WWE 2K22: 10 Small Details That Make It Brilliant

6. The Return Of Button Bashing

WWE 2K22 Chris Jericho Triple H
2K Games

For some gamers, one of the main problems of recent WWE 2K releases revolved around the use of mini-games.

Caught in a submission hold by your opponent? You need to have blue overtake red. Managed to capture your opponent in a submission of your own? You need to have red overtake blue. Going for a pinfall? Why, you best line up that one dot with the other dot while everything spins in a circle.

You get the point.

While it could be said that the intent of implementing such mini-games was done as a way to add to the simulation feel of those releases, it also proved painfully frustrating for a certain section of players. Granted, you could head to Options and change to a more button-patterned routine, but it almost felt as if you were being underhand in doing so.

On WWE 2K22, it's a welcome return to a more button-bashing style of play. That's not to say that the entire game is based around merely hitting random buttons and hoping for the best, but it's more than your way of kicking out of pinfalls is by bashing the sh*t out of your control pad. Similarly, submissions involve frantically hitting buttons as prompted.

The mini-games are still there in Options for those looking to bring back that way of playing, but it's a welcome relief for so many of us to not rely on such tiring, dull ways to kick out of pins or escape submissions.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.