WWE 2K19 Review: It's 2K's Best Effort Yet, But Is It Worth A Buy?

WWE 2K19: In-Game Audio

Sound wise, this year is one of the best. Moves have reanimated sounds that make the smacking noise sound unbelievably painful. The curated soundtrack is amazing, featuring Metallica, Bullet For My Valentine, Migos, Eminem and more, and I am really enjoying leaving the music on this year for a change. Obviously, the commentary after a while does get a little old, but that’s true for every game that you play for a ridiculous amount of time. However, if any of this isn’t your thing, all sound can be changed through the options menu.

WWE 2K19: Online

WWE 2K19 Review: Is It Worth A Buy — Photo Credit: Robert DeFelice / Wrestlezone

One area of the game that has seen no improvement and no change at all in the last few years is Online. This mode features the same randomized match making, where you pick the batch type that you want to join and then wait for other random people to join you. If you’re lucky, you might actually get into a match, but good luck actually being able to complete anything featuring more than two people in this randomized match, because the connections are usually very sloppy and slow.

There’s no leaderboard or ranking system to make what you’re doing actually feel special. There’s no way to see who’s match you’re joining so that you can be able to play with friends in a more competitive sense online. Online mode also doesn’t get the improvements of five or eight men matches, nor does it see the added match types in the 6-Man option. Private matches with friends work okay, but I’d expect more from both a WWE game and 2K as a company. This section really is a hindrance for me as I still look forward to playing a lot of my friends online, and if that was my driving force to get the game, it would be a hard pass. I understand that a lot of these elements have been placed into Road of Glory mode, which is an actual fun online mode, but I think it’s high time that they overhaul the online section and do better to make this game more than a fun one player or couch co-op experience.

WWE 2K19: Concluding Thoughts

All in all, this was a massive step in the right direction for 2K. The addition of an amazing story-driven career mode, the improvements to Universe Mode, the fun Towers Mode, and the addition of arcade game elements like Big Head Mode and block bodies show that they understand what their fans want at their core, but a lot of elements are still far too based in simulation for my liking.

I probably would have rated the game a bit higher overall (maybe another full point), but I’m still really not a fan of some highly limiting factors like the reversal limits and some of the more simulation heavy features. That being said, this is still their best effort yet and I can’t wait to see what they do with the franchise next year to build on these elements.

Final verdict – I definitely think it’s worth the purchase if you’re a wrestling fan because the good far outweighs the bad, and the roster is the kind of thing that dreams are made of. I’m very pleased this year and I will be spending a lot of time playing to the games strains and having fun in Universe Mode.

On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate this game a solid 7.5, and would recommend buying.