or does it make some unfortunate high-risk moves? It’s time to lace ‘em up again and find out.

Over the past few years, the WWE 2K games have taken steps to refine their in-ring action, adding offensive maneuvers and new ways the change the momentum of matches beyond standard reversals, such as blocks, dodges, and “breakers.” In some respects, WWE 2K25 further polishes the between-the-ropes product – animations feel a bit smoother and some minor features, like being able to launch attacks from the ringside barriers, have been added. I’m also a fan of the new “Giant” fighting style, which grants those playing as one of the big boys (or girls) an extra bar of “armor.” Once the giant’s armor is worn down, they play more like a regular wrestler, and their limited invulnerability is balanced by them not being able to do certain more acrobatic moves. I wouldn’t mind seeing other WWE 2K wrestler archetypes updated to stand apart more.

That said, WWE 2K25’s action also regresses in some ways. Blocking has been removed from the game, and while it was never something I used that much, it’s always disappointing to have something removed from your toolbox. The Chain Wrestling minigame has also been brought back, which I’m somewhat ambivalent about. Sure, the mechanic works well enough, but it isn’t particularly engaging, as it forces you to keep your attention on minigame meters instead of what your wrestler is actually doing for a significant amount of time. Overall, I still enjoyed the action in WWE 2K25, but I was left with a lingering feeling the series is taking a turn back toward gimmicks instead of faster action and fighting-game-style versatility.

WWE 2K25’s two new match types are also largely duds. The Underground match is an odd addition, as the COVID-19 era “Raw Underground” experiment it’s based on isn’t particularly well-remembered by anyone. The match itself isn’t anything special, essentially just removing the ring ropes and darkening the arena for your standard hardcore match. There isn’t even a dedicated Underground arena (the unique presentation of Raw Underground was one of the few memorable things about it).

The new Bloodline Rules match sounds promising in theory but is pretty underwhelming in practice. Basically, players have the ability to call in up to three run-ins per match, which can be countered by your opponent with their own run-ins. These allies don’t just run in and disappear, they stick around and often start fighting each other, resulting in an increasingly disorderly schmozz. The end result is quite the opposite of the carefully orchestrated “cinematic” matches that Roman Reigns has made his trademark.

On the plus side, while the new match types aren’t terribly inspired, almost every type of match in the game can now be played with any mix of men and women as intergender wrestling makes its return. Of course, intergender wrestling is a divisive topic -- I’m not always a great fan of it in real life, but I’m also all for letting people have their fun within the largely consequence-free world of video games, and it can be switched off in the options.

Visually, WWE 2K25 receives the standard minor glow-up the series gets every year. Lighting has been improved and the often Medusa-like hair physics of years past have finally been tamed. As usual, some Superstars look almost uncannily realistic, others not so much (even after Bayley herself directed some shade at last year’s game, she still doesn’t look quite right).

Moving beyond the core in-ring action, WWE 2K25 offers the usual array of ways to play and an all-new one – The Island. Similar to NBA 2K’s The City hub, The Island allows you to explore themed areas with other players, climb the rankings in online matches, make your way through a series of single-player “quests,” and, of course, spend money on cosmetics.

I won’t sugarcoat it: The Island is a drag. While it looks nice enough, with references to various WWE Superstars – a Kairi Sane Pirate Princess restaurant here, a very random Damage CTRL computer repair shop there – almost none of it is interactive in any meaningful way. The quests you can engage with are as basic as they get – find a WWE wrestler somewhere on The Island, get treated to a very underwhelming static, text-based “cutscene,” have a match, then go find another wrestler, read more inane text, and have another match. Rinse and repeat.

The stories laid out in The Island’s quests are purely Saturday morning cartoon fare. You’ll find yourself doing things like constructing special “video game armor” for Xavier Woods so he can do battle with his gaming alter-ego, who has somehow come to life, or going on a time-traveling escapade with Rey Mysterio thanks to a magical lucha mask. Maybe this stuff actually sounds kinda kooky and fun to you, but trust me, it’s all presented in the dullest way possible.

And yes, of course, everything about The Island is tuned to maximize extra spending. In addition to the numerous in-game shops selling overpriced cosmetics (most things cost between 6,000 and 18,000 “VC,” meaning a single 32,500 VC pack costing $10 may only buy you two or three items) progressing your OVR is a slog, requiring hours of play to add a single point to your rating. Of course, when I tried to jump into some online matches mere minutes after The Island went live, I was almost exclusively matched up with guys with paid-for 100 OVRs. If you want to be competitive at all, you need to fork over for either an expensive special edition or VC packs.

Unfortunately, the effort Visual Concepts sunk into The Island seems to have had a knock-on effect on the rest of WWE 2K25, as the MyRise career mode is notably diminished this year. Rather than two individual stories for the men and women, they’re smushed into a single story, and instead of a more intricate system of missions and side missions, you simply get a main story and the ability to engage in filler “Live Event” matches.

The MyRise story, entitled “Mutiny,” is mostly nonsense. After your created character debuts in WWE, the very unlikely duo of Kevin Owens and Bayley stage a mutiny of NXT veterans, despite both of them having left the brand ages ago. The mutiny makes no sense, as 90 percent of WWE superstars from the past decade or more have come through NXT, so what, exactly, are they rebelling against? Today’s WWE star is the NXT star of a few years ago. The whole thing just feels random, with none of the alliances or characters making any sense if you watch WWE even casually. It's disappointing, because MyRise storytelling had really improved in recent years, with plots that actually played off WWE history and personalities in interesting ways, sometimes even cautiously challenging WWE narratives. That's nowhere to be found this year.

It's not all bad news, though, as some modes do offer improvements. “The Bloodline’s Dynasty” 2K Showcase builds nicely on the positive upgrades the mode received last year, adding matches that let you change history and “dream” showdowns that never happened in the real world. This adds some much-needed variety to the Showcase experience, which sometimes felt like a bit of a grind in years past. New timed objectives during matches are somewhat less successful, but overall, this may be the best Showcase we’ve got to date.

MyGM is largely the same as last year, and still suffers from not allowing you to pre-determine outcomes, but the addition of online play is unquestionably a big boost for those who do enjoy the mode. Universe mode offers the usual handful of annual updates, including the return of promos, and remains a solid, if dry, tool for fantasy bookers. The Ultimate-Team-style MyFaction mode also returns and continues to be an odd fit for a game with a roster of only a few hundred names to draw on. A new single-player mode and a few more match options for online play freshen things up a bit but don’t fundamentally change the MyFaction experience.

While WWE 2K games have always had their share of glitches, I encountered more than usual this year, and they weren’t just minor graphical bugs – full-on crashes on PS5 were fairly common. Some of these issues may have already been patched, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that WWE 2K25 is arriving in a messier state than its predecessor. Even with this lack of polish and some skippable modes, it still feels like WWE 2K25 offers a solid amount of content worth exploring. That said, if you opt to stick with a dependable veteran like WWE 2K24, you won’t be missing out on as much as in some past years.

This review was based on a PS5 copy of WWE 2K25 provided by publisher 2K Games.

6.5

WCCFTECH RATING

WWE 2K25

WWE 2K25 doesn’t manage to build on the momentum created by the last few entries in the series. For every step forward, such as online MyGM or the varied Bloodline 2K Showcase, there’s a step back, like the lifeless MyRise career mode and some questionable changes to core gameplay. The biggest blemish is The Island hub, which excels at separating players from their money and not much else. There’s certainly still fun to be had with WWE 2K25, but the series risks dropping back to the midcard if it continues on this new trajectory.