WWE 2K20 Review – I’m Afraid I’ve Got Some Bad News

The millions, and millions that makes up the WWE Universe look forward to seeing some of the most electrifying action ever in Sports Entertainment every week. From USA, Fox and the WWE Network, there’s thousands of hours, blood, sweat and tears poured from the brows of the greatest superstars ever. Looking into WWE 2K20, they’re hoping to replicate the sports brand and deliver to fans a gaming experience only dreams are made of.

This is a critical moment in WWE and Visual Concepts as they showcase the Women of the WWE, specifically The Four Horsewomen: Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley and “The Man” Becky Lynch. WWE 2K20 also overhauled the MyCAREER mode, with nearly 20 hours of content, including both a male and female career. So does WWE 2K20 shine in the limelight or fall flat behind the curtains?

Don’t You Dare Be Sour

WWE 2K20, solely in development by 2K and Visual Concepts for the first time, the road leading to launch has been a bit bumpy, no pun to the initial Bump in the Night DLC. A DLC by the way advertised as an exclusive preorder bonus, unavailable day one to those who did. Therefore, there’s little to discuss around “The Fiend” since they didn’t “Let Him In.”

What is available is 2K Central, including Roman Reigns and other various 2K Towers, The Four Horsewomen story, MyPLAYER, Universe Mode and Online.

Ring the Bell

Unfortunately, there’s more bad news than good. On a positive note I did enjoy the tempo of each match as it felt a bit more fast-paced than 2K19. As long as moves connected, I enjoyed most transitions due to the slightly increased A.I. to the CPU. While part of me grew in frustration from half of my moves being reversed, I equally enjoyed the back and forth leading to the win.

The downside is everything else, lacking and overall, downright cringy. Too often did I or the A.I. swing widely in the wrong direction, or the referee refuse to count a pin fall because he zoned out and glitched into the multiverse, or game breaking glitches appeared out of nowhere. It feels like at times you’re playing the worst WWE 2K ever created, and that’s because it is.

From AJ Styles jacket blasting open like a speaker was hiding underneath, to Alexa Bliss hair popping and Bianca Bel Air non-twirling ponytail, we can’t call WWE 2K20 enjoyable. If you held on to WWE 2K19, stick to the Community Creations and utilize something fully functional. Hopefully 2K20 isn’t a day one nail in the coffin, but rather a ton of worked needing to be done.

MyCAREER

Last year story of Cole and Buzz in WWE 2K19 was amazing. Yes, it had a few hiccups in the story, but it left me wanting to see Buzz journey come full circle, from the independent scene to the WWE. 2K20 attempted to go a step further with Red and Tre, friends since high school with a dream of making it in the WWE and creating their own legacy by being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Starting from the Hall of Fame, your created superstars relive their moments from being a dream to the squared circle.

Like WWE 2K19, you’re limited in the creation your superstar, how many moves can be used and how the player is developed. I can understand some moves are locked in the beginning, but so much, like last year, is unnecessarily locked behind a paywall requiring VC or enough points to open loot packs. Luckily VC is not purchased with real money and can be earned through normal gameplay, MyCAREER and Universe Mode.

The skill tree has also returned, however it’s far too difficult this year to properly upgrade your WWE Superstar. Every unlockable attribute is hidden away until you use a skill that’s linked to the next unlockable ability or trait. While I was able to take my time and properly use skill points, it felt unsettling with what I chose, considering 2K19’s tree displayed your entire route from novice to becoming a legend.

Showcase Mode

What was meant to be the biggest achievement for the women, is presented as an absolute lackluster by 2K. Showcases have been a part of the WWE 2K franchise for years where in certain you’re specifically highlighting the memorable moments in each match. That’s not the case in The Four Horsewomen showcase.

The matches are quite disappointing prompting you to perform simple grab moves, front face locks and knife edge chops in the corner to trigger cutscenes. There’s nothing fun about that to fans that’s poured years into WWE games, and honestly an insult to the Women’s Evolution. Rather than prompting for finishers or unique signature moments, 2K20 rather see you perform multiple running and standing front strikes (punch).

Another weird moment in showcase mode is when a certain objective is required in 3-way or Fatal Four Way, every other superstar will either walk away from you or keep taunting until you’ve performed the objective. Eve worse the A.I. manages to get a quick win because you’re tasked with an “outside of the ring” objective. Again, something is very wrong, making the mode playable for the sake of unlocking gear, then likely never return.

Building Your Brand, Your Universe

While there isn’t really anything new offered in Universe mode, besides extra matches allotted per show, it’s still the diamond in the rough for creating a top-notch experience. Build your show, create additional brands and make the matches you think would be a 5-star spectacle. It’s disappointing to see outdated material and lacking product from WWE; the WWE 24/7 championship. Yes it’s never truly defended on shows and PPV events, but R-Truth has done a phenomenal job helping the title become as successful as it is today. And that’s What’s up!

Visual Concepts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxzb2qug7c

There’s no better way than to rip the bandage off now, WWE 2K20 looks horrendous. Player models are scaled back from 2K19, with most superstar faces not appearing to been scanned. Character models honestly share resemblance to earlier WWE SmackDown games on PS2. This isn’t in terms of every superstar, but more than what it should warrant.

The WWE opening intro and Four Horsewomen videos are even horrific, showing at an extremely low frame rate, like a video playing on a cloud service, or AOL Dial Up.

As for controls, it’s took a bit of time to get used to the changes made in 2K20. The biggest being the finisher and reversals. Signatures and finishers are now two button combinations rather than a single press this year. I’m not sure why the sudden change, but it’s even more confusing that the original signature button is now the reversal button.

And the biggest elephant in the room has to be the number of bugs gamers have gone through and shared for the WWE Universe to see. It warrants the question of why the title wasn’t pushed back to polish and work out the numerous things gone wrong in WWE 2K20. It reminds us of the Nintendo Switch port that had many patches, but none that could unbreak the game.

Verdict

Sadly, WWE 2K20 deserved better than what was released. With the excitement of Becky Lynch hijacking the position of cover athlete and leaving a mark for the women to come, 2K Sports done a poor job with the execution. Understanding the original developers stepped away from the workload, leaving Visual Concepts to have a wrestling game present by October. But gamers feel more bamboozled from trailers that painted a work of art to what was really an incomplete knockoff.