WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

[ChaseB]

WWE 2K20 was nothing short of a disaster at launch. In fact, I reviewed WWE 2K20...

Written By: Phil Varckette

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[cattlekiller]

Ty for the review. Ive been following the game for a while now, hoping 2k can finally go tot he next level on this series.

On another note about wrestling games in general. How come wrestling game are designed to be a fighting game? Fighting and Pro wrestling are very different. Fighting you go against your opponent to show superior skill. In Pro wrestling you work with your opponent to show a great match. You would think someone would think outside the box, or logically and design a Pro wrestling game on Pro wrestling and how it actually works. I'm guessing not many developers would want to create something from the ground up like creating systems on ,when to sell, when take a rest and apply a rest hold, when to have a comeback, when the crowd isn't interested and do something dramatic.

[Junior Moe]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

I agree with this review. The controls will take a while to get used to. I still dont fully grasp the controls but I have been having a good time playing on easy. I had a fun back and forth match as Booker T against Nakamura. What made it fun was that I had no idea what was coming. Nakamura was in between one of his combos when I managed to hit my finisher on him out of nowhere. The rope break saved him. We go back to fighting and he hits his special move on me out of nowhere. I thought I was done, but I kicked out. It was fun just not knowing what the heck would happen next. I didnt realize that I never used my signature move so I hit him with that and won the match. It was so fun and tense.

The only bug I have noticed is Eric Bischoff glitching during the NWO four man entrance.

WWE2K22 is a rock solid 8.5 for me right now.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[scottyo60]

My only frustration is the showcase requires combo moves to the objective. I get why, but it ends up repetitive when I can only guarantee one to two combos I know I can pull off. 

Everything else is a solid A. Even in my showcase gripe, JBL vs Rey is one of the top 5 matches I've ever had in a game. Multiple times yesterday I was standing up out of my chair tense at how the match was going.  There's been squashes, epic battles and in between. It's new, but I'm thinking this will be 2K14 levels of replaying. 

[SlyBelle]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Can anyone comment on if the game still requires "mini games" to do certain moves, submissions, or break out of things? If I remember correctly in past versions, you had to line things up in a circle or something versus just using buttons and such. It just wasn't something I enjoyed doing. If those things no longer exist, likely would be very tempted to purchase.

Hopefully I am not misremembering this stuff being there and not confusing with another game

[cch99]

Thanks for the review.  Unfortunately for me it just solidifies that there is no way I am buying this game until the price comes way down if at all.

Biggest reason.  Besides Superstar mode In Universe(which I won't ever use) no meaningful updates to it.  It sounds like it's almost exactly the same even down to the fact that cutscenes aren't triggering for everyone.  That's a legacy bug from a game that I thought was being redone from the ground up.  Universe mode being really the only thing I play besides Royal Rumble matches with my son, I was really hoping they would do more with it.  I've been waiting for a while for them to really make Universe mode something incredible but it has mostly stayed the same for so many years the lack of diversity in storylines and random events, etc make it boring for me.  I look at Universe mode the same as Franchise modes in other sports game and they are all being given less and less attention it feels like.

Take that along with the fact that GM mode has such limitations, length-wise and reading from a number of sources that it's pretty bare.

New controls obviously seem like a plus.  I am curious how the difficulty will ramp up as people play more.  It always seems that within a month or two people struggle with making the game difficult.  

Also weight detection seems like it's still an issue.  For me, the negatives outweigh the positives by a ton.

Appreciate the review and it's helped solidify my decision.  I usually only use reviews when I am on the fence about a game so this and some other's I have read have been helpful.

Hope those who get the game enjoy it.

[Fiddy]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Not dead yet, but will it be? Will this be the last WWE 2K game we ever see?

[Stormyhog]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Does the game not support HDR? I have an HDR tv but it doesn't switch to it. I know I can force the PS5 into HDR by having it always on but I don't like doing that if it's not supported.

[scottyo60]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

CCH one thing to maybe get you back on the fence is MyRise. Especially if your son is playing. I had to pull myself away from it after 5 hours yesterday and force myself to stop. I played so much of it, other modes haven't even been touched.

It reminds me of Smackdown 2/Raw 2 in so many ways in terms of the immersion just keeps coming. I'm not a big fan anymore of the my player modes, but I felt like the kid sitting on the bed playing Smackdown 2 on that mode. I think so many of us, that's what we've chased. That mode has found it.

[PVarck31]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Does the game not support HDR? I have an HDR tv but it doesn't switch to it. I know I can force the PS5 into HDR by having it always on but I don't like doing that if it's not supported.

It's not supported, unfortunately.

[PVarck31]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Not dead yet, but will it be? Will this be the last WWE 2K game we ever see?

I sure hope EA doesn't get the WWE license. Just when the game is hitting it's stride with a big improvement too. Let's hope word of mouth brings back old players and it sells well enough for WWE keep 2K on board.

[Stormyhog]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

It's not supported, unfortunately.

Ok thanks appreciate the reply.

[IHateDuke32]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

Game looks fun. Im just called waiting for more reviews and impressions to see if the game runs any differently on PS5 vs Series X so I know which console to buy it on. But I had a lot of fun with 2K19, which was my first wrestling game in many years. I gave up on this series after 2K20, like I’m sure most people did. This looks really fun though

[SlyBelle]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

They brought back the old button mashing mechanic. So you rapidly mash the displayed button til the meter fills then you break free.

Thank you. Plan to buy then.

[PeoplesChampGB]

Re: WWE 2K22 Review - 'I'm Not Dead Yet'

This is going to be my review for the game. I've had a bad week because of my dog passing away so this review may be a little bit of rambling and maybe all over the place, so I apologize in advance. I have the PS5 nWo edition. Bare in mind that I never played 2K20 so my comparisons will be with 2K19. I also play on legend difficulty.

Match play- As the videos you have prob seen suggest, you can start out in a tutorial mode with Drew Gulak giving you lessons on the updated controls.

Striking: You have light and heavy strikes. Light strikes are your standard punches and kicks and, from my experience, never knock the opponent off of their feet. Your heavy strikes generally knock the opponent to the mat.

Combo System: I LOVE the new combo system because I believe it gives your wrestler so many different strings to moves. You can do up to a four button combo, stringing together light and heavy strikes along with a grapple move. Your combo always ends on the grapple move.

EX: light, light, light, heavy or light, heavy, heavy, grapple or any combination of those three options.

Grappling: You now have differentiation in the grapples and it is not tied to your opponent staggering. You have light and heavy grapples. You have the option now of irish whipping your opponent and having three or four different options in regards to rebound attacks between your light and heavy strike button and your grappling button. I have noticed that my MyRise character has a grapple move in his heavy strike rebound attack so it is possible to allocate a grappling move to an attack button.

Your reversals are much like 2k19 in that they have a timing window but I feel that the windows are more "randomized" than in 2k19. For instance, I instinctively knew when to reverse in 2k19 and it could get into a reversal fest real quick. With 2k22, the CPU seems to go on the offensive and just string together moves to just straight kick my *** sometimes where I feel that I am really on the ropes. If you are not able to reverse the start of the move, you still have the option to use breakers. I haven't really gotten the rhythm of them yet, but essentially you guess if the opponent is doing a heavy or a light strike or grapple and you can reverse. These breakers I find really important to stop combo strings, but they work with grapples too.

I know you are thinking that this could lead to a reversal fest real quick, but I haven't found that to be the case. In fact, I find that the gameplay is a mix of HCTP and No Mercy. The gameplay is sped up from 2K19 imo, and it's slower than HCTP but that's the best comparison I can draw it to. I also feel that the game is No Mercy esq because you and the CPU have the ability to turn the match around at any giving point. I will give you an example below but it will contain spoilers of My Rise.

Spoiler

I was in the King of the Ring tournament in the semi finals against Riddle. The start of the match I was straight kicking Riddle's *** and thought it was going to be a squash. Hit him with my signature and finisher and he kicked out right before three. He suddenly turned it around and just straight dished it out on me, to the point I thought I was going to lose. He hit me with a finisher and I kicked out pretty easy. He then strung together some combos, and a mixture of strikes and grapples and hit me with another finisher and I barely kicked out. He finally tried a roundhouse on me, which I ducked and hit my finisher for the win.

Signatures and Finishers have their own separate meters, so it makes the match feel less "scripted" I guess you'd call it. No more "hit my signature, hit my finisher" as you can get a finisher without a signature, but you always get a finisher if you hit a signature. I hope that makes sense.

As far as weapons are concerned, I feel they did a good job differentiating the different weapons with different matches. Example, with spoilers from My Rise:

Spoiler

After winning the KOTR tourney, I feuded with King Corbin over who was the real kick of the WWE. It ended up that King Booker was in my corner against Corbin and Sheamus in his corner. Under the ring was actually KOTR scepters which I thought was pretty cool.

Overall, the actual match play of the game is stellar imo. I do have a couple of complaints, though small.

1) The hit detection on strikes and running strikes can be improved a good deal. It's not a gamebreaker, but it can get annoying.

2) Once the weapons get to the edge of the ring by the apron, they are a pain in the *** to pick up due to L1 button being the button to pick up the weapon. It also is the button to grab the ropes to set up a plancha.

This year you can also make any arena a Thunderdome, and my long awaited request was put in. You can actually run the Rumble in any arena. World War 3 here we come.

GM Mode

I wasn't expecting to spend much time in this mode due to the limitations in their first year but, I have to say, I am quite enjoying this. First, my suspicions were correct in you can clone Paul Heyman or whoever you want as a CAW and you can choose them as GM. So, for instance, if you wanted Bischoff as GM, you can do it. You choose your superstars, your show, your rival show and GM. There are only the men's single titles and women's single titles so I just use my imagination and keep up with the tag division and run with it.

The good news is that you get bonuses for running PPV theme matches at PPVs, you also get bonuses for pairing bad guys with good guys, different classes of wrestlers, and booking different types of matches. I have found myself getting very competitive in this mode and getting immersed in it rather quickly. And yes, the CPU also gets cards they can play as GM which can help them and handicap you.

My Rise

This is the mode that I have been investing most of my time in. It is pretty much HCTP season mode mixed with No Mercy. There are multiple storylines you can choose from and depending on what you choose, you have some matches with optional objectives that branch and some matches where you have to complete that objective. You can also try traveling to different areas to find different storylines to take part in. You can also activate storylines via your social media and/or DMs. Your popularity rises as well as you can alter your personality to become heel or a face. I'll list off some of the storylines I have done below. SPOILERS

Spoiler

I came up through the Performance Center and beat HBK and Road Dogg. Then Road Dogg said I was too cocky and challenged me to take on Randy Savage. I actually fought him at the Summerslam 88 arena (which made no sense but who cares? I loved it) and then I fought Austin and Rock in a handicap match.

I then went to NXT where I defeated Finn Balor for the NXT title. I, however, lost it in my first title defense back to Finn and was called up to Smackdown!

I then feuded with Rey Mysterio after I stole Eddie's lowrider from WWE Archives which culminated in a two out of three falls match.

I then tagged with Naomi in the Mixed Match Challenge. After we won, we became GMs of Smackdown! for the day. I chose to put myself in the WWE Universal Title Match against Roman Reigns. I had him on the ropes but then Jey Uso interfered and cost me the match. I then beat him in a No DQ Match.

Then I participated in the KOTR tourney and won which I talked about above.

I then won MITB after I lost the qualifying match to Corbin but after Rey Mysterio was injured, I won a four way match to take Rey's spot. After winning the MITB briefcase, I cashed it in on Roman just to have Kevin Owens (which was explained later that he won it the year before) cashed in his as well and pinned me to win the title. We then had a triple threat match which I won so now I am the Universal Champion and now I am starting a feud with Edge

Along the way in My Rise, you will meet up with people that you started with in the Performance Center and prob want to kick their asses. Depending on the storylines you choose, you unlock certain things.

Spoiler

For instance, because I did the KOTR storyline I unlocked the KOTR arena.

CAW: Haven't messed with this much, though I know Chainsaw Charlie's entrance is in. A lot of attire stuff from WWE 2k19 is still in the game. EX: Savage's WM VII attire.

Universe: Haven't messed with this at all yet, though I know you can change between Superstar and Classic while actually in the universe. So it's never set in stone. There is not a NXT UK show by default in the calendar.

My Faction: Haven't played this yet because the servers are wonky.

Overall: This game is fun. It is the best WWE game I have played since Here Comes the Pain. If you liked HCTP and No Mercy, I would definitely recommend this. If you were a fan of WWE 2k19, it is a learning curve with the new controls but I'd recommend it for you. I can see myself playing this game all year until next year's version comes out. I really hope it does and EA doesn't take up the license because this foundation is solid. You can tell take took the full two years to revamp the game.

Random Tidbit: Elias comes out and actually sings to the crowd on stage like an actual concert before he comes down to the ring.

EDIT: If anyone has any questions, I'll be more than glad to answer.