PLATFORM: PC, PS4 / 5, XBOX ONE / SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: MARCH 8TH (EARLY ACCESS FROM MARCH 5TH)

As is the norm for many sports (or, in this case, sports entertainment) titles these days, the fourth instalment of the “new” WWE 2K series under developer Visual Concepts, WWE 2K24, arrives just twelve months after its predecessor. With such a seemingly short time to make any huge groundbreaking changes to the formula that earned WWE 2K23 so much praise, can 2K24 do enough to make it a worthy addition to the series, or will last year’s game suffice for another year?

The biggest new (sort of) inclusion is the return of four match types that haven’t been seen in a WWE game for around a decade. Casket and Ambulance matches (last seen in WWE 2K15 and, weirdly, the DS version of Smackdown vs Raw 2010 respectively) require you to throw your opponent into said object and close the lid / door to win the match. The casket sits right next to the ring and can be used to throw your opponent onto and into, and can be climbed onto for diving moves to the floor. The ambulance can also be climbed, and is large enough to allow for grapple moves to be performed on its roof, giving matches a unique look and allowing for some creative use of each wrestler’s movesets.

Also returning, this time from WWE 2K14, are Special Guest Referee and Gauntlet matches. Any character from the main roster can be selected to don the stripes and act as either a fair or not-very-fair-at-all referee in a limited variety of 1-on-1 matches, with the ability to toggle between referee and wrestler mode giving you the freedom to either restrict your input to referee-type actions or switch over to your chosen character’s full moveset. If you interfere too much in the match though, there can be consequences… Gauntlet matches, formerly known in the game as Slobberknockers, come in three varieties – standard, eliminator, and turmoil. In the standard version, you’ll need to defeat a series of wrestlers one after the other without taking a break, while in an eliminator, two wrestlers start and more enter one by one at regular intervals, with the match continuing until there’s only one winner left. Think of it as a Royal Rumble with pinfalls and submissions instead of the usual “over the top rope” rule. Lastly, in a turmoil gauntlet, all participants start in the ring at once, leading to… well, turmoil, as bodies fly all over the place and you’re never quite sure who’s about to attack you next. Gauntlet matches can involve up to 30 wrestlers, and the rules can be tweaked to turn off disqualifications and add a handful of other stipulations, allowing you to tune the matches to your liking.

All four match types are great fun, with the return of Gauntlets being a particularly welcome addition, but the changes don’t end there. The seemingly endless MyFaction mode returns with its now-familiar setup – you’re given a starter pack of cards which represent male and female wrestlers, and from this pack you set up a faction of four wrestlers to compete in matches against AI-controlled teams. The more you play, the more cards you earn, allowing you to swap the members of your team for any other wrestlers you’ve acquired. Cards of higher rarities increase your payout multiplier, rewarding you with extra tokens for winning a match, which you can then spend on more packs of cards. 2K23’s weekly towers and proving grounds modes return, along with a new mode that challenge you to play through five stages consisting of multiple nodes that offer various types of gameplay and matches. These nodes eventually lead to a 4-on-4 match against a “boss” faction at the end of the stage, and completing all five stages rewards you with a bunch of credits to spend on new cards. With daily, weekly and lifetime challenges to work towards, online faction matches against other players, and hundreds of cards to unlock and upgrade, it’ll keep you going for hours.

Armchair bookers who want to run the WWE themselves will be pleased to know that 2K24‘s MyGM mode – where you take charge of a WWE brand and compete against up to three other human or AI-controlled General Managers in a battle for brand supremacy – allows you to use any of the special gimmick matches that are included in the main game, removing 2K23‘s limitations and giving you the freedom to book wild and crazy rivalries that can be settled in much more entertaining ways. Wrestlers now have additional stats to keep an eye on and perks that allow them to perform better, making it more important than ever to keep an eye on the Superstars signed to your roster, and the introduction of inter-brand trades and talent scouts adds further depth to the mode. Matches are still limited to four wrestlers though, so you won’t be booking any multiman gauntlets, 8-man tags or War Games matches, but things are definitely moving in the right direction.

If you want to book some WWE shows without dealing with the hassle of budgets and contracts, Universe mode’s open sandbox allows you to decide what happens on WWE’s weekly TV shows and Premium Live Events. There haven’t been a huge amount of changes made this year, but the addition of 2K24‘s new match types brings some extra possibilities to your whims and fancies and some tinkering with the mechanics behind wrestler rivalries means that feuds are more engaging than they used to be. A long-standing favourite for many players, it might not have seen as many improvements as other areas, but Universe mode is still the sort of thing that you could easily sink dozens of hours into.

Elsewhere, a streamlined MyRise mode provides two separate storylines for one male and one female wrestler. Instead of starting from the bottom and working your way to the top, this year your newly-created character is already a recognised star – in the male story, you’re given a shot at the WWE Universal title pretty much straight away, while the female is known for founding a hugely successful indy company and is now being given a shot in the big leagues. Each story involves making choices that send you down distinct pathways, with plenty of unique characters, arenas and clothing items to unlock. With WrestleMania reaching its 40th instalment this year, 2K24‘s Showcase mode focuses on 40 years of the Showcase of the Immortals, featuring 21 matches from throughout WrestleMania’s storied history. Curiously bypassing the first two events, matches start with Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat’s classic WMIII encounter, along with Hulk Hogan’s iconic bout against Andre the Giant, and take us all the way up to the present day. New characters and arenas can be unlocked by meeting objectives in each match, and there’s a fun bonus right at the end too. Similar to last year’s Showcase mode, it doesn’t last too long and there aren’t too many reasons to replay after you’ve got the unlockables, but it’s a fun inclusion nonetheless.

And let’s not forget about the standard exhibition mode where you can play endless matches to your heart’s content, and the insanely comprehensive creation suite that allows you to create wrestlers, movesets, entrance and victory poses, championship belts, Money In The Bank briefcases, arenas, shows, crowd signs and entrance videos. Over on the technical side of things, everything seems pretty solid, at least on the Series X. Where previous games have suffered from bugs and glitches, 2K24 appears to be mostly free of anything too serious, save for the odd chin clipping through a mask or an occasional arm not quite grabbing hold of whatever body part it was supposed to be grabbing onto. As an overall package, the amount of content crammed into 2K24 is almost insane. A handful of excellent returns, an updated roster, and a wealth of quality of life improvements make WWE 2K24 a fantastic addition to the series, even for those who are still getting their money’s worth from last year’s game.