WWE 2K23 Reviews
My prevailing feeling on WWE 2K23 on the whole is that it’s a welcome, if small, step up. Nobody who is coming over from WWE 2K22 will really be wowed by anything here, but the cumulative minor updates, iterations, additions and improvements are all very good and very welcome. Your mileage will vary depending on how worthwhile an overall modest update to last years title is to you, but for my money the few dozen hours of excellent sports entertainment that the pair of new MyRise stories and the Cena Showcase provide are worth the price of admission on their own, and WarGames is the juiciest possible cherry on top.
Overall, WWE 2K23 serves its purpose. Anybody looking to play a fighting game with characters they recognize from WWE’s brand will get precisely what they want. Unfortunately, people looking for a unique fighting game and anyone feeling nostalgic for the great pro wrestling games of the past will be disappointed.
There is a lot to enjoy in this year's WWE2K23, and the amount of new content should please those who've already put so many hours into the last installment. There are still some bugs within the actual gameplay elements that have plagued the series for years, but with much fewer mistakes than WWE 2K22. The increased Creation options, the addicting blind packs and new online multiplayer of MyFACTION, and even the separate storylines added into MyRISE for women and men wrestlers. There is a lot going on this year and WWE2K23 is a great version for veterans and new players alike.
Maybe it’s just folly to even expect a developer to capture a moment in wrestling history that doesn’t change within weeks with a game, where playing it in stronger narrative times doesn’t feel like regression—good luck, then, to AEW’s perpetually delayed Fight Forever game—but there’s the distinct hope that WWE 2K23 ends up being a snapshot of a turning point for the company, where the characters being portrayed and people you can embody have become steady, reliable presences, still being rendered with this level of slavish respect. At the very least, if they’re still making these in 20 years, there’s gonna be a hell of a Showcase mode about it.
I think anyone that gets into a season sports simulation-style game understands what they are getting. You are paying to have the shiny new toy with some new bells and whistles and the hope that the changes made are enough to be worthy of your purchase, and I believe that is something Visual Concepts has accomplished with WWE 2K23. They have made the best of their time and really delivered on a beautiful game that was well thought out and created with reverence for their community of fans and the WWE Superstars they are putting in the game.
WWE 2K23 is a fun, and exciting wrestling sim. It boasts a decent variety of game modes, most of which have seen a few improvements. By far the standout is the Showcase mode, putting you in the boots of some of John Cena’s most significant opponents. 2K23 definitely does enough to be worth picking up, even if some more big improvements could have been made!
An improvement on last year's already firm foundations, WWE 2K23 continues the franchise's rebirth with steady improvements, beefed up game modes, and an epic recreation of WarGames.
But what will ultimately set 2K23 apart from other wrestling games is its massive creation suite. Create-a-wrestlers this year look as good as some of the WWE Superstars. And I can't wait to see what the community has in store for us casual gamers this year. Adding the ability to download player-created arenas is the icing on the cake. It's not perfect, but WWE 2K23 is the best game since the 2K name started being used.
It remains for the choice of each one if it is the best installment in the series, but it does surpass the previous one and therefore it is one of the best in many years. The important thing, however, will be to see if 2K Games takes advantage of already having a notable starting point to grow even more in the following versions. Especially when, as facts said, it is finally about to be challenged.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
WWE 2K23 is undoubtedly a step forward, and Visual Concepts and 2K deserve great credit. It has a fun gameplay mechanism, various match options, and branching narratives that guarantee a lot of playthroughs. Simply put, if you are a wrestling fan, you don't want to miss playing WWE 2K23, as it can be quoted as the best WWE game ever made to date.
Building from its successful return with WWE 2K22, the wrestling series is back with even more modes, features, and match types. An incredibly expansive roster will let players step into the boots of superstars dating all the way back to Bruno Sammartino's heyday.
WWE 2K23 is certainly one of the better wrestling games of recent memory. In fact, it might be easy to say that WWE 2K23 is the best wrestling game on the market, hands down.
The tag line for WWE2K23 is “Even Stronger”. In all fairness, that’s a pretty accurate statement. Everything that the last game did has become better and “Stronger”. However, high load times, finicky online play, and weird collision detection remains the game’s weakness. So much so that they stand in even more contrast than last time, because how vastly improved other areas of the game are. 2K tried a few different things last year, and got a lot of feedback on them. I am happy to say they took most of it and resolved it in WWE2K23. Its a huge improvement over the last iteration and speaks well of the team behind it promising even better things in the future.
At the end of the day, WWE 2K23 makes a modest effort to improve on its predecessor, and the results are pretty bloody good. Some of the modes have received some genuine love and attention, while others could use a bit of a revisit in future versions. Regardless, what these modes and updates are building on now is an incredibly solid foundation that continues to impress, and once the bell rings, the quality of gameplay and the feeling of taking part in a bona fide WWE match looks like it's ripped right from a TV broadcast, and as a wrestling fan, that's still what counts the most.
While WWE 2K23 is a visual, presentation, and gameplay step-up over WWE 2K22 , it’s a ladder’s climb up if you’ve been away for more than a year. It tends to cater to those who played last year’s game, but I think the game does enough to get anyone acquainted with all of the systems. There’s a mode for everyone to like in here, tons of matches to engage in, a stacked roster of favorites and newcomers, and of course WarGames! It’s all backed by great gameplay and controls that’s the best yet. WWE 2K23 is the freshest feeling WWE 2K game in years, and is worth getting excited about.
Another solid step in the right direction for the beleaguered WWE 2K franchise, this latest addition doesn’t remedy all the nagging problems, but nevertheless offers up a slick, content-rich package that should please most.
Not exactly a huge advancement on last year, but WWE 2K23 didn't need to be, instead offering smart improvements on an already great formula.
Video game wrestling hasn't been this dynamic and fun for a long time!
Review in German | Read full review
WWE 2K23’s more incremental bells and whistles means it’s technically an overall stronger package than 2K22. However, unlike last year, it doesn’t benefit from the rose-colored excitement of getting to play a big wrestling sim again after a years-long absence. The similarities to its predecessor means 2K23 feels more formulaic than special, but it still continues the series’ overall positive trajectory. Like watching a returning legend perform their greatest hits night after night, the novelty has faded, but I’m still pleased to have them back – for now.
Though the Showcase mode isn’t as super as its subject, John Cena, the sharp focus on refinement instead of reinvention helps keep WWE 2K23 as the gold standard of wrestling sims.