WWE 2K24 review: Finishing the story has never felt so good

I was incredibly satisfied with WWE 2K23, but WWE 2K24 is on a whole different level. There are so many improvements, changes, and features that will make fans of any facet of the game satisfied, that’s for sure. From more management options in MyGM mode, an incredible pair of MyRise story modes, and of course, a trip through WrestleMania’s history, this is a must-play for any fan of Sports Entertainment. While the game is not perfect, it is nonetheless incredible.

WWE 2K24 brings the best of the WWE to life in a fresh, exciting new way. Whether it’s the little improvements, like the controls, to the improved cameras and storylines, it’s a breath of fresh air. Here’s what you have to look forward to as a wrestling fan when this game launches on March 8, 2024.

WWE 2K24 improves on the previous title in noticeable ways

Will Cody finish the story? Not if John Phoenix has a say-so (Image via 2K Games)

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It’s the little things that make WWE 2K24 such an enjoyable experience. Yes, the game is gorgeous, and of course, the new match types are fun to play, but it’s the minor changes that I appreciate the most. Perhaps the biggest change, the one that is the most important to me, are the controls.

I love these games, and have since the days of the PlayStation Smackdown titles. If you want to turn someone around, so you can rear grapple, for example, it’s as easy as flicking the right stick. Now they’re briefly stunned, and facing away, so it’s easy enough to snatch them up into a German Suplex.

If you throw someone into the corner, you can just press up on the right stick to pick an opponent up in WWE 2K24 and put them on the top turnbuckle. There are plenty of little changes to the controls that make the game so much more accessible. As a series that slowly adds more and more moves, move types, and ways to smash into your opponent, it’s nice that some facets of it are delightfully simple.

MyGM mode has expanded and improved to require more managerial work if you want to be on top (Image via 2K Games)

Another important set of changes have come to MyGM mode. There are so many new features and little quality-of-life changes that I can’t really put them all down. However, I want to highlight some of them, because they’re wonderful. Perhaps the biggest thing is that you can now trade superstars!

In general, there’s more managerial work to do in MyGM mode, but I love that. That’s the whole point of the mode! You can scout talent to find the right superstars for your current needs and the Superstar Journey feature is amazing too. It lets your Superstars earn XP and level up. Can all those jobbers you recruit wind up becoming legendary superstars? Sure sounds possible to me.

However, I am still disappointed that microtransactions persist in MyFaction. I get it, you need to purchase cards - I play MTG and Yu-Gi-Oh!, after all. But the ability to pay real money in a full-price game to get powerful cards faster feels wrong to me. However, there is a minor tradeoff. The various alternate gimmicks/outfits do unlock for other modes, once you have them here.

The Showcase mode delivers on some of WrestleMania’s biggest highlights

Don't let those Atlantic City Sweathogs distract you from taking it to the Warrior (Image via 2K Games)

As someone who has watched WWE and professional wrestling since the mid-late 80s, I’ve seen quite a lot of matches. While, on a personal level, I would have picked some different matches to showcase more wrestlers, I understand why these were picked. In this mode, you play through a wide assortment of matches from WrestleMania's history in WWE 2K24.

Perhaps the best thing about this mode is that it’s not always about winning the matches. You just need to complete the right objectives, and things wrap up, and you can move on to the next thing. It also unlocks a ton of awesome rings to compete in, as well as classic legendary wrestlers.

However, if you purchased the 40 Years of WrestleMania version of WWE 2K24, those characters auto-unlock, so you have a larger roster right out of the gate. This mode is so much fun, and far less frustrating than some past Showcase modes have been.

MyRise brings an entertaining story, improved over last year’s

What you do and what you say matters in WWE 2K24's MyRise mode (Image via 2K Games)

The most important part of any wrestling game to me is the story mode. 2K23’s story was serviceable, but I didn’t like the concept of “The Lock.” No matter what I created for my character, it didn’t really mesh well with the concept. However, in WWE 2K24, the male story focuses around an implausible, but entertaining What-If scenario.

Your character goes from a nobody to a potential WWE Universal Champion, and it’s up to you how you handle it. You can become a face or a heel, and your choices really seem to matter. I won’t spoil anything about the choices I made and what I did as I played, but I can assure you that WWE 2K24 delivered when it came to the story for both male and female characters.

I also really appreciated how deep the character creation was. It can feel incredibly overwhelming to build a moveset, but it’s the kind of thing I try to slot out a lot of time for. Having a combo system for your characters is another awesome thing - that way you can use specific chains of Light Strikes, Heavy Strikes, and Grapples to create hard-hitting, satisfying interactions in-game.

The graphics and audio in WWE 2K24 are superb

This is the most beautiful wrestling game to date (Image via 2K Games)

The graphics for WWE 2K24 have never been more impressive. I read that 90% of the character faces have been improved, for example, and I can certainly tell. There are some minor graphical issues and glitches that I noticed - for example, one time my world title belt spawned in my torso, as the camera panned away. Nonetheless, the actual looks are incredible with this visual design.

On a personal level, I’m not really crazy about Post Malone, nor am I really a fan of the music selected for the game - with the noted exception of Busta Rhymes. Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See is a hip-hop classic. Typically, I remove these from my Jukebox anyway, to avoid copyright strikes on YouTube or Twitch. While I’m not a fan of those artists, the audio quality is still exceptional, and you can easily customize your Jukebox to have whatever music in it you want.

In Conclusion

There can be only one King of the Mountain, and WWE 2K24 is it (Image via 2K Games)

With new match types in WWE 2K24, tons of DLC on the way, and plenty of depth to the character creation and customization, the title delivers where it counts. I’ve never played a wrestling game that felt as easy to get into as this one, while also having immense depth on the tactical end.

For the purposes of this review, I played on PC, and it felt amazingly well-optimized. The only time it ever felt slow was on the initial launch. That only happened when I had other videos going on another monitor, so I suppose it made sense. It looks great on both console and PC. If you were on the fence on picking up the game, I can tell you it’s 100% worth playing.