WWE 2K22 is a huge improvement over the last game, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have room for innovation and improvement in the next game.
If there’s one thing WWE fans can agree on, it’s that WWE 2K22 is a marked improvement over the universally-panned WWE 2K20. It’s a solid foundation by which the franchise can continue to grow, and serves as a reason for EA not to take over the WWE 2K license. Indeed, WWE 2K22 doesn’t just take a few steps in the right direction—it sprints toward it.
However, that doesn’t mean WWE 2K22 doesn’t have a few faults that will hopefully be ironed out across the next few games. The game comes packed with content, which should remain largely the same, but it needs to improve that content. WWE 2K23, if it does release an annualized title, would need a few improvements to MyRise, among others.
One thing that stands out about MyRise is the whole power fantasy of taking a superstar or diva through the Performance Center to the top of the game. However, there’s a clear gap in the best storylines in MyRise—some storylines like the relationship with Mandy Rose or the allegiance with Seth Rollins stand out. However, many are largely forgettable or are one-offs. WWE 2K should look to past games and create more interesting storylines, setting players in them and letting them react, instead of limiting players to a handful.
None of the storylines in WWE 2K22 hold a candle to games like WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, where Teddy Long gets ran over in a huge mystery or players face off with the Undertaker in a Buried Alive match, or Here Comes the Pain, where the players can form a faction in rivalry to a new faction of Mr. McMahon’s, resulting in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title.
Not to mention, the timeline in MyRise feels off, as players can pick and choose when they pursue certain storylines. It’s interesting, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to playing through storylines from past games. The thing WWE 2K really needs to capture is the idea that this is Sports Entertainment, but the game itself focuses on the Sport. No, the interesting storylines are just as important as the sheer physicality, and the next game needs to really bring it all together.
Speaking of, there are three things that the next WWE 2K game has to really drive home: the roles of face/heel characters, backgrounds, and social media. Faces vs. Heels are a classic element of the brand, but the game essentially boils it down to how some characters DM the player, as well as limits access to certain storylines (until players change alignment in WWE 2K22). In other words, it doesn’t feel like so much of a choice between being a face or a heel character, and more of just choosing which set of storylines to pursue.
The choice of backgrounds in WWE 2K22 is also pretty nice, but sadly, it changes a little dialogue, gives some early buffs, and that's about it. Instead, it would be more interesting if these backgrounds had a more thorough reach throughout the game. Indeed, it might be a stretch to say, but the way backgrounds impact Dragon Age: Origins or even Cyberpunk 2077 would make each MyRise storyline all the more engaging.
Furthermore, the majority of storylines are delivered through Social Media in the game, and that makes each of them weaker. Social media certainly has its role in WWE, and it’s a good fit for the game. But it should be more contextual and not the main delivery source. The feud should play a big role in a story-driven cinematic and match method, with social media options used to contextualize or throw mud—not deliver entire storylines. Here, if it were to adopt the approach of games like Here Comes the Pain and SvR 2008, and use social media more sparingly and as more of an attachment, it would go to improve the overall storytelling and make the storylines even more interesting.
WWE 2K22 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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When Joshua Duckworth received Pokemon Yellow for Christmas at 5-years-old, his fate as a gamer was set. Since then, he’s been involved with every step of the gaming industries’ growth from the golden PS1 era and the dying days of the arcade to any current gaming trend. When he’s not writing, playing his own games, or thinking about writing or playing his games, he’s probably the second player to his son’s Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! file. Joshua has an MA degree in English from Jacksonville State University, and the best way to contact him is at [email protected].
