WWE 2K25 Review: A Pumped Up And Wonderfully Daft Wrestling Game

I could easily listen to legendary wrestling promoter and manager, Paul Heyman, talk about paint drying for hours. He has a way with words that is so infectious and commanding, he could probably convince me to do his weekly laundry for free too. For all of the bold updates to WWE 2K25, the most pumped up and wonderfully silly wrestling game in years, it’s the Wise Man’s ubiquitousness in this iteration that is its most valuable weapon.

His influence is best used in the superb Showcase mode that charters the sprawling dynasty of the Anoa’i, Fatu and Maivia families, featuring generations of icons from The Wild Samoans to The Rock and Roman Reigns. Heyman was present throughout much of their legacy and so he stoutly introduces each chapter of their story with an authority that arrests the game mode’s tendency for being a pedestrian tour through history in past titles, into an engrossing wrestling odyssey.

Then there’s The Island, a bizarre addition that blends traditional elements of role playing, live service and online multiplayer games together. With the help of the former ECW mastermind, Roman Reigns offers us the opportunity to earn a WWE contract by playing through a series of increasingly goofy challenges as a custom superstar in a theme-park-like world.

One moment we’re fighting Xavier Woods dressed as a hulking mech robot, the next we’re in tag action at a gothic church dedicated to The Undertaker and spending hard earned in-game cash at a Nike store. It doesn’t always do enough to remain compelling; there’s too much humdrum dialogue to wade through and some of the initial tasks we’re set, like collecting pieces of an urn, are rather mundane but it’s light-hearted fun nonetheless.

Frolicking around is the general approach developer Visual Concepts has applied here as the rest of the game also taps into professional wrestling’s absurd side. It channels the over-the-top action and creativity from past games like Here Comes The Pain, and dare I say it, AEW Fight Forever, through revamped backstage brawls. We can leap from ambulances at the NXT parking lot or throw opponents through shelves of weapons in the WWE Archives room; an area home to myriad memorabilia such as Stone Cold Steve Austin’s monster truck and the giant fist which graced Smackdown arenas during the Ruthless Aggression era. Plus, intergender wrestling makes its debut, so you set up dream matches and batter Dominik Mysterio with Rhea Ripley until you’re blue in the face.

But none of this compromises the dedication to realism that last year’s game was so praised for. There’s visual enhancements; welts and bruises look painfully realistic now, the sweat looks sweatier and we can roam around using a third-person camera during a superstar’s entrance which really highlights the graphical detail on offer. Chain wrestling makes a welcome comeback and NXT Underground matches, where the ring is ropeless and enthusiastic fans bang on the apron around you, adds an authentic alternative for those wanting to focus on the art of technical combat.

Impressively, Visual Concepts has also managed to fit in some necessary tweaks that come with any annual sports game. My GM has introduced online multiplayer, while Universe has streamlined its menu system and restored the ability to run promos on a match card. Neither of these represent drastic strides forward, but they do enough to satiate the appetite for improvement left hanging over from 2024’s series offering.

From modern greats like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk to the usual lineup of legends such as Andre the Giant and Rowdy Roddy Piper, the roster is stacked with more than 300 stars to play as at the time of writing. The likes of Penta, the Motor City Machine Guns and TNA icon, Abyss, are coming in the recently announced DLC too.

Aspects of WWE 2K25, like The Island, won’t be for everyone, but with professional wrestling going through something of a renaissance spearheaded by WWE’s jump to Netflix, this game at least has something for every type of wrestling fan.

SCORE: 4/5

Available from 14th March 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

*note, The Island is only available on consoles at the time of writing.