LifeisXbox’s WWE 2K 22 review | All of us at some point in our lives were fixated with Wrestling. Be it cultural Japanese Wrestling, Luchadore’s from Mexico, MMA, or the traditional Wrestling that was made popular by western media. Like it or not, Wrestling has become a staple of entertainment over the 15,000 years since it started. Whilst many of us know and love the WWE, NXT, and Smackdown variants with the likes of Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, there is another side to the Wrestling scene that feels like it has been going for as long as I have. Videogames! Now I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t played a wrestling game since the Playstation 2 era, but my love for the sport never died it seems. Developed by Visual Concepts and Published by 2K Games, WWE 2K 22 delivers an Irish Whip of nostalgia, adrenaline, and more modes than you can shake a stick at. Right off the bat WWE 2K 22 doesn’t mess around. Read on to find out more.
Most Memorable Moment
Playing through the Showcase mode of Ray Mysterio had to be the most memorable moment for me. Watching the initial interviews to get the wrestler’s perspective was a welcome addition to the game, but getting to play through these iconic fights was even better. Then seeing how the game would transition through gameplay to archive footage really was a wow moment. It was done so perfectly. After that ends, the video transitions back to gameplay once more allowing you to carry on fighting and completing objectives to replicate these title match fights.
ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series S | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion from the writer.
What we Liked!
- My GM Mode | My GM Mode was a great addition to this years WWE game. My GM allows you to play the role as general manager of an elite WWE cast, where you can book fights against other GMs, wrestlers and indie fighters. Within this mode, you can also sign legends/ Legends are wrestlers who no longer practice but are in the wrestling hall of fame such as The Rock and Hulk Hogan. You can even set how much fan fair you want to include within your budget. You can have extravegant lights and special effects, choose which type of fight you want it to be such as cage, ladders, tabbles or even tag team. Once you have selected all of your parameters, you can simulate the entire show and go straight to your results to see how much you earnt from ticket sales, or you can play the fight yourself. It’s a really neat idea and is very in depth, giving you a new layer in how you approach wrestling.
- Showcase Mode | Showcase mode was by far the most exciting mode I played through with my time in WWE 2K 22. Showcase mode takes this years star wrestler (Ray Mysterio) and puts you through all of his signature fights since 1997. Not only this though, but it gives you objectives to complete during the fight to help you recreate Ray Mysterio’s iconic wins against some of WWE’s legends, ultimately putting him on the map. Throughout each fight the game will transition seemlessly through your actions between gameplay and archive footage of Ray carrying out some of the most insane wrestling moves I have seen. There are 16 fights here in total taking you all the way through to 2022. Between each fight, you get to see an interview with Ray Mysterio about his thoughts on the fights before you start.
- My Rise Mode | My Rise mode is essentially the campaign mode of the WWE 2K 22. You start by creating your own unique fighter, including your outfit, entrance pose, win pose, normal clothes and voice. There is a good selection of customisation here that I am sure fans of the series will appreciate. From here you start your journey training and gaining abilities and strength to take on some of the entry level wrestlers in the industry. Win, and you’ll progress further and can even get signed by some of the big wrestling brands such as NXT. It’s a choose your own path kind of campaign where you get to choose how the story plays out through social media aspects and by interacting with other people, fans and wrestlers in the world of WWE.
- Multiplayer | Multiplayer offers a lot of different options especially within the types of matches you want to play. You can do various modes such as simple one on one, tag, tables, TLC and hell in cage. Then you can also add parameters to these. Customisation is the heart of multiplayer here. This will alllow you to ensure that no two fights are the same. You can choose from the seemingly endless selection of wrestlers on offer, or take your own creation into the ring. I had no problem finding fights online.
- Creativity | The creative aspect of WWE 2K 22 is really impressive. You can create your own custom character to play though online or in My Rise. You can edit so much such as the voice, your title, your walk in entrance to the fight, the music you walk in to. The list goes on. The usual set of features are here such as body type, mass, vein density, hair and clothes. I didn’t expect so much detail to go into this section of the game. It is really quite impressive.
- The Controls | With so many different moves to pull off, you would think that the controls would be difficult. Well I was wrong. The controls are very simple and streamlined with a lot of buttons being context sensitive. Tapping X once will give you a quick jab, and chaining them together will chain a flurry of punches and kicks together. A gives you the strong attacks and B grapples enemies. This year you can block with the Y button and even dodge/roll with right bumper. I like how the developers have managed to blend a lot of the buttons together so that you can pull of some very satifying moves and make you feel like a wrestling superstar. Literally within my first 15 minutes of playing the game I was able to pull off some really impressive aerial moves that left my opponent crying.
Mixed Feelings
- The AI | The AI can sometimes be a bit goofy even on the harder difficulties. For example, the way to win in wrestling is to pin your enemy and have the ref tap to three, or by having your opponent be out of the ring for 10 seconds. Let’s focus on the latter. If you leave the ring and run around the edge, the AI will get out and follow you. If at second 7 or 8, you decide to clothes line the AI sending them to the floor and run back into the ring, the AI will play it’s animation of getting hurt laying on the floor allowing you time to run back into the ring. After the last two seconds play out, you will be declared winner. It seems like a huge oversight to me to allow this in a videogame, but others might call it tactics. Even so, It’s not game breaking by any means but I do feel it should be fixed.
- The Graphics | While this is still technically a cross gen game, I would like to have seen some better graphics. Overall the models look fine, but I did notice some issues with characters clothes being part of the skin model. It appears as though the textures are stitched together and the cloth models are attached to the skin. This means that when a character who is wearing a tank top for example raises their arm, the tank top stretches intop their armpit and it looks awkward and silly. Models for the legendary characters are good and look realistic, but some of the other wrestlers look like they got the D list treatment. Poor Shawn Michaels.
- The Audio | The audio in the game is limited to the menus and the entrances of the wrestlers when you start a match. There are also very few songs on offer here meaning you end up listening to the same song very frequently. The rest of the audio is pretty linear and none of the legends have lines. This means only your created character in My Rise will talk. The crowds make the usual noises with cheering and booing depending on how the fight is going, and the slams, punches, kicks and throws all have satisfying payoffs.
What we Disliked
- There was nothing I would say I disliked about the WWE 2K 22.
How long to beat the story | 50 hours (25 hours per character choice)
How long to achieve 1000G | 100 hours
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Gaming is in my blood. Be it handheld games, Xbox, PC, Switch or Playstation, I am all over it.
I make my own games as part of my profession and love playing co op games with friends in my spare time. Avid dog lover and camper van enthusiast.
