WWE 2K25 review: A solid annual improvement despite its cynical new game mode

After delivering three solid wrestling games in a row, the spectre of the atrocious WWE 2K20 is fast becoming a distant memory for 2K Sports, now that it’s made it to WWE 2K25.

With its previous three games, developer Visual Concepts won a metaphorical Buried Alive match against its 2K20 offering and has since laid a foundation that ensures that as long as it doesn’t mess around with things too much, the actual gameplay in the ring will always be excellent. That hasn’t changed this year, with WWE 2K25 delivering another solid grapple ’em up.

What has changed is the suite of modes and match types available to the player. While most of the new additions are welcome, it’s the game’s major new experience, The Island, that will prove most controversial (but thankfully avoidable).

First, the good. WWE 2K25 doesn’t rock the boat too much when it comes to its in-ring mechanics but the few things it’s introduced are by and large positive. I could take or leave the return of chain wrestling – a sort of mini-game where you and your opponent jostle for momentum – but the new ‘Giant’ archetype adds an interesting tweak to some bouts.

Play as a giant (be that Andre the Giant, Yokozuna, Nia Jax or what have you) and they’ll start with an extra energy bar which acts like a sort of shield. Many moves won’t work against this shield, with opponents falling to provide enough ‘irresistible force’ (to quote Gorilla Monsoon) to topple your unmovable object.

Eventually a giant’s shield will be depleted and they’ll act like a normal wrestler, with all moves affecting them. To make up for their partial invulnerability in the first half of the match, however, they also can’t perform most acrobatic moves like top rope dives, so it’s a completely new type of strategy to fight with and against.

Watch our WWE 2K25 review video…

Intergender matches may not necessarily reflect the actual show – WWE may be starting to slowly step beyond its current PG era, but it still considers men versus women to be a major no-no for now – but in a medium like video games where Chun Li and chums regularly put the boot into their male counterparts, the decision to remove gender restrictions in WWE 2K25 opens up the game to lots of interesting match-ups, from the obvious (Rhea vs Dom) to the quirky (I put Alexa Bliss versus the Wyatt Sicks, in an attempt to free her from the inevitable angle coming up).

There are a few new match types this year, which are nice for variety’s sake even if they don’t particularly transform the game in any major way. Bloodline Rules matches start as simple one-on-one bouts but each player can trigger up to three run-ins from their allies, ultimately turning things into a 4v4 brawl. Underground matches, meanwhile, look cool because they take place in a rope-less ring with fans standing around it, but otherwise play mostly like a normal match.

Meanwhile, expansions to the Guest Referee match (which now works in more than just one-on-one matches) and the Brawl match (which now supports eight players and includes new areas like the NXT parking lot and the brilliant WWE Archive area) may not technically increase the number of match types, but certainly add more possibilities to those existing ones.

The existing game modes have also seen some changes in WWE 2K25, most of which are also positive. This year’s Showcase focuses on the Bloodline, featuring a number of real-life and dream matches starring such family members as Roman Reigns, the Usos, the Wild Samoans, Nia Jax and High Chief Peter Maivia. Each match is superbly introduced by Paul Heyman and while the final fight is a slight letdown it’s still an essential playthrough, not least because of the hordes of characters, arenas and alternate outfits it unlocks.

The MyRise story mode has a brand new plot, and this time you can play the same story as either gender. It wouldn’t be fair to give much away but it’s typical WWE storyline stuff and the addition of CM Punk – who arrived as late DLC last year but is now part of the main roster here, giving Visual Concepts the ability to implement him in MyRise – is good stuff.

The backstage management focused MyGM mode now features online play for up to four players in WWE 2K25, and the endless Universe mode adds branching promos, the ability to stretch PPVs over multiple days, WrestleMania style and the like. Again, none of this is particularly groundbreaking, but they’re all smart improvements that make each mode better than last year to some degree.

It’s the game’s MyFaction mode – WWE 2K’s version of EA FC Ultimate Team – that took up most of my time in last year’s game, and it continues to be a lot of fun as long as you can resist the constant pressure to buy virtual currency (VC) to spend on character packs.

The Proving Grounds feature from last year’s MyFaction – which saw players fighting through a series of matches for rewards – has been ditched in favour of a ‘new’ feature called World Tour. The concept here is that you’re travelling around various locations, but the execution is still similar to Proving Grounds in that you’re taking on groups of themed matches with various stipulations. The rewards seem to be more frequent and there’s an attempt to put a bit of a plot in there this time, so it’s still a welcome tweak.

It’s not all good news in MyFaction: 2K’s nonsense with its Persona cards is back in WWE 2K25, meaning you can unlock special versions of wrestlers with classic or unique costumes but will likely have to burn through countless packs or jump through numerous hoops to get them. Acquiring every one of them will be practically impossible again without spending the economy of a small country, and since they unlock across the entire games too this means your roster will forever have locked characters in every mode, even if you buy the $130 Bloodline Edition of the game. They’re white whales, aimed at financial whales.

That all said, the actual mode itself is compelling, and there’s a real sense of satisfaction to be had in taking your time with it, playing a little a day, taking on its timed challenges and slowly building a powerful faction without spending a single penny. As long as you can hold your nose tightly enough and avoid the bad smell caused by the microtransactions you’ll still have fun in MyFaction, and – to be frank – they’re so comically overpriced that ignoring them doesn’t take much effort.

“As long as you can hold your nose tightly enough and avoid the bad smell caused by the microtransactions you’ll still have fun in MyFaction, and – to be frank – they’re so comically overpriced that ignoring them doesn’t take much effort.”

It’s not MyFaction but the brand new mode in WWE 2K25, however, that will cause eyebrows to raise higher than the Rock’s. The Island is WWE 2K25’s take on the notorious City mode in the NBA 2K series and offers an open-world environment with a heavy focus on pay-to-win mechanics.

The idea is that you’ve travelled to Roman Reigns’s ‘Island of Relevancy’ in an attempt to win a WWE contract, and while there you have to take on a series of quests and challenges to earn various unlockables. The Island itself is an interesting environment and feels more like a WWE theme park with various buildings based on different superstars, such as Rey Mysterio’s Mask Shop.

However, putting aside the gameplay issues, which are merely frustrating – finding your next quest can be an annoyingly slow trek even when sprinting, you can’t invert the Y-axis camera and the story is forgettable fare mostly told through static dialogue screens – it’s the fact that the Island seemingly has more shops than anything else that perfectly highlights its main issue. Simply put, if you’re not willing to pay up here, you’re going to have a lesser experience.

While you will doubtless eventually earn cosmetic items for your character in various challenges (some of which will likely be timed), the vast majority of clothing in The Island is found in these shops, and they all cost VC. If you’re the sort of person who will happily spend $5 on a pair of virtual Nike shoes then you’ll be in whale’s heaven here, but if you’re instead the sensible type the whole thing will just make you sad. The fact that 2K released a press statement celebrating the 10 fashion brands it would include at launch speaks volumes about its intentions with the Island mode.

Worst of all is that the VC used in The Island isn’t just for cosmetic purposes, it can also be spent on stats upgrades for your character. Since so much of The Island is based on online multiplayer, it’s as clear an example of pay-to-win as you’ll find in modern video games. Either you start with modest stats and grind for weeks or months until you’re up to a higher level, or you just chuck your wallet at the screen and start kicking rumps and taking names.

The best thing about The Island is that you can ignore it. Take it at its name and let it float away in isolation, and everything else about WWE 2K25 is brilliant for devotees of the squared circle. MyFaction can still be enjoyed (albeit with a little patience) without spending extra money on it, and there are a bunch of other lengthy single-player and multiplayer modes that will ensure you’re still playing by the time WWE 2K26 rolls around.

With each year that passes, the WWE 2K series threatens to slide the way of NBA 2K by introducing more intrusive mechanics with each annual edition, and the Nike and Adidas deals in The Island and the promise that one upcoming wrestler DLC pack will include three NBA stars does nothing to assuage those fears. As long as this sort of thing remains exclusive to something like The Island, however, and doesn’t infect the rest of the game, we’re still happy to recommend the overall package in spite of that blemish.