REVIEW: WWE 2K23 – You Can Try This At Home

I grew up watching wrestling but last time I religiously watched WWE was during the Attitude Era. Thanks to streaming services, WWE can now be streamed locally and this has rekindled my love for sports entertainment.

A few weeks after the grandest wrestling event, WrestleMania, we were able to grab a copy of 2K’s annual wrestling game, WWE 2K23. Over the years, WWE’s wrestling games have garnered mixed reactions from fans. Numbered games can be a hit or miss and WWE 2K is no exception.

STORY

Each year, WWE 2K features a different superstar for their Showcase mode. Showcase chronicles a superstar’s career in the WWE. In WWE 2K23, we get to see the game’s cover athlete, John Cena.

In the John Cena Showcase, you get to relive his iconic matches but not as John but ash is rivals. The matches are John’s greatest defeats that help defined his career and how it changed the WWE landscape.

One match that stood out for me is between John Cena and Edge and WWE just introduced Money In The Bank. At that time, the Money In The Bank briefcase was just introduced and what everyone only knew is that whoever holds the briefcase is guaranteed a championship match. However, no one was expecting that Edge would cash in on the championship after Cena won the Elimination Chamber during New Year’s Revolution in 2006.

WWE 2K23’s My Rise , the game’s career mode offers two storylines – The Lock, wherein you are the company’s the “next best thing”. Having gained international success in different wrestling promotions around the world, you start as a veteran rookie in the WWE. The other option The Legacy is stepping out of your aunt’s success as a 2nd generation superstar. My Rise is like a documentary chronicling your character’s career with a “choose your own adventure” style that let’s you decide how to go about with your career. Each decision gains you friends, enemies, or challenge for a championship.

There are certain episodes in My Rise that may be a bit cheesy or cringey for your taste but it’s true to the wrestling product just like how you see upcoming stars on a WWE show.

VISUAL AND PERFORMANCE

How the wrestlers look from the real life counterparts, arenas, the superstars entrances are what fans expect from a wrestling game and this is what WWE 2K delivered. Roman Reigns is just as powerful in his entrance as the head of the table with his double belts. Different arenas offer a different visual experience from the grandest stage of Wrestlemania, to the pandemic telecast of Raw Thunderdome, and they even brought it old school complete with effects like you’re watching from a CRT television in Summerslam 1988 or WCW Monday Night Nitro.

WWE 2K23 is a visual spectacle but it’s not perfect. Some superstars such as The Rock, managers like Paul Heyman and some Divas unfortunately didn’t look like their in-game models. I was also disappointed with WWE 2K23’s roster of legends.  Stables such as NWO and The Hart Foundation are playable but fan favorites D Generation X are missing. I understand that there are reasons why certain superstars are not available be it for legal reasons or they’ve transferred wrestling promotions. This does not ruin the experience but it’s more of wishful thinking and the game could have been better seeing your favorite superstar.

I played WWE 2K23 on the PS5 and you could barely notice the load times between matches. WarGames is a new format that is introduced in WWE 2K23. Originally introduced in the 80s, WarGames is a steel cage match between 2 teams composed of 4 superstars. The last Wargame was held during this year’s Survivor Series that showcased The Bloodline against The Brawling Brutes.

With the number of superstars in the ring at the same time, the match may look chaotic but it actually isn’t. The performance is seamless and you can switch wrestlers with ease.

GAMEPLAY

WWE 2K23 plays like a fighting game meets a wrestling game. The game focused more on combos that is a combination of light attack (square), heavy attack (x) and grapple (circle). Wrestling games that I’ve played in the past are more grapple focused so this a good change in the genre.

Executing moves are easy. The move and combo list is easily accessible in the pause menu. The sequence of buttons can easily be memorized so you’ll be executing powerful moves in no time.

If this is your first time playing a WWE 2K game, it’s easy to pick with minimal learning curve. There’s also a training mode that is conducted by The New Day’s resident gamer Xavier Woods.

There is also payback system which are abilities specific to superstars that may turn around the outcome of the match. Each superstar can have to two abilities such as Resiliency to kicking out of a pin, or Dirty Move , that lets you hit your opponent as the name suggests but be sure not to get caught by the referee as you’ll get instantly disqualified.

Similar to NBA 2K’s My Team, WWE 2K23 also features a similar card based mode called My Faction. You build your own roster of male and female superstars through different card packs that you can purchase or grind in-game.

VERDICT

2K currently has a strong foothold in the sports genre in both the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series.  The only competition that they have is themselves. 2K continues to set standards in the genre and improve on criticisms on previous iterations of the game. WWE 2K23’s realism and stunning looks combined with simple mechanics brings it closer to the real product. As WWE would say, “Don’t Try This Anywhere” but in WWE 2K23, you can certainly try, execute, and relive your favorite wrestling memory and even create your own. 

WWE 2K23 is available now for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.