WWE 2K19 Review

This is the first year in many years that I’ve been truly excited for the WWE 2K series. This series has been pretty consistent for the past 3 or 4 years, and if anything, has regressed in that time.  That’s not the case this year, as the team behind this yearly wrestling title has improved most areas of the game in some way, shape, or form. Leading the way is a revamped Career Mode and the return of 2K Showcase, featuring none other than Daniel Bryan.

2K Showcase

I never realized how much I missed the 2K Showcase mode until it was removed from the game. I really liked playing through the interactive story of specific Superstars and recreating some of the biggest moments in WWE history. Luckily, I had the chance to do it again this year with The Return of Daniel Bryan story. I was disappointed that we didn’t get some early Ring of Honor matches from his career in this game mode (for obvious reasons), but it does manage to start all the way back in a 2003 Velocity match and goes through things like his Tag Team Championship Victory with Kane and his victory at WrestleMania 30. Before each match, there’s a cool narrative video from Bryan explaining what was happening at that time in his career and the moment you’re about to play through. It doesn’t go through every little thing, but it’s one of the best stories they could have put together for a Showcase, and it’ll keep you busy for a few hours or more.

MyCareer Mode

MyCareer Mode has been completely re-done, which is really weird to me, as I felt that last year’s mode would have been pretty good with a few improvements. That doesn’t matter, as the free-flowing backstage areas are gone, and now you are part of a story that you can somewhat control with different decisions here and there. It’s much like the stories in Longshot and The Journey in Madden and FIFA, respectively. I didn’t really think I’d enjoy it, but after just a few hours (and being targeted by the entire NXT roster), I was hooked. No longer are we stuck with boring stories that we’ve seen year after year. This time, there are twists and turns, and we have control over which direction we want to take our character, so there is definite replay value.

Character Creation

The most interesting improvement of MyCareer Mode is that you don’t have to spend 3 hours creating your character before you begin. You pick a base set of gear, create your face, and you’re ready to go. As you progress in MyCareer Mode, you end up accumulating VC, Standard Currency, and Deluxe Currency. With your VC, you can buy unlockables, move-sets, entrances, and victory animations. Some are pretty steep, so you might want to try your hand at using some of your other currency to buy loot boxes, which can give you any of the items above (except unlockable characters/belts/arenas). It’s a cool addition to net you more items at once than you’d get buying them individually, but you end up with a lot of items you’ll never use. You can scrap items you don’t want for a small rebate, which is better than nothing, even though you’ll never recoup anywhere close to what you paid for the loot box in in-game currency. The good thing in all of this is that you gain in-game currency fast enough that you never need to pay for one with real money.

Upgrades

The really awesome thing about MyCareer Mode is that you gain style points to upgrade your Superstar. You update very gradually, and you can choose what you want to focus on most. It’s important to note that you can’t just choose any upgrade at once. You do have to follow the skill tree, but there’s enough variety that you’ll find something you want to upgrade. Some upgrades even unlock different skills and abilities for your character to use, like Dirty Pins and Ladder Finishers. If that’s not enough, there are sub-styles as well. I picked a Cruiser character, and my sub-style was Luchador (I could have also picked Technical Cruiser), which gave me a lot of different aerial upgrades for my character. You use the same style points to upgrade this tree as you do for the others. If that wasn’t enough, there’s even an Overcharge tree that gives you access to 3 specific perks. Beast Mode enhances your grappling speed and damage,  Charged Fury deals out big damage with a single punch, and Electrifying makes your momentum grow really fast when taunting uninterrupted. 

2K Towers

Towers is another new game mode. It’s basically a Gauntlet Match between you and five other players, most of the time with a distinct theme. These matches are pretty tricky, as your health carries over to the next match, and you have to complete all the matches in one sitting for the most part. Oh, and the opponents are becoming increasingly more challenging to defeat. Sometimes, there are even different stipulations. One match will be a Last Man Standing match, and another will be a Submission match. The hardest tower of all is the AJ Styles Million Dollar Challenge with 15 straight opponents. I tip my hat to anyone who manages to complete that one because it’s SO difficult. You can also create your own towers and share them with others through MyPlayer. I’m interested to see what other people come up with.

WWE Universe Mode

For what it’s worth, WWE Universe also returns, but there isn’t much that is new to talk about on that one. This mode has been pretty similar for the past few years, but with a mode that allows me to control everything, I can hardly complain. I really wouldn’t change anything within that mode. Road to Glory is also pretty similar to last year, and I, admittedly, didn’t spend a whole lot of time with it for this review. There is a feature where you can pick a faction and level it up to gain rewards, which I felt was pretty interesting. I’m still waiting for a mode that allows me to defend championships in an online promotion. I think that’s one thing that this series needs to expand to.

Gameplay

The gameplay has been tweaked a little bit in this year’s game. Moves have much more impact than they once did, and it feels a touch more like a simulation game than an arcade game while still retaining the fast pace we’ve come to expect from the series. Moves flow better into one another than ever before, and you have to be able to string a good sequence of moves and reversals together to find success. Gone are the days when you can mash buttons to win a match. This game is much more strategic than that. It’s not an easy task to reverse in this year’s game at all. You have to anticipate what the other player is going to do, or you could be down on the mat for a long time. It’s a frustrating experience until you learn the timing of everything, and it’s very satisfying to chain a bunch of moves together and get the pinfall or submission. It finally feels like an accomplishment when you win a match rather than something simple you can breeze through without being hit.

There is a new Payback system introduced in WWE 2K19 that really changes the game, allowing someone who is down and out of a match to get a quick helping hand. Some of these things include previous abilities like Move Thief and Resiliency, but there are also new ones like Power of the Punch (Brass Knuckles), Poison Mist, and even a run-in where you can call an ally to the ring to help you out. Some of these can only be used once per match, but it’s really cool to see the developers create opportunities for more competitive matches and surprise factors. It makes every match feel different, and that’s a great thing.

Presentation

The presentation in WWE 2K19 is a bit of a mixed bag. The Superstars themselves look great for the most part. I can’t think of anybody that I’ve seen that doesn’t look pretty close to their real-life counterpart, besides Lana not having the right gear or hair. Speaking of hair, it’s still terrible if someone has long hair. I don’t get it, but they cannot seem to fix this issue. Hair should not look like strands of construction paper, and yet it does. I will say that the graphics are about as good as they’ve ever been, despite that, though. Everything looks great, and it doesn’t look far off from what you’d see on TV. Some weird technical issues cause the ropes to get caught on some characters and other things. The commentary, while slightly better, is still pretty repetitive and off-point a lot of the time, but I did like the intro commentary for most of the characters. I do wish they’d have the NXT commentary team on there to add some variety, though. 

Notable Additions

The last few things I wanted to note were the cool additions that fly under the radar. There are now Fatal 4 Way tag matches, which are amazing, and they’re not limited to just normal matches. Cage matches now allow you to leave the door and fight on the side of the cage. Hell in a Cell matches now let you go outside the cell more easily. You can even put your opponent through the top of it again (finally). You can fight at the Wyatt compound. There is a Big Head Mode that’s so fun with friends. I’m sure there are more additions than that.

That’s just what I’ve noticed from my playthrough so far. Unfortunately, the game is missing notable stars like Tommaso Ciampa, Nikki Cross, The Brian Kendrick, and Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy due to contractual issues. That said, the roster is still the largest in history. You’ll definitely find plenty of stars you’ll enjoy playing as. If you’re missing someone, you can always use community creations or the amazing creation suite that allows you to create virtually anything you want.

Final Thoughts

For the first time in a long time, I truly enjoyed this year’s WWE game. WWE 2K19 made so many great little refinements that it’s worth the price alone. Adding a new MyCareer Mode, Daniel Bryan Showcase, and Towers Mode seals the deal for me. This is one of the best wrestling games in years. If you’re on the fence, I suggest you check it out.