In 2021, the wrestling license published by 2K Games decided to skip its annual release. Indeed, after the catastrophic reception of the opus launched the previous year, Visual Concepts needed to review its copy in depth. Sensational novelties, improved visuals, revamped gameplay… These are the promises of the developers for this WWE 2K22.
Three weeks from launch, we were able to get our hands on this brand new wrestling sim. It wasn't the full game as we only had access to Exhibition and My MG modes. We will therefore not mention the other sections such as Showcase, Universe, My Ascension and My Faction which will all be accessible at launch.
This preview was made on PC and played with an Xbox controller. We were able to test the game for two hours. WWE 2K22 will be released on March 11, 2022 on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S et Xbox One.
Beautiful like a world champion?
Once the first fight started, a statement quickly jumps to the eyes. No, WWE 2K22 is not a visual revolution compared to its predecessor. If we can however see notable improvements on the face of some wrestlers, others do not seem to benefit from this graphic overhaul. Indeed, the license has retained this bad habit of offering a much less convincing rendering to female wrestlers. Whether in terms of their hair or their ultra rudimentary facial expressions, female superstars struggle to convince graphically speaking. So yes, it is necessarily better compared to WWE 2K20, but we are still far from a purely next-gen rendering. And that's quite logical since the game will also be released on previous generation consoles. Concessions are therefore in order.
The physics is also a bit capricious on the side of the ropes of the ring, even of the wrestlers themselves who react strangely to certain blows. Make no mistake, WWE 2K22 greatly reuses animations from previous games. Some seem a bit more realistic, but nothing new under the sun. Be careful, not everything is to be thrown away, however given the promises of 2K Games, we could hope for clearer progress in this area. Still, our session was not impacted by major bugs and the fluidity was almost always optimal. A good point.
Classic but effective gameplay
Same observation with regard to controls. If the key configurations have been reviewed (Y to counter, X for a light attack, A for a heavy attack or even B for a grip), the grip has not really been altered. You have to play for a few hours in order to master all the subtleties of the combos and know the appropriate placements in order to use certain finishing moves. The regulars will not be out of place and the newcomers will be able to train on a rather complete tutorial. On the other hand, we found counters easier to pull off…at least when the appropriate icon appears on screen, which isn't always the case.
Overall, this WWE 2K22 could be criticized for a slight lack of impact when hitting an opponent. The blows are quite slow and do not always reflect the violence of a yet destructive technique in the ring. In addition, during multiple fights in Triple Threat or Fatal 4-Way, the locking system is not very readable. We are sometimes surprised to type in the void because the opponent selected was not the one we were facing. The same goes for objects that it is not easy to pick up instinctively depending on their location. Small hitches that could hopefully be fixed when the game is released.
Content that leaves us… speechless
Let's briefly go over the My MG mode (for General Manager) that we could only touch on during our session. At the start of the game, the player selects his manager from the five available, then his team between SmackDown, RAW, NXT and NXT UK. We must then shape our roster by recruiting superstars, then planning rivalries, matches and special events in order to be rated higher than the opposing show. This mode seems quite rich in possibilities and could well keep players busy in the long run. Wrestling fans will have plenty to occupy themselves with.
Now we'll have to wait until next month to find out in detail everything the game has to offer. The roster seemed quite complete with the presence of today's and yesterday's superstars. Some wrestlers no longer working in WWE are surprisingly well playable in this WWE 2K22.
WWE 2K22: our first impressions
The revolution so long awaited by wrestling fans will obviously not be on this opus. WWE 2K22 is nonetheless enjoyable to play and its My MG mode really wowed us. If all the modes were not available, the game seems to contain the most imposing content with dozens of playable wrestlers and modes galore. We will simply criticize the weak evolution on the graphic level or even certain controls which are still too approximate. But overall, this test was encouraging. See you on March 11 for our final verdict!
