It hits different is the tag line for WWE 2K22! I have been playing WWF/E games since I got WrestleMania Challenge on the NES for Christmas back in 1990. WWE 2K20 was an absolute mess of a game and I have to be honest, 2K since they acquired the license from THQ have not done much to impress me at all and 2K20 was the culmination of that.
How to Download WWE 2K22
You can download the game from a digital shop. Click on the Download button at the end of the review and choose your platform.
The Game Review
It was so badly received and sold so poorly that they took an entire year off to try and make WWE 2K22 as good as they could. I can tell you right away that this is the best WWE game since 2K acquired the license the better part of a decade ago! The last two games had gotten so bogged down and so “technical” that they were starting to verge into sim territory and not be fun as a result.
They have greatly stripped things back here and streamlined the controls. I will say that the controls did take a while to get used to. However, there is a hilarious training mode with Drew Gulak that will teach you the ropes. This new “basic” way of controlling the game makes things far more fun, it is now closer to a pickup and play style of game. Yet, there is also a combo style system here too which adds a bit of depth as well.
It is kind of hard to explain, but it is the most fun WWE game I have played since WWE 2K16. It was well documented that WWE 2K20 was a bug-ridden mess, but with WWE 2K22, I have yet to encounter a single gameplay bug. I have just been having a great deal of fun with it and that all stems from this new casual control system.
There is a great selection of game modes in WWE 2K22, but there are three main ones that I want to talk about My Rise, MyGM and Showcase, there is also MyFaction and Universe Mode too. As you can see, this is a game that is absolutely stacked with content and that is not even counting the multiplayer offerings!
MyRise is a mode where you create your own wrestler, either male or female, and try to achieve superstardom in the WWE. MyGM mode is a mode many of us have wanted back for over a decade at this point. I will say that MyGm is very, very basic, perhaps too basic if I am being honest, but I do like what they have done here and they have a solid ground to build on for the next game.
Showcase Mode is a real mixed bag. On one hand, I love the idea of Showcase Mode, playing through the career of a WWE Superstar (Rey Mysterio in the case of this game) is a lot of fun. However, the AI in this mode makes it more frustrating than fun. They constantly reverse your moves and doing some of the objectives can get very, very annoying.
The presentation of the game is great, this is the best-looking WWE game since 2K took over the WWE license. The hair finally looks decent and the character models are the best they have ever been. Much has been said about the roster, but I think there is a decent ratio of current to legends in the game.
I am very happy with WWE 2K22. While it is not a completely brand new game even with the year off, the year off has certainly given them time to fine-tune things and make it fun. It is stacked with content and if you get into the multiplayer aspect of it, this is a game that can easily keep you entertained until the next WWE game comes out.
