Wwe 2K22 Review - a Revolution Spoiled by Disappointing Modes

Our WWE 2K22 review discusses how it’s a solid foundation for the series’ future while also a disappointment because of Universe and MyGM.

This is the next instalment in the mainline series from 2K and Visual concepts. Yuke’s are now fully gone and 2K21 was avoided so the developers could rebuild the game’s engine and combat.

The end result is an enjoyable and polished plate but with missing ingredients that will leave fans frustrated.

WWE 2K22 review – entrances and graphics

The most notable difference between WWE 2K22 and the disastrous 2K20 is the graphics and entrances. Every wrestler was whacked by the ugly stick in 2K20, but now most of them look photo-realistic and move like charismatic entertainers instead of stiff animatronics.

Roman Reigns arguably has the best entrance with wise man Paul Heyman, but almost everyone looks superb. Long hair sways and hangs onto shoulders realistically, and there are life-like expressions from Sami Zayn rolling his eyes to Seth Rollins prancing to the ring.

The only unfortunate aspect is that the skin on some legends and some of the female wrestlers looks plastic. Most of the women look great, but Mandy Rose and Trish Stratus are pretty unflattering compared to their real-life counterparts.

Another big difference is that the camera follows wrestlers as they make their way to the ring. This provides a presentation almost on par with WWE television, and fans will be thrilled to hear that belts do not clip through clothes such as on Edge’s jacket.

What a manoeuvre

Visual Concepts completely rebuilt combat and it’s the perfect balance between arcade and simulation. It feels strange at first because muscle memory will have you vexing inputs from 2K19, but it’s fast and smooth once you become familiar with the controls.

Combos sound daunting, but this is not Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. Most wrestlers have the same combos available just with different moves at the end of them, and it’s easy to bluff your way through combinations by smashing light and heavy strikes.

The only issue with the gameplay changes is irish whips. You now have to enter a grapple before you can push an opponent in a specific direction. This means you can no longer pull off running irish whips into the ropes or turnbuckles. It slows down the gameplay and moving in a specific direction is way too cumbersome.

There are also no more reversal limits. This is a godsend for many fans, but you will need to play with the sliders if you want a challenge as it’s far too easy to reverse even on legend difficulty.

Returning fans from prior games will notice major changes with the camera. You cannot change the default camera at all, but you probably won’t have the desire to revert back to older games as the new direction is brilliant. The camera follows you when leaving the ring, it cuts to close-ups for specific moves so they feel really powerful, and it doesn’t make the ring feel small even in multi-man matches like a Royal Rumble.

Unfortunately, while the gameplay is excellent, the commentary is still terrible. Hopefully, we get NFL legend Pat McAfee in future instalments, but for now, we have to put up with the world’s most boring trio: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton.