The WWE 2K games have rallied in recent years after some near franchise-killing missteps, with WWE 2K22 offering up a largely successful revamp of the franchise’s core action and WWE 2K23 keeping the rudder steady while offering a few major additions like the new War Games match. This year’s WWE 2K24 seems to be focused on building out the series’ roster of modes and features, with added in-ring abilities, a wide-ranging 2K Showcase celebrating WrestleMania’s 40th birthday, Ambulance and Coffin matches, and other new ways to play.
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Tampa, Florida to go hands-on with WWE 2K24 amid the backdrop of this year’s Royal Rumble. During my demo I was able to sample the game’s new in-ring mechanics, the aforementioned Ambulance match, several chapters in this year’s WrestleMania Showcase, and more. While there’s still much more to tackle in the complete game, you can roll on for my pre-show impressions.
But first, the elephant in the room. In recent days Vince McMahon was freshly accused of sexual coercion, assault, and trafficking in a bombshell lawsuit that also implicated some other WWE employees/talent. You can read more about it via The Wall Street Journal, although a warning, the details are upsetting. Despite this quickly becoming a major mainstream news story, WWE largely tried to avoid the subject this weekend during the Royal Rumble, while 2K PR would only say they were “focused on WWE 2K24” when I broached the subject. The latter is fair enough as the WWE 2K series is produced largely independently from WWE by Visual Concepts, and from my interaction with the team over the years, they’ve always come across as genuinely enthusiastic fans who just want to make the best wrestling game possible. There are unquestionably going to be further developments in this story, which may affect some people’s ability to enjoy WWE and associated products like the WWE 2K games. That said, for now, we’re going to focus on Visual Concepts’ work and my thoughts on what they’ve cooked up for WWE 2K24.
With WWE 2K22, Visual Concepts offered an extensive and much-needed overhaul of their series’ core mechanics, with a focus on giving players more ways to change the momentum of a match. For years, difficult-to-time reversals were pretty much your only option, but 2K22 added blocks, dodges, and “Breakers” that allow you to escape combos and grapple moves by anticipating what attack your opponent is going to launch next. WWE 2K23 didn’t really make any alterations to this new foundation, but the game just generally felt a bit smoother and more refined than its predecessor. WWE 2K24 again doesn’t offer anything that fundamentally changes the new status quo, but they have added a few new moves and minigames to the mix.
Perhaps the most noteworthy addition are the new Super Finishers – true match-ending maneuvers that can be pulled off by saving up and unleashing three finisher charges. Typically these Supers are particularly nasty moves from a wrestler’s repertoire, some of which they may actually be banned from use in WWE (think Kevin Owens’ Package Piledriver or Randy Orton’s punt). Finisher spam is something that’s crept into both real-world and video game wrestling in recent years, with multiple big moves and kickouts per match becoming the norm. In recent WWE 2K titles, it’s not unusual to have to unload with three or four finishers to end a match, so some heavier artillery is welcome. Super Finishers also add an extra strategic level to the game – do you pop off multiple finishers or save up for that one killer shot?
The other major in-ring addition this year is the new Trading Blows minigame, which replicates those increasingly commonplace spots where two wrestlers take turns hitting their hardest chops and/or forearms to test each other’s mettle. In recent years, I’ve been happy to see WWE games move away from fussy minigames, so I wasn’t necessarily thrilled to see a new one added. That said, once you get a hang of the minigame it’s undeniably satisfying to whack away at an opponent. Whether the Trading Blows mechanic holds up as I devote more time to WWE 2K24 remains to be seen, but it isn’t a dealbreaker either way, as you have the option to disable the minigame.
The visuals bringing your squared-circle showdowns to life are largely the same as last year, although Visual Concepts has seemingly rescanned and re-rigged most of the Superstars’ faces, which now feel more lively and less mask-like than in the past. Likenesses are now more consistent with main eventers and midcarders alike looking themselves, although there are still a few stars with particularly distinct profiles that don’t look quite right (poor Bayley has been done dirty again). Hair also remains a weak spot, with the flowing locks of some female wrestlers still exhibiting Medusa-like qualities at times.
In terms of ways to play, I only got to check out the new Ambulance match, but it seemed like a winner. While not as complex as War Games, Visual Concepts have included a number of fun touches here, including the ability to fight on top of the ambulance and toss opponents off to their doom. Meanwhile, mashing buttons to close the ambulance doors on your opponent ought to generous some raucous local multiplayer moments. I also had the opportunity to check out the newly redesigned backstage brawl area, which was fun enough but not radically different from similar battlegrounds we’ve seen in wrestling games for decades.
Finally, we have 2K Showcase, which is a mode I’ve always liked in theory, but often found frustrating in practice. Too often in the past the objectives you have to complete have been too finicky, with the game not clearly communicating how you’re supposed to pull them off. Thankfully, WWE 2K24 seems to largely fix that problem, as each new objective that pops up now clearly tells you exactly what you need to do in terms of positioning and button inputs. In general, the objectives seem a little less elaborate this year – less “do a spinning leg drop from the top turnbuckle to the southwest guardrail while your opponent is stunned” and more “hit your opponent with a strong strike anywhere in the ring.” Sure, completing objectives is now easier, but that’s okay, as Showcase mode was always supposed to be about immersing you in recreations of classic moments, not testing your knowledge of every obscure move and mechanic in the game.
Current Thoughts on WWE 2K24
While speaking to the producers of WWE 2K24 at the preview event they mentioned they came to this game with a feeling of confidence, and that shows through in what I’ve played so far. WWE 2K24 feels like the work of a team that knows where they’re going and what they want, and the new things I experienced during my demo, from the new in-ring mechanics, to the Ambulance match, to the more accessible approach to Showcase mode, all felt like positive strides forward. Of course, there’s still plenty I haven’t experienced, such as MyRise career mode, MyGM, and the creative suite, so it remains to be seen if this is indeed the total package. That said, the flexing I’ve seen thus far has been fairly impressive.
WWE 2K24 launches on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on March 8.
