Description

PlayStation 4 WWE 2K24

WWE 2K has steadily climbed the ladder of quality over the past two entries. A strong comeback in 2K22 saw initiative but meaningful improvements in 2K23, and the series is arguably the strongest it’s ever been. But a new year means another opportunity to retain the title for best wrestling sim or drop it to someone else. On the morning of the Royal Rumble last Saturday, I got to sample WWE 2K24?s notable new additions at a special preview event. That includes the new Showcase mode documenting 40 years of WrestleMania, the new Ambulance Match type, and additional features added to the moment-to-moment action.

The documentary-style Showcase mode has been christened “2K Showcase?of the Immortals.” With Wrestlemania 40 close at hand, Showcase serves as a celebration of this milestone by letting players relive some of the most memorable matches from the event’s decades-long history.

The preview build offered three matches: Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude (Wrestlemania V), Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair (Wrestlemania XXXIX), and Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns (Wrestlemania XXXIX). There are plenty more, of course, that I can?t speak about, but 2K promises to reveal the full list of Showcase matches “soon.”

I begin with the main event of last year?s ‘Mania, Cody v Roman. After watching the obligatory well-produced vignette welcoming players to Showcase (narrated by commentator Corey Graves), I take control of Reigns ? backed by Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa ? and begin my task of reenacting the still-painful memory of spoiling Cody?s championship dreams.

As with previous Showcase modes, you?re given a series of objectives to complete, which consists of executing moves used in the real match. However, one big and much-needed improvement is that objectives now display the necessary button inputs to execute the required move. That means no more constant pausing to visit the menu?s move list to remember how to perform a standing corner attack or trying to decipher what positioning hitting a teardrop suplex requires. Now that I always knew how to do what was asked of me, I could better focus on actually pulling it off ? and the enemy AI doesn?t make it easy.

At one point, I initiate the new Trading Blows mini-game. Wrestling fans probably know this better as the back-and-forth ?boo/yay? punches. Striking involves holding down the attack button to fill a meter and releasing it within a highlighted area. Sometimes, a thinner gold area appears, and stopping the meter inside this trickier segment results in a more powerful strike. If you?ve played any wrestling mini-game, you know what to expect. Losing a Trading Blows battle leaves you in a stunned state, rendering you vulnerable to the opponent?s next move. It?s a fun way to game-ify one of wrestling’s biggest in-ring tropes.

From what I played, Showcase is the experience you expect. The mid-match transitions to real footage are still cool, and the video packages offer a fun reflection or entertaining history lesson for wrestling diehards and newcomers, respectively. I’m excited to see what the rest of the match line-up looks like, and Showcase will hopefully be a great appetizer on the real-life road to Wrestlemania.