Unfortunately, WWE 2K25 isn’t a step up from WWE 2K24.
WWE 2K24 is no longer a thing. It’s now time to try out WWE 2K25 and hopefully it’s better than the last game, as the OTC (Original Tribal Chief), Roman Reigns is our latest instalment’s cover star. It’s great when a WWE game arrives at this time, because it’s in the midst of what has been a crazy WrestleMania season as we prepare for the upcoming WrestleMania 41.
An ex-member of the Bloodline, Main Event Jey Uso, wins the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble, Charlotte Flair wins the 2025 Women’s Royal Rumble—more matches to look forward to at the grandest stage of them all. And of course one of the most shocking moments in WWE history occurred at Elimination Chamber 2025 when John Cena turned heel again after more than two decades. But is WWE 2K25 better than last year’s game? Let’s discuss.
WWE 2K25 has definitely gotten some changes when it comes to the in-ring gameplay. And with the improved gameplay, you get to rest them out with a massive roster consisting of three hundred modern and legendary superstars. This possibly makes it the most stacked roster in a WWE game ever. Plus, the designs of the superstars look more stunning. However, some of the animations need some more work.
Intergender wrestling has finally returned to a WWE game since SmackDown Vs Raw 2009, so now you can have male wrestlers and against female wrestlers competing against each other once again. Now, imagine Seth Rollins Vs Rhea Ripley. That’ll be something.
What also returned is chain wrestling. And as you know, chain wrestling is usually a bout of technical skill where the superstars will fight in order to keep control and inflict damage simultaneously. With the chain wrestling mechanic, there are two metres; one is yours and the other is the opponent’s.
The metre is controlled with the left analog stick, where you choose the action you want to execute. Either WRECH to inflict damage, SWITCH to build a new hold, ATTACK or DRIVE to stop the chain wrestling. The system was confusing at first, but a few moments later, it became much clearer.
The improved pin system allows pinfalls to be followed by pinfalls. When you’re under a certain pinfall, the meter where you break out now comes with a yellow bar that you must get the marker in to not only break out of a pin but also follow it with your own pin. This improvement makes the match more authentic.
Another improvement is that players can now move and dive from all areas of ringside. Players’ ability to perform finishing moves from the top of ladders has returned. Plus, there are more minor improvements and changes in the game.
There are brand new match types to look out for, such as the Bloodline Rules match, where you can call in your allies to help you win your matches. On top of that, there are no rules. So you don’t have to worry about disqualifications. All you have to do is pin or make your opponent tap out.
There’s another new match type where is the new Underground match. Now, this match is where no ropes are involved, with several people surrounding the ring and spectating, making it feel like a true underground street fight. The only ways to win are if you make your opponent tap out or knock them out cold. But no weapons are allowed.
The entrances this year have also changed, as you can now change the camera angles of a playable superstar as they enter the ring with the director camera feature. With the help of a few buttons, you can rotate camera, spectate camera, switch to third person camera, zoom in and out, and more.
Let’s discuss WWE 2K25’s content. It makes sense to discuss the Bloodlines Dynasty, this year’s Showcase mode based on one of the greatest families in the history of professional wrestling. Here, you get to relive and recreate matches and moments with the bloodline and legendary WWE superstars. Of course, the mode is being hosted and narrated by “The Wiseman” and iconic pro wrestling figure Paul Heyman.
WWE 2K25 has finally removed the slingshot technology from the game, and the cutscenes are strictly in-game, which makes the mode much more immersive. That’s right; there is no more having to see in-game cutscenes merging with live cutscenes. In my opinion, it was fine when they introduced it in WWE 2K22, but since they carried it onto WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24’s showcase modes, it became bothersome.
Especially, last year’s 40 Years of WrestleMania showcase mode, where we’d love to actually relive the matches, instead of just watching large live sections of them during our matches, which drew complaints and frustration from the majority of the universe, as they’ve labelled it as laziness. This feature had clearly overstayed its welcome, and thankfully, it’s gone.
However, despite all of this, playing the Bloodline Showcase mode was an unpleasant experience to say the least. Firstly, some of the selections didn’t make any sense, because they were forgettable matches. Is Visual Concepts really telling us to relive and recreate a few of these matches? Are some of these matches the best they have to offer in WWE 2K25 to pay tribute to an iconic family?
It gets worse, not only have they left the same, repetitive pattern objectives that have been in the last three WWE 2K games, but now some of them are timed. Now, imagine going through all the work completing some of the mode’s toughest objectives, and then you fail to obtain rewards because you failed to complete an objective on time.
On top of that, some of the objectives aren’t clear enough to understand to begin with. This has ultimately ruined the Showcase mode, and it felt like a chore rather than an enjoyable experience. There was one match that was frustrating to a point where I almost told myself to forget continuing altogether, and I seriously contemplated a few times whether the rewards were worth it. And sadly, most of them aren’t.
The match in question was one of the forgettable matches I’m referring to, that being the Money in the Bank Ladder match that took place nearly a decade ago, back in 2017. In this match, I was playing as Tamina, and I was against four other female competitors, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, because of the poor structure of the objectives. At one point, I had to take a break from playing because of that one match and how much frustration it inflicted.
The Island mode is the online brand new mode where you take your custom character and explore WWE themed districts and challenge against other players around the world. You also get to take on quests, challenges, live events, earn rewards and more. Moreover, this mode is only available on console. However, PC players could consider themselves lucky because the Island mode is another miss.
The dialogues are weak, the online mode is only 1v1 and the customisation is surprisingly limited. Plus, you earn a small amount of money after a match, when the majority of items you can purchase are at least 6000 VC. That’s a lot of grind just to purchase items. On top of that, the Island is not as big as anticipated. All this hype for this mode just for the location to be quite small. At this time, it’s difficult to recommend playing this mode to anyone.
Thankfully, WWE 2K25’s MyRISE is a mode to recommend as it’s a little different to last year’s one. This year has a unique storytelling that involves multiple playthroughs. This means that you’ll need to play MyRISE multiple times to fully maximise the experience. Plus, of course, earn all rewards.
As usual, some choices you make will crucially impact the outcome of the stories. Obviously, you’ll know when the extremely important decisions arrive when they have a special decision branch icon that signals you think ultra carefully about your decision. Furthermore, its social media feed feature is a great tool for keeping you engaged with stories.
Sadly, there’s not much to be said about the other main modes, such as MyGM, Creation Suite, and Universe Mode. Some changes were made, but nothing groundbreaking. Moreover, the designs, animations, reactions, and sound effects of the fans are seemingly worse this year. On the bright side, online features have improved. It’s been a long time coming, but online multiplayer is now more playable.
WWE 2K25 is pretty much hot and cold. The in-ring gameplay is brilliant, and it’s definitely an improvement over last year. It’s also the most authentic professional wrestling experience I’ve ever had in a wrestling game. However, not much else can be said positively.
I feel this game reminds me more of the fiasco of WWE 2K20 installment that was riddled with issues that rightfully resulted in a tainted reputation. I was looking forward to playing the Bloodline Showcase mode, and it’s a shame that a mode with so much potential was executed poorly. However, it’s the polar opposite with MyRISE, which is one of the bright sparks.
The content this game offers may not satisfy players for the full year, and after a few weeks, they might not touch this game again despite the future DLCs coming throughout the year. I’d advise seriously considering waiting until at least a substantial sale arrives before getting this game.
