WWE 2K25 Hands-On Preview
Ever since its successful 2022 reinvention, 2K’s popular WWE series has continually made a host of iterative improvements in an attempt to not only build upon its winning formula but also justify its annual releases. WWE 2K25 certainly promises a new batch of iterations, including a brand new, online interactive world called The Island, a revamp of its story, general manager and Universe mode, a new hardcore match type called Bloodline Rules, and several more. However, I can’t say if all these new additions will elevate 2K25 above its predecessor because, unfortunately, I didn’t get to sample any of them at a recent preview event.
WWE 2K25’s Showcase Mode focuses on the history of the Anoa’i family, headlined by its most recent stars Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, but also celebrates previous generations like The Wild Samoans, Yokozuna and, most famously, The Rock. The mode now includes three types of matches: Ones where you recreate history, others where you create history, and most interestingly for me, matches where you alter history. I got to experience all three types in the shape of recreating Nia Jax’s Queen of the Ring victory from 2024, creating a dream Wild Samoans versus The Dudley Boyz match, and altering the history of the iconic Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins bout from the Royal Rumble in 2022. All three offered their own style of fun and unique perspective for any hardcore WWE fan and an improvement on last year’s showcase mode. But that’s not to say there aren’t still some small issues.
The Showcase Mode in last year’s WWE 2K24, much like the one in WWE 2K23 before it, was hampered by an over-reliance on switching to real-life footage that ran for multiple minutes – a system developer Visual Concepts dubs “Slingshot”. As I pointed out in my preview for WWE 2K23, “I found myself wanting to be back in the action and create these moments myself, not just watching clips of footage that are already burned into my brain.” Two years later, I’m happy to
