WWE 2K24 is almost upon us and 2K has released some new information on the upcoming game. WWE 2K24 is set to celebrate 40 years of WrestleMania with a 2K Showcase of the Immortals mode alongside a Forty Years of WrestleMania edition of the game itself. Beyond key mode information, we also know who the cover Superstars will be. The Standard Edition will feature “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes on the cover, while the Deluxe Edition features former women’s Royal Rumble winners and multi-time champions Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair on the cover. The Forty Years of WrestleMania Edition of the game will feature original artwork with some of the event’s most iconic stars including The Rock, Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Undertaker.
WWE 2K24 is set to feature the return of modes like special guest referee, casket match, gauntlet match, alongside the debut of the ambulance match – a mode that I don’t recall seeing in a game officially. Guest referee was a mode that was seen a lot of in the attitude era, where the match type was a popular trope and it hasn’t been used a lot in recent years. It does make for a fantastic video game mode across any era due to it being a fantastic way to make a local multiplayer session more fun by causing a friend to lose and was a riot back in the day.
The backstage brawl has been revamped with things like a working elevator, breakable control room glass, a vending mahine with throwable soda – making things feel more like the classic PS2 backstage battels. Super Finishers are here alongside trading blows, dives onto multiple opponents on the floor, new Payback moves, new weapons and the ability to throw weapons. In addition to guest referees, the game will feature seven real-life WWE referees – something we haven’t seen in many years.
The in-game roster will feature over 200 modern-day Superstars and all-time Legends, including the cover stars, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Savage and Becky Lynch. 2K’s goal is to create a better-feeling gameplay experience and they’ll be doing that with improved graphics and animations with 90% of the roster getting new facial animation work done. There will also be new ramp and dive cameras alongside the ability to move the camera during live gameplay. The latter is something that has never been attempted before, but can be done to an extent after the fact with the franchise’s highlight reel mode. There, players can customize their camera angles and drive home the impact of blows – or simply aim to make a shot of a match look epic.
Last year’s WWE 2K23 was the best-playing entry of the modern era and it marked Cody Rhodes' return to the franchise – and Cody stated that he’s excited to be a WWE 2K cover Superstar and now he’s done that while on his quest to complete his father’s story and win the WWE Title at some point in his career. The WWE 2024 Deluxe Edition and Forty Years of WrestleMania Editions are coming out on March 5, while the Standard and Standard Cross-Gen Digital Editions launch on March 8.
Review: WWE 2K23
2K and Visual Concepts continue to show commitment to this franchise in WWE 2K23 by making necessary gameplay changes and additions.
The standard edition will include various pre-order offers, including the Nightmare Family Pack that brings in the Undashing Cody Rhodes, Stardust and a 1976 version of Dusty Rhodes alongside “Superstar” Billy Graham – who is one of pro wrestling’s most-influential stars and the person for whom the WWE Superstar term was created. There will also be additional MyFaction content including Cody’s dog Pharaoh being a manager card. All digital pre-orders of WWE 2K24 will include the standard edition of WWE 2K23 – marking the first time the franchise has ever given away a prior entry with the purchase of a newer entry.
