WWE 2K25 Early Reviews: 13 Major Details We Learned

WWE 2K24 was a video game made for wrestling fans by wrestling fans.

That came through seamlessly in the fluid gameplay. Simplistic additions to digitised matches, such as the trading blows mini-game, allowed players to recreate the fabled Clash of the Titans-esque bloodthirsty brawls concocted in '90s All Japan or, its semi-skimmed WWE cousin, Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. Super Finishers like Seth Rollins' killshot of a Super Stomp and Cody Rhodes' Cross Rhodes trilogy, diving onto multiple opponents at once, throwing weapons, immersive new match types, an expanded backstage environment: 2K and Visual Concepts nailed it.

That rings true for WWE 2K25, too.

Early reviews of WWE's latest virtual offering have trickled through the airwaves in the wake of WWE's annual Royal Rumble weekend preview of the game, and comments are largely positive because, to their credit, 2K listened. 2K24 was a well-polished machine, but the errant blunders were clear, from the overabundance of real-life footage used in Showcase Mode's wretched slingshot technology to the unexplained restrictions within certain match types. Why, for instance, could a player guest referee a singles match, but not a tag team bout?

The issues are no more - unless you were hoping to don the stripes in the Elimination Chamber...

Reintroduced in WWE 2K24 after a decade of dormancy, the Special Guest Referee match was a welcomed addition to the growing list of digitised match types. Working exactly as it did in WWE 2K14, donning the black and white stripes allowed the player to call the action down the middle or recreate the Montreal Screwjob, favouring one Superstar over the other at the risk of a referee replacement service being enforced.

It was fun...for the first three or four times. There was no buzz left in guest officiating what was effectively the same match rehashed, but thankfully, the stipulation has been developed in WWE 2K25.

Now a match option instead of a match type that can be toggled in the same screen as entrances being disabled and switching a match to be for a championship, guest referees can be implemented into a broader range of match variations, though an exact list is yet to be publicised. Hell in a Cell was mentioned as an option by Derek Donahue, the game's lead gameplay designer, while tag team, Triple Threat, and Fatal Four Way matches are also confirmed as being guest referee-friendly.