Visual Concepts built themselves a proper platform to build their wrestling world around when it released the Rey Mysterio-centric WWE 2K22 in March last year. As such, they have released the newest addition to the WWE family with 2K23, and with the confidence found in their last entry, we can now see some solid additions to the foundations laid by its predecessor.

Many of what made last year’s game well-grounded was its implementation of the combo system, allowing for a more dynamic flow to each match type. Combos start with light attacks, but then hitting the heavy attack button or the grapple button after a couple of light attacks initiates many of the wrestler’s signature combos they might use in real life. It feels very much the same in terms of feel to last year’s combo system, but the implementation of it is now much smoother. For example, certain wrestlers might pull off a different kind of combo depending on where they are in the ring contextually, as is seen when I would normally hit a running knee as Triple H but ending up with a clothesline over the top rope if I’m performing the combo near the corner.

There are minor adjustments that have been made to the reversal system too. Now we have dodging implemented. When an opponent goes to strike or grapple you, moving the stick and the press of the right shoulder button has you bobbing and weaving away from any offense, opening them up to your own attacks in a way not to dissimilar to a Punch-Out!! game. Additionally, if you can work out what type of attack your opponent will use when they grapple you, hitting the same button as them allows you to power out of a grapple before they can even pick you up or Irish whip you. These are only minor adjustments but add some depth to what already was a deep system.

General gameplay as well as the new additions are all detailed in 2K’s incredibly well-implemented tutorial system. This year, Xavier Woods replaces Drew Gulak as your mentor in the Performance Centre. The tutorial is presented as Xavier’s own “mini-Showcase mode” where you get to beat up perpetual heat magnet Baron Corbin. The mode becomes meta when Drew Gulak comes back to avenge his own Tutorial Mode removal, and the final match-up in the mode is a neat dream scenario where even Michael Cole and Corey Graves commentate on the proceedings, with a tongue-in-cheek manner. This is some of the best tutorial implementation I’ve seen in a game.

The overall presentation of the game is overall more polished as well. There seems to have been a lot of work in the backend of the game, as menu transitions and loading times has drastically reduced from last year. Most of the character models have been improved with time and the commentary itself, while not completely natural sounding, is getting improved with every iteration. Glitches occasionally occur, such as hair going through bodies and some minor animation glitches when grappling, but after playing through every game mode and playing over 100 matches, these were all minimal and didn’t detract too much from the overall experience.

Of course, with every iteration of 2K’s WWE, we get a number of different modes to explore. New to this year is War Games, made famous in WCW and recently brought back to WWE through NXT and the Survivor Series. The developers have stated that they faced challenges implementing War Games and have been working on the gameplay for years to ensure that it works smoothly before releasing it in the game. Even with the additional ring and surrounding cage, they have done well to allow the wrestlers in-game to move through the arena as intended. For the most part, the whole match-type works really well.

The only detriments to the War Games match I can really find, are that there is still a maximum of 4v4 matches in the whole game, meaning you can’t properly recreate actual War Games matches which are traditionally 5v5. The other being that you can basically destroy your opponents to the point where they’re half dead by the time the final entrant comes in and the match officially begins, this led to matches being over within a minute or two. I’m not sure how you would balance this properly, but this was a minor gripe that I had with this mode.

The 2K Showcase mode is back and involves the career of John Cena. Instead of having the greatest victories as seen in past games, this particular Showcase Mode is a deep dive into John Cena’s most famous losses. In every match, you play John Cena’s opponent and work your way through the objectives and live action cutscenes until you overcome John Cena. What I liked about this mode was the ability to utilise a number of different wrestlers instead of spending twenty matches with the same character, it is a good tool to teach how to play at a deeper level and feels like a great next step to go through after completing the tutorial mode. What it lacks compared to last year is any kind of commentary or narration throughout the match, so having the background music play over the whole match with no one voicing the proceedings felt very strange.

MyRise is back and with it comes a more detailed story to progress through. If you have a male superstar, you’re transported to The Lock storyline, where you are essentially ‘The Chosen One’ and must prove yourself against all the other WWE Superstars that become jealous of your instant success. If you’re a female superstar, you progress through The Legacy storyline, where you are the niece of a famous (made for the game) WWE Superstar from the 2000s. Similar to The Lock, you must make a name for yourself as other people believe you’re only successful due to your lineage. You progress through the story using social media to build your name in the wrestling universe while clawing your way up to be the top talent in the WWE. With the ability to import your own Create-A-Wrestlers or ones you have downloaded; this mode is even better than last year.

Other modes that are back but also remain very much the same as last year are Universe Mode, MyFaction and MyGM modes. Like most of the game, there are some minor improvements that add overall polish, such as adding more belts to MyGM mode and adding more depth to rivalries in Universe Mode. These generally perform as you would expect but it is good to see additional attention being paid here as Visual Concepts work to improve each mode every year.

The roster is quite possibly the most comprehensive yet. With over 200 characters to choose from, there is no shortage of personalities to get into the ring with. The actual WWE roster has been relatively stable for almost a year now, making the current roster in 2K23 a good representation of what we see on television.

Visual Concepts’ WWE 2K23 builds upon the solid foundation of its predecessor with an overall smoother implementation of the fighting mechanics, a more polished presentation, and an almost perfect implementation of War Games. The limit of eight wrestlers at a time is a shame as it doesn’t allow an accurate representation of War Games, as is the lack of commentary or narration in John Cena’s Showcase mode. Despite these minor flaws, WWE 2K23 is highly recommended and is one of the best games in the whole 2K series of pro-wrestling games.