2K and Visual Concepts continue to raise the game with another epic instalment in the ‘WWE 2K’ franchise.
‘WWE 2K25’ puts The Bloodline at centre stage in a game worthy of the Tribal Chief himself.
This year’s instalment in the long-running wrestling franchise has Roman Reigns and his family’s fingerprints all over, and both publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts have nailed it across the board.
For gameplay, everything feels smoother, more fluid and more intuitive this year, with the bruising, sweat and blood systems all working together as the match goes on.
The return of Chain Wrestling – a simple mini-game jockeying for control – has a surprising amount of depth, and when you combine it with Trading Blows and new addition Barricade Dives it brings the feel of WWE to life.
The AI is stronger than ever, behaving more like real superstars and getting opponents into position for various moves, while the Giant weight class adds another dimension to matches involving the biggest wrestlers on the roster.
New matches this year include Bloodline Rules; an all-out brawl starting with two superstars, who can use the new Bloodline Rules Payback move to bring their allies down to join the fight.
Meanwhile, the Underground bout redefines combat in the ‘2K’ series, with spot-on presentation and a whole different feel now that the developers have found a way to have a rope-less ring.
Elsewhere, Backstage Brawls have been given a massive boost with the new NXT Parking Lot and WWE Archive arenas crammed full of Easter eggs (over 60 in the latter alone) and interactive elements.
Presentation-wise, everything looks phenomenal, from the moves to the arenas themselves, while the team have done well to include the latest ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown’ areas, which only started being used at the beginning of the year.
The roster itself is stacked too, with over 300 superstars, while 2K recently announced five DLC packs over the coming months, which will allow fans to play as the likes of Penta, ‘TNA Wrestling’ legend Abyss, and new NXT favourites Guilia and Stephanie Vaquer.
The game’s headline huge addition this year is ‘The Island’, a new online mode based on The City from 2K’s NBA series.
It’s only available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, but for those lucky enough to play it, there’s a lot to get stuck into and keep you coming back for more.
The world is split into different areas, each based on superstars like Roman Reigns, Undertaker and Asuka, with live events and challenges used to earn VC for unlockable cosmetic items.
Showcase Mode has also been revamped for the new game, with Paul Heyman stepping in as the narrator guiding viewers through the history of The Bloodline dynasty.
From Rocky Johnson and the Wild Samoans to Naomi and Three Minute Warning, the standalone nature of the matches – which allow you to either relive, change or make history – opens up a lot of possibilities rather than past Showcases focused on a specific timeframe or event.
MyRise sees the introduction of inter-gender wrestling at its heart, with this year’s story mode featuring a single plot – with various twists and branching options – for both make and female superstars.
You’ll control one of each, as Bayley, Kevin Owens and more try to use NXT to take over WWE, with a wealth of options and different syorlines based on your character types and choices.
The Universe sandbox mode gets the welcome return of Promos, while MyGM gets its own online multiplayer support this time round.
MyFaction replaces Proving Grounds with a new non-linear World Tour feature – although the issues of microtransactions remain.
Overall, 2K and VC have continue to build on their great work over the last few years, and they’ve nailed it again with another authentic and thoroughly entertaining representation of WWE and pro wrestling.
Rating (reviewed on Xbox Series S): 4/5
By Alistair McGeorge
WWE 2K25 Review: A wrestling game worthy of The Bloodline
