WWE 2K22

While they started strong with 2K14 (even though THQ was there when the game was being made), the folks over at 2K has been struggling a bit with the series. 2K15 being the most divisive and each game afterwards, at best, being "pretty good, but not much more than that", it was clear there needed to be a new direction. 2K19 was the beginning of that new direction, as it seemed to be the culmination of what worked from each game was nearly perfected...which also meant the game also had some places left to grow. But other than that, 2K19 was the first game in the series in years that was truly great. It was just a matter of time where the developers would add on to that excellent formula and make something truly spectacular.

Come 2019, that rug was violently pulled when Yukes decided to stop developing WWE games; which, from what I've heard, happened because 2K were too involved by not letting Yukes do what they truly wanted to forward the series. So instead, Visual Concepts stepped up to the plate for the awaited 2K20. And it undid absolutely every single thing each WWE 2K game did right, as it was all samey and, much more noticeably, broken. You just flat out couldn't play it without running into a game ruining glitch. Sure, it could be comical and hilarious at times, but then you remember that the game was $60. It was such a disaster, that Visual Concepts had to take an entire year off, because it was obvious they didn't really know what they were doing at the time. While the likes of "2K Battlegrounds" was a slightly engaging time, it wasn't a real alternative to a true WWE 2K game as it was basically a mobile game ported to consoles; still WAY better than 2K20. So after 2 and a half years after 2K20, did they remedy their wrongdoings?

For the most part, absolutely. Visual Concepts has proven that the time off was worth it, as they managed to make a WWE game that's better than most of the ones made by Yukes beforehand; though, because of the aforementioned circumstances with 2K butting in, I don't blame Yukes for. But damn, this is one of the most genuinely fun wrestling games I've ever played. It seemingly mixes the simulation gameplay we're used to with the more arcadey feel of earlier "Smackdown vs. Raw" games, and it's the best gameplay in a WWE 2K game yet. And the modes, overall, are all great. Whether it be the expansive and awesome look of the legendary career of Rey Mysterio in this years 2K Showcase, the customizable and powerful Universe Mode, the long awaited return of GM mode, or the immensely improved MyRise with a better emphasis on progress, what you've got here is a game that is bursting at the seams with awesome content; with the only throwaway being MyFaction (not a bad mode, just one that doesn't appeal to me). Everything in this game is, for the most part, a massive improvement over any other WWE 2K game out there. Really, the only thing that might be a downgrade is the roster, as there's a few faces that didn't make it that were in 2K19, but even that complaint doesn't really work, because the DLC and community creations fix that problem and then some.

Overall, the game has all of the makings to be a perfect wrestling game. But, there's one issue that keeps it from reaching that status, and it's the optimization. For a game that's this polished, it sure likes to soft lock and crash from time to time. Any time you want to create a group image or make any major edits to any creation, there's a big chance the game will infinitely load, with the only thing you can do being to quit the game and start it back up. Granted, the group images DO save successfully, so at least it wasn't for nothing. But the fact that we have to do this at all is annoying, as well as sometimes heartbreaking; like making a group image in the middle of creating a complex arena only for the arena to be forever gone because the game decided to give up afterwards, which happens pretty much 100% of the time when doing so. This makes the act of creating stuff feel risky and just not as smooth as previous games before 2K20, which is a damn shame. Also, a tiny bit of the Creation Suite can sometimes stutter and lag; though, they at least work fine, so that's not anywhere near as major as the infinite loading bug, which is obviously a leftover from 2K20. I tried uninstalling it and reinstalling this game, but it did it again, so that, as well as the fact that each game before 2K20 never did that, tells me that the framework still needs some work. To be fair, every game ruining bug has been squashed, so I still think the game is well polished. It's just not super well optimized. Though, with all of the truly awful bugs gone, it gives me hope that they will iron out the bugs present here for 2K23, which will make it that perfect wrestling game if they keep up this pace.

Other than that, this game is great. Even with its less than great optimization, everything else manages to be so fun and so great on their own, that I'm addicted to it. If you're a wrestling fan, you need to get this game, ESPECIALLY if you have the patience for it; which you will need. But once you have it, this stands high above the rest as one of the best wrestling games in a long time. The only thing Visual Concepts really needs to focus on now is to keep ironing out the bugs and to not get complacent. Yes, they've made an excellent wrestling game here, but there's still work to be done. I'm a proponent of the idea that a delay of a game is always a good thing, so if they must wait until March of next year like they did with this game this year, then so be it. Even if a tiny bit later, if they improve upon this great formula, 2K23 could be legendary. But as is, 2K22 is good enough for me to say that WWE games are awesome again-something I haven't been able to say for years. It really does hit different.

WWE didn't have try too hard to beat their previous video game outing, considering for the first time since I have been playing I can remember they had to skip an entire year without making one. Well, they didn't have to yet somehow after the disaster that was 2K20 they might have lost a lot of revenue. Lucky for them the new generation console was on its way giving a chance to redeem themselves. I remember playing WWE attitude first then moving on to the smackdown series which later became smackdown vs raw. Since then I would say there has been some improvements with regards to graphics and most noticeable improvements in gameplay. However I still find that THQ have the title for being the best wrestling video game makers and let me tell you why! Since playing more recent instalments I can't help avoiding major mechanical problems, problems I never came across in the early THQ games. There are still odd glitches here and there although the extra year taken has fixed many more. The main issue for me is the guessing game of which button your opponent will press, if you guess correctly you will counter their move. I don't like the step up to be honest, it makes thing turn more into luck than skill. THQ had it right back in the day with the R2 to counter a grapple and L2 to counter a Strike, now we see ourselves trying to guess three buttons. Often if it isn't broke don't fix it and whilst the game isn't terrible like 2k20 it still is a long way from previous 2000s wrestling games. So do I constantly rely on triangle or do I take a chance on square or circle? What's more is the pin fall, submission setup is also considerably weaker. Rather than battering a controller to kick out or playing people online who could have turbo boost controllers; surely they could have stuck with the kick out metre with the zone? Another suggest would be rotating the sticks in submissions?

Okay so that first part is much to do with what I don't find good about 2k22 yet juxtaposed with the positives this is still a worthy game. The variety of game modes make this barrels of fun for hours on end, The showcase, The Gm mode, the universe mode, My rises are all positives accompanied by an incredible roster. Most my favourite are already in the game or can be brought per win. There are various extension packs to buy others wrestlers which I don't agree on and never will, I'm always of the mindset of once you buy a game everything should be available to unlock for free. As I learn of AEW currently in the works of their own game by THQ I do feel WWE is finally starting to get competitive once more which can only keep them on their toes, that's good news.

Overall I still feel this isn't the best experience of playing a wrestling game I remember yet the nostalgia is nice. I would like to think they realise this whilst working on ways to improve it in the future. 2020 was a terrible year for WWE, I don't really watch it anymore as you lose interest when you get older however the games are usually a nice consolation to make up for it. Most of the ones I grew up watching are in the games so occasionally I will play one from time to time. If you like this type of game then you will prefer it to the previous, whilst if you played some of the old ones as long as me then you'll still be wishing a bit better.

I've been playing the new game, wwe 2k22 nonstop for the past two days, while playing, I've noticed quite alot of improvements, the graphics look fantastic, and the gameplay feels so smooth, I know some people would disagree with the new controls though. I have however noticed that alot of gameplay, is a copy and paste from recent games, which can be quite repetitive, however, I can definitely see an improvement from past games, my rise is fantastic so far, and universe mode is solid, I've seen a few glitches, but nothing compared to 2k20, my gm could be improved, however I am very happy with the game produced.

I decided to get it based on all the ads focusing on how the gameplay has been completely reworked. It hasn't in any meaningful way.

Recent additions had an increasingly prioritised focus on 'hit the reversal button at the right time to take control or you can effectively do nothing since you're dizzy or stunned'. All the cool abilities, in strikes and combos and grapples and ring-techniques were mostly irrelevant because it's all decided by quick timing with the single reversal button.

The supposed new gameplay seems to be the addition of extra combos and additional ways to do reversals... but none of that matters because it's still all about pressing the one, main reversal button at the right time. Such boring gameplay.

A minor additional frustration is with the special events. The very first one I tried had a challenge/requirement to put Batista on the top rope, assuredly near the end of the match since it was about the 7th or 8th challenge. But I couldn't find any information about how to put someone on the top rope. It's not clearly explained in the tutorial, nor any of the standard control pages, nor the wrestler specific pages. While trying and trying and trying, Batista eventually lucked out and pinned me.

Just as bad as any of the recent 5-10 expensive, annual rip-offs. Will they ever bring back the great gameplay from 20 or so years ago?

WWE 2K 22 is such a step up from the previous game. Starting with the gameplay, the matches feel smooth and realistic and the flow is so much better. Entrances look fantastic and the character details finally look like they're real life counterparts. Since playing this video game franchise starting back in 2008 with smack down versus raw, i've been through all the ups and downs with these games but this is definitely a fantastic entry and I hope they continue to build off of this impressive comeback.