WWE 2K23 Review: Early Scores and Gameplay Videos Before Release Date

If early reviews are any indication, WWE and 2K Games' upcoming WWE 2K23 builds on last year's offering with the expansion of modes that proved popular with gamers, as well as providing increased online play and one of the deepest rosters in recent memory.

After a dismal release in 2020, which garnered largely negative reviews, the developers continued their comeback not by throwing more into the production but by tweaking what it already had in place.

The result is one more step in the right direction and one of the better pro wrestling games in years. Adam Cailler said in his review for The Daily Star: " I can sum up 2K and WWE's latest instalment of the long-running franchise in three words—sharper, crisper, cleaner."

Cailler rated the game at a 95, according to Metacritic, which is one of the most favorable earlier reviews. He was not the only reviewer to push the franchise's latest release into the upper-echelon of wrestling games.

Hardcore Gamer dealt the game a 90 rating and particularly touted its graphics. The review also lauded the added depth to popular modes from last year:

"WWE 2K23 then pushes the graphical fidelity forward to the point that it possibly surpasses its NBA 2K counterpart in the grand spectrum of things. The big help coming with cleaning up previous nuisances with the gameplay are a big help while making MyGM and MyRISE deeper will be much appreciated by the community."

Fans of the NBA 2K series recognize just how strong that praise is. The annual basketball offering is among the best in terms of graphics and gameplay in all of sports video games, and comparing this year's offering to that production is significant, especially considering how poorly received the 2020 game was in that particular department.

GamingBolt was not quite as heavy-handed in the praise, but it did award the game an 80 score, stating, "It's got a great roster, a host of new features and match types, and its new take on the MyRise career mode is incredibly fun."

The roster is immense, arguably as deep as any WWE game has ever presented. From modern stars to wrestling icons and the future of the industry by way of NXT, there are few offerings to ever provide players with a roster as expansive as what the developers have accomplished here.

Franz Christian Irorita of ClutchPoints gave the game a 9/10, remarking on the improvements to existing elements that helped push this year's game past its predecessor:

"While the selection is exactly the same as last year's, what is offered on the menu is deeper and most impressive. Visual Concepts really built upon what they already have and made everything better. Granted, not all game modes received the same amount of attention from the improvement department, but those that did get that attention killed it this year."

Ryan Woodrow of Sports Illustrated echoed that sentiment, especially in the face of the game's first real competition in the marketplace:

"WWE 2K23 does what any annual sports series should do. It gets the roster as up-to-date as it can, expands on the game modes that are already there, and refines gameplay little by little. In a year when the WWE games will finally have a big competitor in the upcoming AEW: Fight Forever, this is a solid entry to remind everyone who the king of the mountain is."

That seems to be the theme of this year's game: expansion and improvement.

WWE and 2K easily could have muddied the water with new features and game modes that may have resulted in a step back. Instead, developers focused on fine-tuning what they already had in place and making a crisper, frankly better, game than the year previous.

Sometimes, new is not better, and WWE 2K23 proves it with the most complete offering in years.

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