Perfection is hard to achieve, especially in the world of video games – but WWE 2K24 comes as close to that as any previous game has so far.
Hot off the heels of last year's excellent instalment, which featured major overhauls of almost ever aspect of it, 2K24 had a lot to live up to. And having spent four days solid playing it, the 2K team have knocked this one out of the park.
Now, that's not to say it doesn't have its faults – like the constant weird hair mechanics, and strange bugs that I assume and hope will be ironed out with a patch a few days after release – but in terms of an out-of-the-box pick up and play game, there's so much to love about this instalment, which I did on Xbox One X.
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Visually, the game has taken another leap forward with character models refined and movements honed to make the game feel more realistic than ever. Referees, which are now based on the real life ones, are more ingrained into the gameplay, although they do have a habit of standing in front of the camera . . . a bug I'm hoping is fixed soon.
The game features the biggest roster ever – which is becoming cliched these days, but hardly avoidable – and more match types than ever before.
Fans had been clamouring for the return of modes such as Guest Referee and Ambulance Matches, and thankfully the stellar 2K team listened and brought them back having been gone from WWE games for many years. The MyRise story modes feature two great additions this year – I'm only half way through the women's storyline and it took me by surprise with how inventive the creative writers are being.
Both versions – the male and female stories – feature huge names prominently, with the likes of Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns and even Mick Foley and William Regal playing huge roles in the mode.
The Wrestlemania Showcase mode is not something I have yet touched, but the idea of reliving and playing through many iconic matches from WWE's past is an exciting one – and while it does include two people from the company's past currently blacklisted, the 2K team confirmed that they will not be playable characters in the rest of the game.
My one gripe with this year's game is MyFaction. It was my favourite mode in 2K23, but this year's has been changed almost beyond all recognition and it really will take some serious working out time to try and figure out what the new parts of it are all about and why some cards disappear after a few days.
However, putting that to one side, and having given last year's game a 95/100, considering the visual and gameplay improvements this year, as well as the bigger roster and new modes, I can't give this any less.
This year I'm awarding WWE 2K24 96/100.
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