With WWE being purchased by TKO Group Holdings in September last year, we are now living in a new golden era of professional wrestling entertainment. Not only is Vince McMahon out of the picture, but CM Punk is back in, and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is on the board of directors. It’s crazy times for the WWE on the road to Wrestlemania 40, and Visual Concepts have lined up the perfect release window for the latest iteration in the long running series from 2K, so let’s take a look at what’s new and whether the story can be finished in WWE 2K24.

Before we get into analysing each of the game modes, let’s have a talk about the controls. WWE 2K games and poor, clunky controls have been synonymous for many years, but since Visual Concepts took a break in 2021, releasing the over-the-top WWE 2K Battlegrounds instead, the past two games have improved greatly. WWE 2K24 expands even further, and we can report that controlling WWE Superstars hasn’t felt this good in a long time. It feels real, it feels tough, it feels right. The reversals, blocks and dodges are still hard to master though, meaning you may find yourself lowering the difficulty if you want to just have some casual fun. Signatures and finishers look better than ever, with WWE Superstars setting up for their biggest moves in the most animated way we’ve ever seen in wrestling games. Combine all this with unprecedented GM, referee, and run-in involvement, a new backstage environment involving cars and massive ladders, there’s a lot to explore in WWE 2K24.

The main menu of WWE 2K24 provides easy navigation to every game mode. Starting with MyFACTION, the trading card team-building mode where you complete challenges to build your ultimate four-person faction has been revamped with a new, better, ranked online quickplay mode. Faction Wars 2.0 has been revamped and includes more real-world factions like Judgment Day and The Blood Line, and Visual Concepts has told us that themed card packs and goals will continue to roll out throughout the year. There are three different virtual currencies to be aware of in MyFACTION mode with only one that can be purchased using real money. Points and Tokens are awarded for completing matches and challenges, and if this year’s mode is anything like previous years, enough grinding can get you a top tier faction without having to spend any real money, as long as you keep playing it throughout the year.

Exhibition ‘Play’ mode is as expansive as ever this year, featuring new and iconic match types like Ambulance Match, Casket Match and the highly requested Special Guest Referee Match. If you’re not keen on grinding, faction building, and spending real-world money then this mode allows you to create any match with any stipulation that you can think of. Universe mode is also back, now featuring expanded Rivalry actions such as run-ins, Money in the Bank cash-ins, new cut-scenes, double title matches, and more. Create your own dream WWE Superstar roster, feud or championship reign in this weekly episodic program where you become WWE Creative. Die-hard WWE fans could spend hundreds of hours in Universe mode, while casual gamers can enjoy seeing what it’s like to put a WWE show together.

The next two options from the main menu are story modes. 2K Showcase… of the Immortals will take you through the history of Wrestlemania from where it all started in 1985 to last year when Cody Rhodes didn’t finish the story. Now, don’t worry – you won’t be going through every single match of every single Mania. In fact, 2K Showcase skips a few shows altogether, including the first two, instead focusing on the biggest matches in WrestleMania history. Matches like Hogan vs Andre. Like Rock vs Cena. We found 2K Showcase was actually a great extended tutorial mode, as it forces you to perform certain manoeuvres if you want to complete all the goals to earn all the unlockable items, i.e. WWE Superstars, arenas and more. That said, there is also a Performance Center in the options menu, allowing you to practise every move for every WWE Superstar.

MyRISE is the other story mode featuring two unique rises. Unleashed tells the story of a woman rising to the top, while Undisputed pits a ‘Dark Horse’ wild card superstar into a tournament for a vacant WWE Universal Championship. While we can’t (and don’t want to) spoil anything from these stories, they were a lot of fun to play through and filled with nostalgic moments featuring Legends and active roster superstars. There are a lot of ‘what if’ scenarios that play out, giving WWE fans the opportunity to experience certain stories that will never happen in real life. Both stories have different paths which will lead to different matches with different superstars, meaning you will need to play through them more than once to witness everything WWE 2K24 has to offer.

Finally MyGM mode returns and has been expanded further, with a large list of General Managers to choose from. In the past, MyGM mode in the past has been quite limited with championships and match types, but this year there is plenty to do in this mode so if you’re looking for something other than wrestling, now might be a good time to check out this mode again. Elsewhere in the menu, players can find extensive superstar, entrance, victory, move-set, championship, money in the bank, arena, show, sign, image, video and arguably most importantly match creations, giving you the tools you need to create yourself, or perhaps a superstar from another company or even another sport and put them in your dream match settings. We can’t wait to see what some fans come up with this year, and assume that a lot of the missing WWE Superstars will soon be available to download from the community.

The roster in WWE 2K24 has to be one of the biggest ever, and it is set to become even larger with post-launch DLC. Not only is there an extensive Raw, Smackdown and NXT roster, but the list of Legends goes on and on including stars like The Undertaker, John Cena and The Rock as they have changed through each era. There are also seven different referees on the roster this year which helps add to the immersion. The only big relevant name missing from the starting roster is CM Punk, but we assume he will be added in one of the early post-launch DLC packs. We were also surprised and disappointed to not find Finn Balor’s ‘The Demon’ persona.

The character models look just that little bit more realistic with each iteration of the WWE 2K franchise, and this year there has been a noticeable improvement to the animations and the way the WWE Superstars move around the ring. They still sometimes ping off the ropes awkwardly and there are clunky moments where an opponent is recovering from the mat and you can’t attack them, but for the most part matches flow quite well and the superstars animate in ways like you see on TV. Visual Concepts has also reported that over 90% of facial expressions have been updated.

International rapper, singer, song-writer, producer, actor and WWE fan Post Malone has taken the role of Executive Soundtrack Producer for WWE 2K24 and we must say that it has to be one of the best soundtracks in some time. Along with his own latest songs ‘Chemical’ and ‘Laugh It Off’ at the head of the table, Posty has also brought tunes from artists including Grimes, Busta Rhymes, Colter Wall, 100 gecs and much more. Post Malone is even set to join the WWE 2K24 roster in a future DLC, and we can’t wait to face him off against the likes of Logan Paul and Bad Bunny.

Our only gripe with the soundtrack is that the load screens are so quick on Xbox Series X that you often only get to hear the first few seconds of the song. Perhaps in future games the load screen music can cut into different sections of songs to mix it up a bit. Along with the amazing soundtrack, WWE 2K24 of course includes a huge vault of WWE Superstar entrance themes from the past and present, as well as voice acting from dozens of WWE Superstars including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, LA Knight (Yeah!) and much more.

In previous years, WWE 2K games have let fans down so much so that they skipped WWE 2K21 altogether. Giving the franchise a chance to rest has done wonders, and each iteration since then has been an improvement on the last. The MyRISE and MyGM modes are now solid, and all of the offline modes now feel complete, with a huge list of WWE Superstars, championships, arenas, match types, and more. WWE 2K24 gives you the opportunity to finish the story, even if Cody doesn’t next month. There’s something for every kind of wrestling entertainment fan in WWE 2K24, and with all the planned content still to come throughout the year, we predict you’ll be returning to this game a lot.

Rocket Chainsaw reviewed WWE 2K24 on Xbox Series X/S with review provided by the publisher. WWE 2K24 is also available on Windows PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. For more information, head to the official website. Note: Online play was not yet available before launch, and therefore not included in the review.