The Peacockery Review – WWE 2K24: One Week In

WWE 2K24 was recently released and, for the first time since the dreaded Switch version of 2K18, I bought it on day one. I actually bought it the day before launch because I got sucked into the WrestleMania edition.

Usually I hold out and buy it months later when it hits 40% off in those Xbox Store sales. They drew me in early this year though. Not only was the roster incredible – we’ll cover that shortly – but there were so many improvements that I just needed to play and talk about this as it came out.

I’m planning on writing three reviews for it – this “week in” version, a version a month in, and then revisiting it a few months later for final impressions after I’ve abandoned it for Fortnite and a random LEGO game again. I am playing the XBox Series S version. I’m going to cover a few key areas and then we’ll discuss the game modes.

Note that this is an incomplete review – I have not played every aspect of the game yet. I’ll mention it more later on, but it’s a week in. I don’t get IGN money, so I’m balancing play time with work, life, and the fun that revolves around all that.

The Roster:

The best roster of any wrestling game ever in my opinion, the roster hits over 200 playable superstars. How many you have exactly varies on many things – if you buy the DLC and/or play through the game modes and unlock them. You get a ton to start with, then have another tier of stars you can unlock by spending in-game VC or via the DLC pass.

If you’re looking for someone though, they’re probably here. Joe Gacy? There he is! Jacy Jayne? You bet! Eric Bischoff? Why not!

Then there’s the Mania mode. If you didn’t buy the mega unlock DLC, you can unlock a who’s who just by playing through the showcase. This is how you get the Steamboats, Warriors, Angles, and an array of Cenas and Wyatts into your roster.

You also get five bonus characters for ordering the mode – Mania 33 Charotte, WM 6 Macho King, WM 22 Mysterio, WM36 Ripley and WM 30 HHH. These haven’t released yet.

If you ordered the deluxe women’s cover because you’re me, you get two more – Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley ‘17 versions as seen in the Mae Young Classic.

And if you preordered, you get the Nightmare Family Pack – Elite Action Figure Cody Rhodes, Undashing Cody, Stardust, Dusty Rhodes and Billy Graham. You also get a MyRise card of Pharaoh, a very good boy.

Quite a lineup, right? You can unlock a few more by laying the MyFaction mode – Elite John Cena and ‘09 Sheamus, for example – and I have a feeling they’ll sneak more in as the year goes on.

And of course there’s the DLC. Were set to get the Dudleys, CM Punk, Sandman, Terry Funk, Headbangers, Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Hart, Post Malone, Sensational Sherri, Pat McAfee and his goons, Carlito, Dragon Lee, Jade Cargill, Kairi Sane, Lyra Valkyria, Michelle McCool, Nia Jax, DDP, Lex Luger, Great Muta, Iron Sheik and Mr. Perfect. Hell of a lineup minus the McAfee gang, and I even understand that from an advertising basis (the amount of promoting they do on their show for the game will be crazy.)

It’s hard to argue against it being the best roster for a game just from girth alone. I think this one also did the best job at catching the best assortment of NXT superstars. There’s still a good bit missing, from Tatum Paxley to Von Wagner, but the roster is more present than ever.

Looks and Sounds:

It looks great. Most of the superstars are spot on and the dozens of arenas look good. Entrances are impressive and they’ve caught the little things, like Xia Li’s animations.

The hair physics – especially for the women – are still a bit wonky. Sometimes very wonky. They haven’t mastered the art of making words match up with lips, which is why we often see the ring announcers from behind.

That’s right, ring announcers. In addition to Mike Rome, friends of Peacockery Alicia Taylor and Samantha Irvin have made the game and it adds so much. I’m biased of course, but especially getting Samantha’s unique announcements (Chelsea Greeeeeeeeen) is a plus that adds to the realism.

Commentary isn’t bad. A week in, I haven’t had too much repetition and Cole, Graves, and Saxton’s work is mostly smooth and natural. I’d love to see them take the next step next year and have all three commentary teams.

The music is all there and it sounds great. Post Malone’s additional song choices aren’t for everyone, but it is a vibe to start up the game and hear Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where Your Eyes Can See.”

The other little touches are mostly delight. Camera flashes flash when you do big moves. You’ll get crowd chants like “Rhea’s gonna kill you.” The best thing to me is that the crowds are era-specific. If you’re at WM 3, the fans have shirts of Hogan, Andre and the Dragon, for example. It’s a nice little touch.

MyFaction:

MyFaction is the mode that gets the most hate and I get it. It’s the mode where the micro transactions hit. You complete set matches and collect cards and virtual currency. Want better cards? Spend that currency or real currency.

Maybe I’m ruined by modern games throwing missions for V-Bucks at me, but I kinda like it though. The Weekly Tower gives you five matches to complete and you get different things for it. It’s an easy little time waste.

This year the added bonus of unlocking wrestlers across other game modes is an added incentive to use the mode. There is a locker code to unlock Elite John Cena, for example, which is the Mattel Eite action figure of John Cena. I’ve gotten the card of ‘09 Sheamus, aka “plenty of limes” Sheamus which unlocks him, his music and his parts across other game modes. Shield Rollins and an alternate Trick Williams exist as well and probably some others we won’t discover until later.

MyRise:

MyRise is the story mode, with a story each for the male side and female side of the roster. I’ve only played the male side (yes, I picked the wrong one first accidentally).

In the male story, you play as a create-a-wrestler being thrust into the main event roster after Roman Reigns relinquishes his title. I won’t ruin the story much beyond that, but I’ve enjoyed the mode. I’ve also enjoyed the extra things – you go be a guest on The Bump! The voice acting is 50/50. Cody for example is great. Dominik… he can read!

Playing through these modes also unlocks creation items as well as other arenas. Some are uniquely created for the game like international locations and high school gyms but they’re all pretty cool.

Showcase:

Ah yes, the granddaddy of them all. The most stupendous event of all time. WrestleMania. Corey Graves does a good job weaving through the parts of WrestleMania history that we can legally or contractually weave through, skipping over about half the Manias.

A lot of this is done with archival video footage, which is cool but also a pain in the ass because of censoring. Old logos are blurs. Former Presidents (Trump and Tunney) are blurred. Personalities we didn’t pay for the rights to are blurred, from referees to Mean Gene to Jim Ross. In one of the modes, Vince’s head taking up half the screen is blurred. It’s jarring at time and makes you wonder if there was a better way to do this.

The gameplay is your usual showcase gameplay. You play through select matches and have to perform exact tasks to advance. Throw your opponent into the northeast ringpost and press X to do so-and-so! You can win the matches without doing these to unlock the wrestlers, but to unlock the arenas you have to complete every single task.

It’s not a bad mode. Once I lowered the difficulty down to my level (easy) it became bearable and easy to work through. The blurred footage is probably its biggest barrier.

Universe Mode:

Universe Mode is basically career mode. Pick a superstar(s) and play through. I chose Rhea Ripley because I am nothing if not predictable. I’m only four matches in as it’s the mode I have just started to try, but I can see it being interesting. I’ll report more in my followup.

MyGM:

I’ve also done very little with this mode. You pick one of a number of GMs – think Bischoff, Stephanie McMahon, Teddy Long – and draft your roster. You plan out shows, from matches to promos to promotions, and try to put on a better show than the other GMs.

All I’ve done is the draft and the first show. I enjoyed the mode last year, but the shiny new unlockables are the opening draw for me. Well flash back to this mode next time.

Online Mode:

I’m going to be real with you – I suck at playing with others online. They’re great. As just mentioned, I put the game on easy mode. I am no competition for online play. I’ve tried one game and got my ass kicked, but it worked fine.

The creations community is phenomenal. If you want a fully fleshed out version of basically any wrestler or celebrity, you can find it here. There are some amazing content creators out there making wrestlers on par with the 2K team. Just make sure you sort by “most downloaded” and “highest rated” so you get the good ones.

The same goes for the other creations options. You can find basically any arena you want – WWE or beyond – as well as titles, signs, and you name it.

Creation Mode:

I haven’t dove into this at all. I will. But not yet. Clearly there’s a lot to do.

Regular Gameplay:

Of course, you can just play. There is an insane amount of different matches you can work up, from one to eight participants. From falls count anywhere to Hell in a Cell, Mixed Match Challenge tag matches to backstage brawls and from Elimination Chamber to Royal Rumble, it’s here. War Games in its modern day variation is here as well. You can run a thirty-person gauntlet match if you’d like.

Three new match modes are the focus this year and I’ve tried two of them. Sorry, Ambulance Match. Maybe next time.

The Casket Match is pretty self explanatory. Throw your opponent into the casket and close it. This is done in the same manner of pressing buttons to get submissions. It works well.

Special Referee allows you to be, you guessed it, referee. I enjoyed this more than I expected. You count, you disqualify, you be a pain in the ass if you’d like.

I have two gameplay complaints this far and I think both will probably be addressed in future patches. The submission meter goes crazy quickly and if you’re not smashing buttons right when it appears, you might lose quickly. The referees are also a little slow to get in position and start counting. They also like to stand in front of the camera sometimes.

Final Thoughts:

There was a lot of hype and a week in, it has lived up to it for me. I’ve explored a few modes and feel like there’s a lot more to explore.

The WrestleMania mode is fun if not a little annoying, while MyRise has been a blast. I’ve enjoyed MyFaction as well.

Gameplay is smooth and there are so many wrestlers, moves, and arenas that I have yet to feel like I’ve been playing the same thing over and over. A week in, I haven’t even really just set up regular matches because I’ve been doing the unlock modes.

Yes, it’s better than Fight Forever. No, it’s not a fair comparison.

The game feels fresh and has a current roster while also having loads of legends at your fingertips. You can play anywhere from the COVID WrestleMania arena to the Slim Jim-saturated Halloween Havoc arena.

I give it a recommend. If you’re on the fence, wait until it hits a sale. It will.

I’ll check back in a with a followup in about three weeks when I’ve dug even deeper.