WWE 2K25 Review

Player(s): 1-8
Extra Features: Local (2-4) and Online (2-8) Multiplayer/Co-op, Leaderboards, Add-On Content

The WWE 2K franchise has been back to greatness ever since 2K22 but it has been noticeable that 2K23 and 2K24 only had minor improvements over 2K22. WWE 2K25 is a much bigger step forward in the series ever since 2K22. 2K25 brings in a whole new mode and updates other modes with extras that help to make them more fun. 2K25 has all the same modes that you’ll find in 2K24 along with a new “The Island” mode. It also brings along improvements to other modes and a few new gameplay changes. 2K25 is a much better update than previous years by quite a bit.

The game has My Rise, My GM, My Faction, Universe, Showcase and now “The Island”. My Rise goes back to having a combined Male and Female story. You must create a male and female character to start the story. They can be both imported and exported in the mode. 2K20 took this same route with a male/female combined story but the results were very lackluster. 2K25 does a WAY better job with both genders and you get to pick which one you want to play most. You do have to play with both genders at one point to progress the story, but you still get to choose which one is your main character (the one you’ll control the most).

This year’s My Rise is all based on an NXT Mutiny. Both characters join up and recruit WWE superstars to help them in their fight. The mode has some nice twists and is easily the most replayable My Rise yet. The mode has tons of branching paths that give you different cutscenes and unlockables. You get choices quite often that take you on different paths. The mode must be played several times to try all the different paths to get all the unlockables. There is a map in the game that shows you all the different options and unlockables associated with each decision. There are many more choices than previous years and they come more often. There seems to be different endings this time also! This My Rise gives you a new game+ save file once you finish. You can take your already powered up characters into a whole new story path. All previous years just left you with a “Complete” file and you had to start all the way over from scratch on a new save file. It’s hard to believe it took the developers this long to realize that we all like “new game+” save files, but yeah, it’s finally here!

My Rise is quite short this year, but it’s very sweet. This My Rise gets to the point faster and doesn’t have near as much filler as previous WWE 2K’s. Beside the main story, you can meet with Troy Simpkin to play Live matches for character upgrades. There is no story to the matches – they are just single or tag team matches with different rules that reward upgrade points upon completion. You still get upgrade points while going through the story, but you’ll have to play the Live matches to get more. The actual story missions seem much more “to the point” and plot focused rather than silly stuff also. The story missions are a good mix of normal matches (with different rules) and objective matches with cutscenes in between. I never felt like the objective matches overtook the normal match gameplay. Just for one playthrough, while doing quite a few Live matches, I only had my main character about 35% of the way upgraded. The mode clocks in at around 5-6 hours. I much prefer a short mode with good replay value over one with tons of filler that I struggle to keep interest in. I never once felt that the 2K25 My Rise overstayed its welcome like I have with just about every other My Rise from previous years.

My GM is nearly the same as it was last year. This General Manager simulator is still quite good. In past years, it lacked purpose, but this time it finally has one! The mode now has an online mode, which is great! Online is definitely something that the mode has been missing. The online mode can only be played with the general roster of characters – you can’t take a created characters online. Last time I checked, the online mode only gives you a full minute (for all players) to decide all micromanaging into the new week, which is simply NOT. ENOUGH. TIME. It’s quite something how the conversations with Triple H and demands of superstars are included in that one minute – you literally can’t read them! Hopefully, the developers update this eventually. The online GM mode is still great, but yeah, having only a minute to micromanage everything between sessions is absurdly low. Sadly, the online mode for MyGM cannot be played with randoms – opponents have to be on your friends list.

My Faction has gotten some good updates. The mode is still a total grindfest if you don’t spend your own money on virtual currency (VC), but it has some much better single player content that helps out the existing modes that are already established. World Tour is a new play mode that allows you to take your team to different parts of the world in order to engage in a type of campaign. It has a small amount of story and takes you through tours of five matches per area in each region. Tours are basically like towers of matches. Each match has certain rules to follow. The first few areas require you to have only certain level card and there is one that requires a specific type of card. You gain MFP currency rewards and other rewards for completing each match. Faction Wars from 2K24 and the old Weekly Towers along with Live Events make a return as well. They all play the same as in whatever previous year they started in. Just like in past installments, you can unlock extra characters through locker codes and by doing certain tasks in other modes. Even with all the grinding and the temptation to spend real life currency for VC, this mode is slowly becoming more worthwhile.

Universe still seems the exact same as last year (and many previous years). This mode never has been a favorite of mine, but it still seems quite popular. You can build your own show, determine roles for each of your superstars or you can go through weeks of progress with your own chosen superstar. Showcase deals with the Bloodline storyline this year. Just like last year, this is an interesting subject matter since it deals with several superstars at once instead of only a few. The Bloodline is easily one of the most entertaining story arcs with several layers in WWE right now, so the subject matter this year is just as good as last year. Just like in all previous years, each match deals down to performing certain objectives as described in the objective list per match. These range from easy to incredibly frustrating. Thankfully, you can change the difficulty, so if you just want to play through to get the unlockables then play Easy difficulty (as usual)!

And now we come to The Island. This mode is a brand-new mode where you get to create (yet another) created character. The character for this mode is exclusive to this mode. You have limited options when creating this character. You can’t choose to use face photos. The character must be created from scratch using the in-game faces. The game allows you to edit your character while in the mode. The Island has its own story – Roman Reigns invites you to compete in his tournaments on the Island. The Island itself is like “WWE Land”. It’s literally a WWE theme park with many unique areas. The overall world that The Island presents is quite impressive. Virtual Currency (VC) is the only source of currency in the mode. And yes, this does share the same VC from My Faction. The Island has tons of stores where you can purchase extra created character parts. You can also level up your character’s stats with VC. Leveling up stats is needed as you progress in the Island, so there is little room to buy customized parts or save the currency for My Faction.

While on the Island, you can engage in the main story (quests) or you can go online and fight against other players. The main story has you meeting up with certain characters to engage in matches. Matches will reward you with XP and VC. The VC amount per match is very little (150 VC per match). You can do certain challenges and objectives per match that reward you with extra XP and VC. This mode has its own daily and weekly challenges. Player matches reward you with different ranks depending on your performance per match. Sadly, the main story ends at chapter 1 at the moment. Chapter 1 is quite long, but it ends there. It will give you a message that Chapter 2 will come in the future. Once all single player matches are done, there is nothing to do on the Island besides get into player matches or buy customized parts from shops. You can’t replay previous single player matches. The Island has up to four file slots where you can create different characters if you want. Thankfully, you can make a new character and go back through all missions and still gain VC from them for your account – this is one way you can slowly grind VC. The mode has one other “Coming Soon” area besides just the next story chapter also. There is some sort of “Events” option that is coming also. This mode could be pretty ultimate in the future depending on what all is upcoming... hopefully!

The Island’s focus on multiplayer as one of the main things to do caused me to try out multiplayer more often than previous WWE installments. The online multiplayer in 2K25 is pretty bad. It’s very laggy. Reversals have to be timed quite differently during an onine battle in order to get them. Pretty much every minigame has to be played differently because of the lag. With the developers pushing online on players more often in 2K25, they really should have used rollback netcode. It’s inexcusable to have such bad lag in online matches nowadays when so many other fighters use rollback netcode.

The actual gameplay has a few enhancements here and there. There is a new chain wrestling option that you can trigger per match. The chain wrestling is much like the different holds in a UFC game. You choose options once your wrestler engages in a hold then both of you battle it out to find a certain place on a grid and then go into other options after that. You can also climb the guard rails now and jump on your opponent from the top of the railing. There is also a new “Money in the Bank” minigame for grabbing the briefcase at the top of a ladder. This minigame is more interesting and not as dreadful as the minigame from previous years. If you remember from last year, the minigame was all about timing. This year, it’s all about pressing the QTE commands quick enough as they appear on a circular grid. It’s a much better minigame overall (it’s honestly hard to fail). You can also still get the briefcase even after having the ladder is knocked out from under your character – if your character is still hanging on, they can still retrieve the briefcase.

Just like in previous years, the graphics have been improved a bit. This year’s improvements seem to be higher res textures. If you compare this game to 2K24, you can definitely see the improvements. It’s a much better improvement than comparing 2K23 to 2K24. 2K25 also has great main menu design – the best I’ve seen since 2K19. It is noticeable that there is an empty slot below “The Island” tile – extra future mode!? The created characters still have a lot of the same options. There seems to be a lot more parts that need to be unlocked this year. Some parts that were previously always available in previous years now need to be unlocked. They have also removed the opacity option from facial hair and a few other parts. You can no longer fade certain parts to make them less visible. Beards must be shown in their full opacity at all times. Certain facial hair types that could be stacked on top of each other in previous WWE 2Ks can no longer be stacked either. You can’t have multiple sideburns and beards on a character now.

Overall WWE2K25 is a much better step forward than previous years. The franchise has been playing it too safely ever since 2K22 and it finally has stepped away from that safe haven to advance a bit. Each mode seems to have gained some extras that make them more relevant. I think My Rise has improved the most overall. It’s gone from a bloated filler story that I would never want to play again to a shorter more plot focused story that is easily more replayable. If you’re a WWE fan, this game is definitely one to pick up. It’s the best WWE since 2K22, and the My Rise mode is the best one since 2K19. For the developers to have only one year to create this game, it’s quite impressive with what all they have done with this installment.

The Good:
+ Great roster of modern superstars with Legends here and there
+ A noticeable improvement to graphics
+ My Rise has a much better story than in recent year and it has a lot more reason to replay it
+ The Island is an overall good addition
+ My Faction has been improved somewhat – new single player mode
+ My GM finally has an online mode!

The Bad:
- A few random bugs here and there
- Some of the customization options (Opacity, etc) were removed from the majority of customization options for creations
- The Island has a lack of things to do at the moment (might change with upcoming updates though)
- Online multiplayer is laggy