WWE 2K25 Review - The Bloodline Beckons
As March comes around each year, it is not only a reminder of my time spent on this mortal coil but well into the period known as ‘the Road to Wrestlemania’. It has become a tradition since the relaunch of the long-running WWE 2K series to release in March, capitalising on the attention and buildup to the biggest event in the professional wrestling world. This time around, rather than focusing on the journey and career highlights of a single WWE Superstar, the WWE 2K25 Showcase explores the legacy of one of the largest wrestling families in the world, that of the Anoaʻi family.
The legacy of this wrestling family spans decades, and the Showcase takes players right back to the beginning, putting them in control of ‘High Chief’ Peter Maivia, the Wild Samoans Afa and Sika and many more members of the family, culminating in the Bloodline civil war that pit the OG Bloodline against Solo Sikoa’s rogue faction. Each match comes with a lead-in from none other than ‘The Wiseman’ himself, Paul Heyman. Not only is Paul Heyman one of the greatest orators to ever grace a professional wrestling ring, but his long-running involvement with the Bloodline makes him the perfect choice to lead your journey through the Showcase experience.
I did not realise just how many professional wrestlers were connected to this family.
While I am not a stranger to the WWE product, I have drifted away from it all, except for the bigger of the PPVs PLEs. For complete transparency, I am very much a fan of the ‘Other Promotion’ you will find subtly referenced in the MyRise mode, and in the time when I was a big fan of WWE, there wasn’t anything like the amount of information you can find online today. I still have an appreciation for the WWE product, but I acknowledge there are a lot of gaps in my knowledge. Knowledge, such as Jamal from ‘3 Minute Warning’ became the unstoppable force known as Umaga, while his partner Rosey was the older brother to our Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. Discovering the connections between these wrestlers that I had seen throughout the years made the Showcase hit that much harder as I recalled memories from watching WWE or stopped to look up a particular character that seemed familiar.
I had a lot of fun playing through the 2K25 Showcase, but there was one issue that annoyed me to no end. Timed bonus objectives. I mean it with all my heart when I say that they truly suck. I have no problem with having to meet all optional objectives to unlock the bonus content from each match, but giving me a thirty-second time limit to pull off ‘X’ amount of ‘Y’ moves is a pile of crap. In the real world, where funnily enough the product is heavily scripted, the wrestlers know their spots and allow their coworkers to get their bits in. It is a dance where wrestlers combine to bring the performance to life. So when you are playing against an AI that is trying to win the match rather than perform it, it can result in you getting wailed on by your opponent while the countdown timer gets lower and lower. It can get very frustrating, even more so when you are in multi-person matches.
Apart from the 2K25 Showcase, the usual game modes all make a return. Emulate Triple H and run the show yourself in MyGM mode. The MyRise story mode has you taking control of both a male and female-created superstar as you fight off an NXT mutiny. The creation offerings have more options than words in the dictionary (well, maybe that’s a stretch), allowing you to customise everything about your Superstar: their moves, their entrance, etc. There is also a brand new offering in ‘The Island’.
Short for ‘The Island of Relevency’, it is a sort of online hub for players to not only engage in PvP ranked matches but to progress through a PvE storyline where you prove yourself worthy of earning the favour of ‘Tribal Chief’ Roman Reigns. I did not get too deep into this mode as I was enjoying the experiences of the 2K25 Showcase and MyRise storyline, but it does show promise and has plans for live events that players can partake in soon. As a bonus, any clothing unlocked on The Island will be unlocked in the other game modes for use by your created characters.
I do also want to throw out there that for the first time, they have allowed intergender matches to take place in the game, both in the MyRise story and in regular game modes.
Since the WWE 2K franchise is an annual release, for better or worse, there is not a lot of time for upgrades to graphics and engines. Most of the game looks great, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that the faces of the male wrestlers look a lot closer to their real-life counterparts than the females. It seems like such an obvious drop in the quality when you compare the two side by side that I am surprised they look like that. When it comes to controlling your chosen wrestler, the controls are pretty easy to grasp as well. If you have played any of the games in the last few years, you will have an easy time picking up and playing. I skipped the tutorial and found that just by playing through the 2K25 Showcase, I was able to figure out the majority of controls in the pause menu and instructions for how to complete objectives.
WWE 2K25 has a lot of content to get through. Not all of it will appeal to everyone, but there should be something that will appeal to personal tastes. I am looking forward to continuing through the MyRise story mode and exploring the different choices and their effects, but I must admit, I think WWE dropped the ball in having Rosey available as part of ‘3 Minute Warning’ but not including the ‘Super Hero In Training’ gimmick from his time teaming with The Hurricane. Yeah, it was a comedy gimmick, but you could see him putting in the work to get the gimmick over. Maybe it only comes down to the PG, family-friendly thing they are going for, but in my book, it is very much a missed opportunity.
With a solid Showcase mode, plenty of content to engage with and tons of wrestlers to unlock and play with, WWE 2K25 may not be a technical jump forward, but an instalment that will be well worth your time if you are a fan of the WWE.
WWE 2K25 was reviewed on Xbox Series X with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
