WWE 2K20 Review: Gameplay Videos, Features and Impressions

WWE 2K20 is a complicated game.  

At times, it sells the whole WWE experience really well. The action is fun, the intra-match transitions work well to tell a story, and it sometimes looks great visually. Other times, jarring issues, ranging from controls to glitches and strange design decisions rip the experience apart. 

So it seems to go for a franchise that now has developer Visual Concepts undertaking the task alone for the first time, with Yuke's stepping out of the picture. 

The result is an erratic experience with flashes of potential, though enjoyment will hinge entirely on a player's endurance for strange, random problems, graphically and otherwise. 

Graphics and Presentation

WWE 2K20 is one of the more interesting (and jarring) visual experiences of the year. 

Every now and then, it's simply a wonder to sit back and take in the level of immersion and detail. Crowds at various arenas look great. They don't always sound the best, but visually, the level of detail is superb, and the random breakouts of chants sells the whole feel of a live event. 

And mostly strong commentary from the teams at the desks weaves it all together nicely. They repeat lines, sure, but the timely details, real-life bickering and more makes the presentation package feel like an actual broadcast. 

The character models play a role in the level of immersion, too, but only sometimes. Some character models look just fine. Others...not even close. It wasn't hard to see these problems coming, either. Right upon booting up the game, flipping through the menus and looking at the 2K Showcase mode revealed a character model for co-cover star Becky Lynch that just doesn't look great. At that point, the mind wonders why they didn't just use real-life photos on the menu screens. 

If one of the game's cover stars doesn't look like a good representative of her real-life counterpart, it's easy to imagine many others suffer the same problems. Notable examples of problematic character designs include The Rock and Bayley. 

The issues viciously extend to MyCareer, in which non-player characters tend to look like something out of a previous console generation. Throughout the overall game, it's glaringly obvious which characters had faces scanned in the game. 

And this all precedes talking about the glitches. 

Simply put, the game is riddled with glitches upon launch. Chaotic physics problems let characters fall through mats, into objects like staircases and get stuck in ring ropes. Hair is a massive problem throughout the experience, as it tends to simply fly every which way on a character's head in a windless environment (early on in MyCareer, such as in a car with the windows up). That's if hair loads at all or decides to stay on the character model. 

Obviously, these issues rip up the immersion quickly. They're perhaps something that will get addressed with time, but they're far too frequent not to highlight for the way they interfere with the experience, whether it's in the ring or during cutscenes. 

Gameplay

Diehards of the WWE 2K series probably groaned when pre-release footage promoted a new control scheme. 

Reasons for the changes aside, the new controls aren't that bad. Changing the reverse button, among many other things, is jarring as far as accessibility for long-time players goes. But otherwise, the controls feel responsive and don't take too long to understand. 

One of the more interesting omissions with controls is the ability to remap buttons, though. This seems to be a feature for most games these days, so it's unfortunate to see a simple convenience item left out. However, players with a gamepad that includes paddles, like an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, may feel like they're able to adjust quicker.

While the revamped controls feel just fine, that doesn't mean they interact with the gameplay well. 

Gameplay is slower this year in what seems to be another inching toward a full-blown simulation. It's an adjustment for those who have played the series in the past. Not necessarily a bad one, but the pace is a small thing that didn't get a ton of attention before launch. 

As has usually been the case, the targeting system still comes off as wonky at best. When there are more than two Superstars in the ring, it can be a battle with the overarching targeting system to focus on the desired opponent. These problems can pop up thanks to bystanders outside the ring, too. 

Given the physics problems, it shouldn't be a surprise to find out there are some issues in general gameplay. Hit detection seems like it took a step back this year, as what feel like strikes or grapples that should be connecting simply whiff. That plays into opponents just picking the player character out of moves or getting the upper hand unfairly. 

Yet, despite the bevy of negatives, 2K20 does some really interesting things to help give off the feel of a WWE match. 

Intra-match events help sell the story wrestlers attempt to tell over the course of a bout. There are transitions where the game asks the player to fulfill an objective. When fulfilled, a small cutscene-style event within the match happens. These never rip control away for too long and really add to the experience. 

But, other times, transitions fall flat on their faces. One asked for a standing strike in a ring against an opponent. Once that happens, the two wrestlers were suddenly on two different ladders that hadn't previously been in the ring.

That seems to be the general theme this year, though. Some good ideas glimmering with potential marred by odd execution. This is still fun as a pick 'em up game if it isn't taken too seriously, but it can grow frustrating to have a fun fighter-esque experience stumble. 

Features

To its credit, WWE 2K20 is loaded with features. 

MyCareer is quietly a highlight of the experience, provided players can look past the incessant load screens after seemingly even the smallest of cutscenes and the stunted progression for not one, but two characters thanks to costly unlocks and skills. The tale of a player's created characters and their recanting of Hall of Fame careers is often silly, if not cringey, given some of the dialogue, but it can be a fun ride. 

Notably, commentary does some funny things with real voiceover lines to paint some matches as flashbacks. That makes the writing of characters a little more forgivable, and we'd be remiss not to mention the main characters do an amazing job with the material. The voice acting, plus some splashes of world detail like podcasts and emails, really flesh out an immersive career mode. 

Elsewhere, the 2K Showcase mode featuring the Four Horsewomen of WWE is a hit just like the past iterations of Showcases. The documentary-style offering is a nice play-once-and-forget experience, though the in-ring problems present elsewhere persist. 

The 2K Towers introduced last year make a reappearance, with a Roman Reigns tower positioned as the headline act. That's a fun diversion for the mode that works to chronicle a bit of his career. Overall, there's an almost mind-numbing amount of fighting game-inspired towers with unique challenges and interesting loot to obtain. There's a lot here to eat away at a player's time, provided said player is ready to grind. 

Unlocks are a natural segway into the creation suite. Largely, it feels like nothing has changed here. And that's a good thing, as the suite functioned well in the past. It lets the creative elements of the community run wild and puts players in control of everything from attire to arenas and more. Notably, though, the ability to create a title has been yanked from the suite. 

Naturally, the next online feature the development team turned toward was a lobby system. This is very good—it's nice to flick to the lobby list and have the ability to sort through types of matches and jump right into a hand-picked bout. 

Not so nice is the same general gameplay problems mixed with spotty connections and the removal of player entrances. The natural counter is "everyone skips entrances online anyway," but like the ability to remap controls, it just feels like one of those things that is nice to have because it gives players the option. 

It also would've been nice if Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" character and his associated 2K Original pack had been unlocked at launch (it's coming to the game on Oct. 28), given its status as a pre-order item. The heavy use of Wyatt in game promotion and his massive presence on the real-life WWE programming right now make immediate access more appealing for players, a sentiment one quick Google search seems to agree with. 

Call it another strange note about the release, among the many. The impending release of 2K Originals will infuse a zombies-styled fantastical element to the game with new arenas and creation items, though players who prefer a simulation experience would probably wish the additional content to come was more centered on real-life attire and Superstars. 

Again, there are a ton of features and plenty to do here. But the general issues and grindy feel of some of them make it hard to stay motivated to keep coming back. 

Conclusion

WWE 2K20 is largely a game that struggles to function well, not even counting the visual problems. It never realizes its potential because of the bevy of issues. 

Given the up-and-down nature of WWE programming, it's somewhat poetic 2K20 is as erratic as it is upon release. Fittingly, it leans on some of the old guard (creation suite), just like WWE programming leans heavily into part-timer appearances to mask some of the problems.  

This series couldn't afford a transitional year this close to a new console generation. While other sports franchises are reaching an apex of the cycle, WWE 2K20 stumbles hard, and the attention again turns toward rebuilding from the ground up. 

There's a lot of fun and impressive flirtations with a great experience within WWE 2K20, but sifting through the bad to catch glimpses at them requires patience.