WWE 2K22: 10 Hands On First Impressions You Need To Know

10. Sound & Lighting Are Way Better

Bloody hell, this pops.

Arenas in 2K22 feel livelier than ever before thanks to improved sound production and an emphasis on clever lighting tricks. Entrances burst into life thanks to new camera angles, and everything seems much more in-tune with real WWE television than it did before.

Older gamers will know the score here: WWE games always felt rather lacking in terms of live atmosphere. Developers struggled/failed to capture the energy that exists when crowds gather for big pay-per-views like Royal Rumble or WrestleMania, and episodes of Raw and SmackDown may as well have taken place in front of cardboard cutouts.

Now, thanks to the volume being cranked up and way more intensity from the cracks and bangs of pyro or the cheering/booing masses, 2K22 looks like what you dreamed WWE games would back in the day. They've made great use of increased processing power on PS5 and Xbox Series X, put it that way.