WWE 2K23 review – A step closer to becoming head of the table

WWE 2K23 is still not quite the quintessential wrestling game yet, but Rome wasn’t built in a day and Roman Reigns didn’t become the Tribal Chief overnight. Some extra polish, features, and modes are needed to soar the series to new heights, but, thankfully, 2K is not a million miles away.

From undesirable to undeniable

WWE 2K23 is a looker much like the many men and women part of the huge roster list. It doesn’t blow away 2K22 from a superficial glance, but the graphics are significantly better. The lighting is realistic, there’s an extra shine to entrances thanks to the addition of ray tracing, and improved muscle definition adds another layer of realism.

Nearly all the wrestlers look phenomenal. Cody Rhodes is perfect in his return to WWE video games, Rhea Ripley is bewitching as the goth mami everyone fantasizes about, and all the new NXT guys and girls look like superstars with Nikkita Lyons especially dreamy. On top of better hair and skin textures, each wrestler has much-improved facial expressions and mannerisms during entrances and matches.

Alas, not everything is perfect. While the visuals are nearly flawless, the sound leaves a lot to be desired. Commentary is still abysmal with Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and the metaphorical red-headed stepchild, Byron Saxton. Not only is the commentary still boring with rehashed lines and terrible jokes, but the crowd still doesn’t react good enough during matches. As with every other 2K game, the artificial crowd is still not close to replicating the real-life energy of a captivated WWE audience.

I came to play

While the graphics and visuals are stupendous, so too are the gameplay and matches. It’s basically the same gameplay as WWE 2K22, but everything is way more refined and polished. The wrestlers aren’t as stiff anymore, the ropes aren’t as flimsy, there are fewer no-selling awkward moments, and there’s lots of brand-new animations that add much-needed variety in reversals and kickouts.

Speaking of kickouts, the only new gameplay mechanic is a fresh pin system. This pin system requires players to flick the right analog stick up in time with a moving bar to successfully kick out before the one, two, three. It’s easy at first, but, after taking lots of damage, the bar becomes minuscule and rapidly moves back and forth. It’s not entirely ground-breaking, but it’s fairer and a lot better than breaking your controller by button mashing.

Cody Rhodes is perfect in his return to WWE video games, and each wrestler has much-improved facial expressions and mannerisms

Visual Concepts has tried refining fatigue and stamina in WWE 2K23. The idea is that wrestlers look and feel wearier the longer a match progresses. Sadly, the system isn’t good. Wrestlers are some of the fittest people in the world, yet Visual Concepts’ stamina system makes them feel obese and as though they’re running through pudding. The wrestlers punch in slow motion, they can’t run, they have to wait to execute finishers, and this all drags the quick and frantic gameplay down to a snail’s pace.

Fortunately, players can turn stamina and fatigue off in settings. These settings include the usual sliders that allow fans to improve upon the base difficulties, but this year there’s the addition of A.I. attributes for every single wrestler in the game. This is a huge feature that allows hardcore WWE enthusiasts to make each of the superstars wrestle even more as they do in matches and on PPVs. And this ultimately results in a more thrilling and realistic experience whether playing or spectating.

Be the booker

There are no new modes this year as there’s simply the return of MyGM, Showcase, Universe, MyRise, and MyFaction. Getting the bad out of the way first, Showcase replaces Rey Mysterio with John Cena for WWE 2K23. And, although the diversity in match mode is much better, the mode is still painfully boring. Commentary is replaced entirely with generic elevator music, completing objectives is a chore, and half the time it’s just watching slow animations transition to actual match footage. The only saving grace is one of the bonus matches that rewards players with a Super Cena that you really can’t see.

Away from Showcase, the other bad mode is MyFaction. It’s admittedly better than 2K22, but it’s still an NBA card game rip-off that feels out of place. There is online gameplay this year, but it’s meaningless and entirely pointless as it’s restricted to just quick-play friendlies. Live events and weekly towers are completely offline, and so too are Faction Wars. This makes everything about MyFaction a waste of time, especially since it wants players to spend real-life money on cards to simply play against the A.I. For that, you got no chance in hell.

It’s the same gameplay as WWE 2K22, but everything is way more refined and polished with lots of new animations

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Now that the bad modes are out of the way, we can finally talk about the good stuff. Thankfully, MyGM is a huge improvement over WWE 2K22, and Universe mode has finally received a significant update. Regarding MyGM first, there are way more match types. It’s now possible to have triple threats and fatal four ways, and managers can now book stipulations such as backstage brawls, falls count anywhere, iron man, and submission matches.

There’s also the addition of Hall of Fame challenges, and the mode greatly benefits from a seasonal model as opposed to last year’s 50 weeks. It’s a shame there’s no online multiplayer, but local co-op is possible, and there is the option to compete against three other managers instead of just one. There’s still the obvious absence of trades and storylines from the good old SmackDown Vs Raw days, but MyGM is close to perfection.

Then there’s Universe. This is the sandbox mode that is supposed to keep fans continually coming back to WWE 2K23 throughout the year. Most of it is the same as when it was first introduced in WWE 12, but there’s now the inclusion of Rivalry Actions. This allows players to select a cut-scene to happen before or post-match.

A lot of cutscenes are available to choose from, and the system is fantastic as it allows fans to play the role of booker while also creating storylines. More and newer cut-scenes will need to be added to WWE 2K24, but, right now, the system is a welcomed addition for everyone on Twitter who thinks they could book better than Vince McMahon.

Lastly, MyRise is an enjoyable story mode with a few unlockables to earn. There’s The Lock storyline for male superstars, and there’s The Legacy for female custom characters. Both are immediate improvements over WWE 2K22 as they skip the done-to-death performance center. The Lock is an indie darling followed by a documentary crew, meanwhile, The Legacy is the daughter of a fictional hall-of-famer. Each has memorable storyline moments with witty and fully self-aware dialogue, and the voice-acting performances from the WWE wrestlers are way better than the infamous wooden and droll vocals in 2K22. Sami Zayn deserves special mention as he completely steals the show with his hysterics in the opening scene to his in-game motion capture performance at the 2K studios.

Toxic Attraction

The worst aspect of WWE 2K23 that really needs to be improved post-launch and for the series moving forward is the online servers. They are horrendously bad. War Games is a brilliant new match type, but it’s impossible to enjoy online. Even with the best connection all opponents disconnect mid-match and are replaced by the A.I. It always happens during Royal Rumbles, it’s frequent in Elimination Chambers, and it happens in one-on-one matches, too.

There’s still no cross-platform multiplayer either, but 2K needs to focus on making the servers work at all before fans can even think about crying for crossplay. In its current state, WWE 2K23 may as well be completely offline except for community creations.

While the online servers are the worst aspect of WWE 2K23, community creations are the best and especially this year. 2K has significantly improved the skin textures for CAWs, and this means created wrestlers now finally look on par with the genuine superstars. With lots of talented and renowned creators part of the community, it won’t be long until players can add realistic CAWs of MJF, Bryan Danielson, Jade Cargill, and basically, the entire AEW roster before Fight For Forever is even released.

Also, fans can already download CAWs of released megastars like Mandy Rose who looks infinitely better than her WWE 2K22 model. The WWE video games really are the best for creations, and everything is just better than ever in WWE 2K23 from CAWs to advanced entrances to belts and arenas.

I acknowledge you

WWE 2K23 is one step closer to the quintessential wrestling game Visual Concepts can deliver. 2K22 laid the foundations for the series post-Yuke’s, and 2K23 is a refinement of nearly everything.

The graphics are nearly immaculate, MyGM and Universe mode have been heavily improved with new features, MyRise has enjoyable storylines for both male and female custom superstars, and CAWs can now genuinely look on par with the actual wrestlers in the game. It’s a shame the series continues to keep the boring Showcase instead of developing something new, and MyFaction is just a complete waste of time with online gameplay restricted to mere friendlies.

And, away from MyFaction, the online servers really need to be improved in the future as it’s currently impossible to play War Games, Royal Rumble, and many more match types online with anyone. Still, despite its few shortcomings, WWE 2K23 is a great and promising upper mid-carder, and the series is poised to one day blossom into a heavyweight juggernaut.

WWE 2K23 is available on PlayStation for PS4 and PS5, Xbox for Xbox One and Series X/S, and PC via Steam.

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