WWE 2K22

Though it's hardly a tall hurdle to clear, WWE 2K22 is the best WWE 2K game since they started appending '2K' to the title. Much more than that though, it's the best wrestling game to come along in a long, long time and one which almost completely banishes everything that has been historically wrong with the franchise, while also managing to strike out in a bold direction for the series' future. Here's hoping that the likely return to the annual release schedule doesn't result in a lapse to bad habits and lazy innovation because, well, we've been there for the last ten years or so - and it isn...

WWE 2K22 is a solid effort that overcomes the problems of past years with ease, even if it will only appeal to a certain breed of wrestling fan.

A year off has truly been beneficial to the WWE 2K franchise – WWE 2K22 is by far the best entry in the series yet. It’s been a long time since a WWE 2K game has had us so keen to jump into one match after another, and that’s largely thanks to the numerous gameplay improvements that have been made. Add in a welcome layer of polish and a selection of modes that have all bases covered, and you have a winner. There’s still a little room for improvement, but if you’re a wrestling fan, consider this a must-have.

A simplified gameplay loop, a thrilling Showcase mode, and a surprisingly deep MyRise mode combine to make WWE 2K22 one of the strongest entries the franchise has seen in a while.

If you’re a fan of the WWE 2K franchise, then without a question you’ll be happy with what WWE 2K22 has to offer. It feels like a true return to form, and although that suggests it isn’t an evolution of some sort, it certainly has enough to shake up the franchise and for the best. It’s accessible, it’s fun, and most of all, it’s well polished in most of its gameplay. A year extra was definitely the right call, one we hope continues on with future releases.

WWE 2K22 isn't going to surpass the likes of "No Mercy" and "Here Comes The Pain" in terms of fan favourite wrestling games, but in our opinion, it's the best WWE 2K game to date. The gameplay is improved, the graphics are improved, and there's enough content here to keep you busy for a long time, even if some of the new modes haven't quite reached their potential yet. There are still some unwanted series staples here, such as clunky collision detection, but for the most part it's obvious how much progress has been made across the board over the past couple of years, and it's now up to 2K to t...

If there was a word to summarize how fans will feel with this title, it would be Surprised. Surprised to see how much love and care was put into this title, from entrances to the sheer amount of things for you to customize within the world. Visual Concepts knocked the ball out of the park with this entry, but there are a few little things that hold it back from being the greatest of all time.

It’s been a long, strange trip for WWE 2K22. Fans were leary of 2K acquiring the rights to the WWE games in 2014, with some going as far as to declare the beginning of the end for the franchise. After years of mediocre installments that only worked to frustrate a once dedicated fanbase, things came to a head with WWE 2K20 – a game so utterly, embarrassingly, broken that for the first time in two decades, we weren’t going to receive a follow-up.

“WWE 2K22 rallies from 2020's near-fall with a robust, if imperfect pro wrestling simulator.”

WWE 2K22 is a better game than WWE 2K20. There, that's the headline. For a variety of reasons 2K20 was released in such a disastrous state that we called it "a comedy horror title" in our review at the time. Surely taking stock of just how much the WWE license is worth to them, 2K and beleaguered developer Visual Concepts made the brave decision to skip WWE 2K21 entirely, before going on to push 2K22's release back several months. The result is a title that's a welcome return to form, boasting significant gameplay tweaks and practically bursting at the seams with content – almost to a fault. S...

Going back to the criteria I brought up earlier: has WWE 2K22 convinced me to rebuild my custom roster? Hesitantly, I guess so. The actual in-ring gameplay is solid, and MyGM mode is a little addictive slice of management. I want to be hopeful and believe that 2K and Visual Concepts will take the foundation they created and finally build a wrestling game that doesn’t just feel like a bunch of compromises. However, that’s exactly what I’ve wanted for years, but they just keep hitting the same.

The wrestling series returns with an entry that fixes plenty of wrongs, but it's far from perfect.