WWE 2K26 Review – Very Nicehausen
Since the absolute dumpster fire that was WWE 2K20, developer Visual Concepts have been fighting for their lives each year… to ensure they don’t backslide, crawling from that wreck like Kane in 1998 after The Undertaker flamed his ass in that inferno match.
Have they proven that they can prevent that with another solid entry into the world of wrasslin’?
Gameplay
WWE 2K26 has taken a smart choice in keeping gameplay largely the same from the previous entries, focusing on arcade-style fun and ensuring gameplay is tight and polished. However, small refinements make the game feel fresh enough to avoid any fatigue.
Ironically, fatigue is a big issue in the game with the introduction of the dreaded purple wheel, which puts your characters into an exhausted state if you go too hard during the match, leaving you unable to counter and manoeuvre. While a good idea in practice to avoid spamfest counter parties, it seems to occur way too easily and can lead to a lot of frustration. The system is definitely needed, but it needs refinement.
This year, there’s also an improved collision detection system, so beating the [censored] out of these digital oiled-up mountains of meat feels even better than ever. The system also helps when it comes to weapons and characters interacting with the environments in general, because bodies being slammed around actually interact with objects and the world way more realistically, instead of just clipping through or bugging out like a breakdancer who’s hardlined several cans of Red Bull.
However, the games are seemingly reaching a plateau where they won’t be able to polish much more than they have, and things will start to feel stale. We haven’t quite reached that point yet, but it will be interesting to see how they try to balance this in the future.
Gameplay and Modes
The game’s usual modes all make a return, with dozens of iconic matches to play through, including some new ones like dumpster matches and the brand new I Quit match, a refined MyUniverse mode where you can take running your own wrestling world to the next level, a pumped up MYGM mode that’s way more technical than Universe mode, want to balance books and whip out your Excel docs, then this is for you, and of course, the return of MYRise and Showcase.
MYRise puts you in the boots of a once legendary wrestler who returns to rise to the top once again, and although it’s absolutely nowhere near as crazy or funny as previous entries, it’s still a fun few hours to lose yourself in. However, it does feel really lazy this year, as previous years had some pretty fun side quests to go on, but this year you just have to farm meaningless matches between story matches in order to advance to the next big match, and it gets tired real quick.
Showcase is more interesting this year, as it puts you in the returned boots of the straight edge saviour, CM Punk, as you take a journey through his career. But there’s a unique twist, as it allows you to play as Punk in iconic matches, like Punk being part of the infamous Montreal Screwjob, or even going down alternate histories where you can have Punk ending Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania.
The optional card game, MyFaction, also comes back but I’ll be honest, this mode never interested me, and although there are some fun unlockables, it’s just not worth it. The same goes for The Island, which is seemingly here to stay.
The multiplayer hub has been upgraded though, allowing you to join different factions led by iconic WWE Superstars, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and Rhea Ripley to be exact, and these each have their own themes and even fun little stories, but it’s also a grindfest that won’t appeal to everyone.
Monetisation
The biggest issue of the game though is the rise of microtransactions. This year, a battle pass has been introduced, and even if you buy all the DLC, you still have to play the game to actually unlock all of it. Of course, you can buy skips and boosters, but it’s an absolutely disgusting move that is completely inexcusable. Cosmetics are one thing, but many iconic wrestlers are locked behind this pass, and not everyone is going to dedicate all their time to trying to unlock everything by earning XP via matches. 2K really went too far with this, and it’s bad enough to drop this game’s rating a few points, in all honesty.
Verdict (7/10): So Close to Greatness
WWE 2K26 isn’t revolutionary by any means, but it’s still a really fun game to play, and with everything from audio to gameplay to visuals being polished and refined across the board, it’s worth the admission price. However, the inclusion of the ringside pass is such a horrid move that I can’t fully recommend buying the game as is until this issue is addressed properly, if you care about having the full roster you paid for. Which is a shame, because one greedy move by suits and ties has damaged an otherwise fantastic package.
