By Chris Jackson

PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

WWE 2K22 served as something of a reboot for the long-running series, with an all-new engine under the hood providing updated gameplay and visuals along with a level of polish that hadn’t been seen for several years. 2K23 builds on last year’s well-received foundations to create an even more robust experience, taking several strides forward in pretty much every way possible.

Almost 180 WWE Superstars are included in 2K23‘s roster, with more available as DLC and additional character models unlocked during gameplay. If your favourite isn’t available, an expanded character creation suite – along with the now-ubiquitous online community creation feature – allows you to create almost anyone you’d care to mention, all playable across the game’s impressive array of match types and game modes.

The centrepiece of this year’s instalment is Showcase mode, which focuses on John Cena’s 20-year career. In previous games, the idea of this mode has been to step into the shoes of a designated wrestler and play through key matches from their time in the squared circle, but there’s a slight twist this year. Instead of controlling Cena, you play as his most notable opponents, with the man himself (in a rather nifty suit) narrating a bit of backstory before asking you to try to beat him. The matches you play through are based on actual events, with objectives mirroring their real-world counterparts, occasionally seamlessly transitioning between gameplay and actual footage from the matches in question. After working through a dozen or so matches, there’s a rather goofy reward that long-time fans (or those familiar with Cena’s most well-known catchphrase) will get a good laugh out of.

If you fancy putting a newly-created Superstar through their paces, MyRise includes two story modes that follow rookie wrestlers (one male, one female) through their WWE career. The ability to import an existing custom character to step into the shoes of the mode’s protagonists is a welcome addition, saving the hassle of creating a brand new one if you’ve already spent a few hours on perfecting your own creation, but very little else has changed here since last year’s edition. Pick up quests / storylines in the backstage hub area, which eventually lead to a match with your storyline rival before returning back to the hub and instigating another kerfuffle with someone else to lead into another match. Some of the stories are more fun than others (and some are decidedly less so) and there isn’t a whole lot of depth to the mode as a whole – like with this year’s Showcase, it’s fun enough to play through, but it doesn’t offer much in terms of replayability – when you’re done, there aren’t too many reasons to return, but there’s certainly plenty to sink your teeth into elsewhere.

Along with all of the expected match types, from one on ones to tag matches to multi-person brawls, gimmick matches, Royal Rumbles and so on, this year’s big addition is the inclusion of War Games matches, where two rings are placed side by side and surrounded by a gigantic steel cage. The individual members of three or four-man teams enter the match at regular intervals, often bringing weapons into the ring with them, causing absolute carnage until all participants have joined the fray, at which point the match officially begins and can only be won by pinfall or submission. Things get really frantic as team-mates run around both rings trying to break up pins to keep the match going for their team, and the possibilities for high-flying moves (off the cage and between the rings) and weapon attacks make this one of the most chaotic but fun new match types seen in a WWE game for years.

Universe mode allows you to either follow any chosen roster member as they participate in a series of recurring shows and PPVs (or Premium Live Events, as we’re having to call them these days), working their way up the rankings, earning title shots and generally being the best they can be. There’s also a sandbox mode in which you’re able to customise the rosters of each TV show, edit matches and rivalries, customise the look of each show and modify a host of other options to create your ideal WWE universe. Along very similar lines, MyGM mode puts you in charge of running one of WWE’s flagship shows, competing against up to three other general managers (which, in a nice touch, can be controlled by either human players or the computer) to come up with the most gripping ratings-grabbing storylines and take your brand to the next level. Book matches, instigate rivalries, manage your budgets and Superstar contracts, draft wrestlers between brands, and use Power Cards to play dirty tricks on the other GMs to mess up their next show. Much deeper than 2K22‘s GM mode, and with a wider variety of match types, there’s still a little way to go before this really comes into its own (championship titles can only be contested in one on one bouts, for example, which drastically cuts down on the amount of potential headline match-ups), but the more expansive options that are available mean that this is by far the most engrossing GM mode in quite some time.

If the simulation side of things doesn’t quite suit your tastes, 2K22‘s MyFaction mode returns for another outing, allowing players to build a deck of cards which represent wrestlers who are used in a variety of matches where victory rewards the player with in-game currencies to spend on new packs of cards or upgrading existing those that are already owned. With weekly towers offering limited-time rewards, daily login bonuses and countless objectives to work towards, MyFaction is just as addictive as it was last year, giving almost endless motivation to keep playing.

Aside from the usual quirks that have been present in WWE games for many years now (the odd issue with the game’s physics, a slightly outdated roster due to the cutoff point during development and a handful of other minor foibles), there’s not a whole lot to complain about. 2K22 was a solid game in its own right, but WWE 2K23 successfully takes a few steps forward, making it a more than worthwhile investment.