WWE 2K's annual releases are often heavily criticized before they even hit game store shelves. However, WWE 2K20 received that treatment more than any game that has come before it, and with good reason. What fans of the franchise had been shown of the game prior to its release made it seem like a far worse version of WWE 2K19. It's bad enough when an annual updated franchise appears to have made no changes at all, but to release a game that is somehow worse is unforgivable.

WWE 2K20 is now a little more than 24 hours old and it seems as if all of our worst nightmares have been confirmed. Upon playing the game for just a handful of hours, Redditor DazedRabbit managed to collate an upsetting, exhaustive list of issues with the game.

Settle in, as we're about to run through all of them.

Don't Even Try To Play Online

Lag has always been an issue when trying to play WWE 2K games online. Rather than attempt to fix the issue, 2K appears to have left it to fester. Every online match starts with about a minute of lag, and the matches are more like a slideshow than a smooth, flowing sequence of moves. Should you want to pair up with a friend, that will take some figuring out too. Before the match, the setup screen will lead players to believe P1 and P2 will pair up to face P3 and P4. However, once the match begins, the teams get mixed up.

Players also won't have much time to figure out that issue, as a countdown timer has been added to the character select screen when playing online. Head into matches knowing which Superstar you want to pick, as there won't be much time to think while you're there. Entrances have also been removed when playing online, so after that relatively short time given to select your Superstar, at which point you'll be tagging with a player you should be facing, the match will just suddenly begin.

RELATED: Tyson Fury (And Other Non-Wrestling Stars) Should Be Part Of WWE 2K20's Roster

Like That Entrance? Here It Is Again, & Again, & Again...

Tag matches and entrances have taken quite the hit across all modes it would seem. Some players have experienced entrance music continuing to play throughout entire matches. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that they've been removed from the game's online modes in that case. The ability to control your tag partner in single-player mode has also been removed from the game. Fingers crossed this is a mistake as tagging in a Superstar who is then left to their own devices can make for a long and frustrating match.

via YouTube

There are also reports of the prompt to tag a partner appearing even when a player is next to the opposing team's corner. It has not been confirmed whether players can actually tag in an opponent at that point. Button prompts, in general, seem to be all over the place, and sometimes the reversal prompt won't appear when a Superstar is being attacked. With 2K tweaking the controls this year, the last thing players need is nothing telling them when these new buttons need to be pressed.

Roll Back Those Graphics

As hinted at above, WWE 2K20's graphics are just downright bad. Fans of wrestling games have come to expect subpar graphics compared to other games. For some reason, wrestling game developers lack the ability to create realistic looking hair and titles between the virtual ropes. That has been forgiven, to an extent, but this year's graphics simply can't be. If you start off by playing through this year's Showcase mode, one of the first wrestlers shown is Ric Flair. 2K has done The Nature Boy seriously dirty, making Flair look more like the alien from Men In Black disguising himself as Naitch than the real thing.

RELATED: WWE 2K20 Looks Like A Nintendo Wii Game

via Reddit

For those who haven't seen Flair, take a look at the John Cena comparison above. It's definitely not just us and is not simply a case of people complaining for the sake of it. The graphics are worse, there is no arguing that. Yes, if a game is good enough then its graphics shouldn't and won't matter. In this case, the game is nowhere near good enough to make up for the fact that 2K has rolled back its graphics about half a decade or so.

Just Plain Lazy

It feels like a lot of what's wrong with WWE 2K20 is down to laziness, which just makes the whole situation that much more frustrating. There's no 24/7 Title in-game despite the championship being unveiled more than four months ahead of release. The Raw and SmackDown arenas were out of date before the game had even been released thanks to recent changes. Granted, that one isn't necessarily 2K's fault, but could they not have liaised with WWE? Or perhaps the new arenas could be patched in sometime soon? We wouldn't recommend holding your breath waiting for that to happen.

One day into WWE 2K20's existence, and the list of issues is as long as your arm - and all of the above is really just the tip of the iceberg.

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