WWE 2K23 almost took me back to the glory days of Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain on PS2. It sheds much of its simulator baggage to provide a hard-hitting brawler that is all about rhythmic combos and timely reversals, always making sure it’s easy to pick up and play even for those who don’t know their Roman Reigns from their Roddy Piper. It just works, and that’s something I haven’t been able to say about a wrestling game for the better part of a decade.
You can boot up a match and have a blast in mere seconds without having to spend ages staring at tutorial screens to nail the fundamentals. All superstars can use light and heavy attacks alongside grab manoeuvres without venturing into the world of executing combos. Even when you do, these button combinations rarely go beyond a few inputs, and you’ll be using the same characters often enough to learn their bespoke movesets and come across as a natural in the squared circle. This makes it a fun fighting game for everyone, and that approachability remains its greatest success. Once in the weeds, it’s a bit less consistent.
Aside from a new John Cena Showcase Mode and improvements to all its existing offerings, 2K hasn’t made a huge amount of changes this time. After taking a year off to address the series' own mediocrity, the back to basics brawler of 2022 has been iterated on instead of evolved. It’s for the best, and results in a more confidently refined arcade experience here that embraces the soap opera of professional wrestling in ways past simulators never did.
2K spent an entire console generation obsessed with its recreation of the sport without realising fans aren’t in it for picture perfect renditions of finishing moves, but to share in the spectacle that comes from headlining big events or emerging triumphant after hours in the Royal Rumble. By swallowing its pride and aiming to simplify the foundations, WWE 2K23 makes that more than possible for everyone. I found myself using personal favourites and only ever flirting with the overall roster out of curiosity, which I’ll add, is both massive and up to date. I’m not sure Hulk Hogan or Vince McMahon needed to be included though…
This year’s Showcase Mode is all about The Man Who Cannot Be Seen. Cena narrates the entire campaign mode with a candour as he recalls historic matches from his long-running career that he didn’t win in a blaze of glory, but lost to put over fellow wrestlers and industry legends. It’s presented like an extended documentary as Cena remembers the circumstances behind each match and how each bout helped shape him into the man he is today.
Rob Van Dam’s victory at ECW One Night Stand, The Rock’s Once In A Lifetime Match at WrestleMania 28 and the returns of titans like Brock Lesnar are just a few of the contests touched on throughout, and I’d argue the packaging is far more entertaining than the actions required of the player. When you’re actually asked to play the matches, WWE 2K23 returns to the awkward mixture of mandatory commands and scripting that failed it so much in the past. Having to recreate a match down to the most minute details just isn’t fun.
While the documentary segments are a joy for fans like me, having to painstakingly act out matches by performing specific moves in certain places at exact times in order to progress and gain access to new commentary and insight goes against the liberating freedom other modes excel at. You can win each match by pinning your opponent and moving onto the next one, but in doing so you miss out on unique unlocks and rewards, so it never crossed my mind to take the lazy way out and miss all the cool shit Showcase Mode was hiding behind its own layers of tedium. It gets in the way of its own glorious fan service.
MyRise returns with two distinct narrative paths to follow in the form of The Lock and The Legacy. One has you playing as a second generation superstar wrought with huge familial expectations, with fans and colleagues alike expecting you to shine in the profession much like your parents did. It’s an oddly meta angle for a game like this to take, flirting with inside baseball in ways hardcore followers of the industry will appreciate. The other is equally knowledgeable of the sport as you take control of a wrestler coming from the indies who for years has never flirted with a major corporation like WWE. Playing matches in this mode can grow repetitive, but diving into them is more than worth it to soak up the backstage politics.
MyGM is back with a few new managerial options and far greater depth, while MyFaction and its devious live-service card collecting is here to stay with more hooks to sink into you. I also loved the focus on both male and female superstars in the career mode, equal weight given to both genders and how important their roles are in the day-to-day. Given we’re less than two decades removed from Bra and Panties matches, this is a pretty big step forward.
War Games is here now too, which for the uninitiated basically puts two rings together and implements a bunch of bespoke rules you wouldn’t find in vanilla matches. It is utter chaos, but surprisingly bug free even with almost a dozen sweaty bodies writhing about in the ring. The whole thing is polished to a degree I didn’t expect, and I only stumbled into a handful of bungled animations and weird match results after more than a week with the game. WWE and 2K seem to have finally found a consistent annual rhythm to this franchise that it can build upon instead of constantly reinventing itself to chase a simulator dream nobody ever asked for. It’s simple, fun, and only occasionally stumbles in front of its own potential.
I feel like everyone with an interest in WWE 2K23 already knows if they’re going to buy it. An annual game like this adapting a property this massive is going to sell no matter what, so it’s a relief to see 2K actually put effort into creating an experience that isn’t just fun to play, it also understands the appeal wrestling holds when you have the freedom to step into the ring and dominate with minimal guidance. You can dig deeper and appreciate mechanics and ratings all you like, but for the first time in years I can boot this baby up with my friends and feel like a kid again. John Cena is all over this thing too, subverting his once polarising fan reputation to cement himself as the wrestling icon he is and always will be. The Champ is Here.
WWE 2K23
Play as your favorite WWE Superstars in 2K's WWE 2K23, which comes with 2K Showcase and MyGM modes.
