WWE 2K24 - Before You Buy

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- [Narrator] Hey, we're back with another episode of "Before You Buy," that show we give you some straight up gameplay and you're not gonna believe this, some first impressions of the latest games releasing. And today we're just taking a quick brief look at "WWE 2K24." We've been casual wrestling game fans here since, like, the N64 days and for the past few years, every year we've been taking a look at these newer "WWE 2K" entries and they've kind of been all over the place. You know, some have been really buggy, glitchy, unfinished or lacking modes. Some just really struggle to find the right gameplay balance and some are just filled with micro-transactions and 2K stuff to get you to spend more money and not much else. But after a bunch of ups and downs, I'd say by about last year's entry "2K23," they really figured out the gameplay and the feature set. It wasn't really lacking anything and it was fun to play. The style of gameplay might not be for every wrestling fan, but they essentially built out a full featured regular old fashioned WWE game with a bunch of stuff. And to be completely frank, that continues this year. That's the gist of it. You know, at least from our first impressions here, it does seem like they really keep the train rolling this time, you know, with some fun new additions and tweaks, a couple of new little fight modes, an updated roster and a new showcase mode, of course. So I guess I'll start with that one, because I tend to like them, I gravitate towards them, showcase mode. So if you don't know, showcase mode is usually a cool pillar of these games. You know, it's, like, a mode centered around the career of a specific wrestler and it's kind of documentary style. So you get, you know, Stone Cold Steve Austin or John Cena talking about their career with real archival footage of old matches, and then you get to play some of those famous matches and hit certain parameters and requirements. They've also done it with, like, Rey Mysterio and a few others over the past couple of years. But this time around it's not centered around a single wrestler, but WWE and the history of wrestling and really WrestleMania itself. It's a cool little history trip but it didn't quite land for me like the other variants did. You know, I like seeing a wrestler talk through their career documentary-style with passion and insight and then get to play those moments. For me, the journey is usually getting to know a wrestler that I didn't know too much about, or reliving some cool moments from one I used to enjoy in the '90s or early 2000s. Plus, I mean a lot of these wrestlers are just absolute stars. They're interesting, they're charismatic. So this time around with it just focused around, like, events, to me it felt a bit more just like marketing. Like, WWE is awesome, the brand is great, you know, a bit advertisement-y. Still cool and it's got the presentation factor, but I just didn't care as much as seeing, like, Rey Mysterio rise through the ranks or anything. That's all down to personal preference. Might just be me. You might see an early WrestleMania and shed a tear and have fun playing it, but you do you. Now the wrestling gameplay itself, like I said, they really nailed it last year at least in terms of, like, fine tuning what they were aiming for. And as I've said in the past, they do take some more technical, almost simulation-style wrestling gameplay mechanics and make it a bit faster and more engaging and a little bit easier to pick up and play. Grappling and combos feel good, carrying and moving your opponents around still feels good. There's a lot of options there, although dragging is still a bit slow, but hits are really satisfying with good sound effects, physics, actually seeing the characters in pain with really good graphical detail that I'll get to in a bit. And also just, like, a little bit of onscreen visuals for, like, the really nasty hits, the screen will flash or shake a little bit when there's a really good slam, and it works, it really sells it. The payback system is still good in a pinch. Last year they really dialed that in, right? And now this year there's more, and you can also come equipped with more. Combat can still get a little frustrating here and there because combo breakers and reversal timings are still very challenging. They're basically a crapshoot unless you take the time to really understand the grappling animations and transitions and essentially know when things are coming, which as you might be able to tell from the gameplay, I am definitely a little rusty from last year. I haven't played too much, so I need a few more days to get those timings really down. It is challenging, but it's all still fun once you get to grips with it, especially with new super finishers. Also, there is a new camera angle you can change to from the settings and it's a bit wider and much nicer. I didn't capture it much here 'cause I wanted to show off some of the graphics up close, but I think people are gonna use it quite a bit. Now the modern 2K games are, like, a good balance of technicalness and good old arcade style brawling, and it is a good time. Positioning feels less awkward, animations line up better than they have and the AI doesn't come off as goofy. I remember having more of an issue with that last year. Now visually, I think there is a big upgrade this year graphics wise, specifically with the character models. There are a lot of wrestlers in this roster, so not every single one looks 110%, but a lot, lot more this year seem to look really great. I know some of the biggest stars always get, like, extra attention to their character models, but this year the fidelity just seems to be ramped up. Muscles move and skin often bounces in a bit more of a convincing, realistic way. Textures look more detailed, and, like, for example, when The Rock did the eyebrow, when he did the thing, I actually said, "Holy shit," out loud because it just looked eerily realistic. Like, we're bordering on "Uncanny Valley" here. I actually think that some of these characters are so detailed, that the environments themselves are starting to feel kind of flat. You know, crowds, you know, signs are cool, but the crowds, the lighting, the detail of the rings, you know, all of it just feels a bit bland looking. I don't know if it's just because, like, the characters just look so detailed at this point or the rings weren't the priority. I don't know, but it's noticeable sometimes. Still good looking and minimal glitchiness, which is nice. There's always gonna be some couple of weird things here and there, but it performed pretty well. And as for just hopping in and playing, the new fun additions are gauntlet making a return finally and special guest referee matches with some customization. There's also ambulance and casket matches where you just kind of, like, throw your opponent into a thing. They could be a bit finicky but fun, and I think some wrestle heads will really dig it. And then of course there is the creation, all the stuff you can make. Of course, there's so much at this point. Like I said before, there's some referee customization specifically with the special guest referee matches, which are pretty cool. I know some people have been really looking forward to that. And you can also create a sign now on top of all the other stuff. This year I kind of dabbled in making my own videos a little bit, like, creating the video that plays on the jumbotron with a surprisingly good little video clip editor that will actually process and render what you create on an editing timeline. As an editor, I just think that's cool and how they make it accessible for people. Also, creating entrances is always fun. I made The Undertaker do the Xbox suck it move, and I just like doing dumb shit like that. Creating dumb rings is always a blast. Like, you can probably see here my weird green, purple hued arena that I built. It's dumb and ugly and I love it. Now you're playing with all this stuff in the various modes. And then of course, there's my GM for the statisticians, you know, the real nerds and My Rise, which features essentially two career modes, and I've only scratched the surface with them to be honest. But they immediately seem to be a bit more engaging than the last two years. Some of these My Rise in the past have just been brutally slow and undercooked and low budget in the past and it feels like we're finally getting past that. Now My Faction and My Universe stuff, I can't speak to too much. I didn't get access to all of it, and that's where the micro-transactions and the addictive nature of these modes come in. And I'd rather just pass on that. And I say that thankfully because all that stuff seems to just be kind of sequestered away to that. And with all the other modes and customizations and options, I feel like I got my money's worth, and the game doesn't present a storefront to me in my face right after I paid $70 for this game. And I appreciate that at the very least. 2K games are gonna always have their thing, and you know, they push it to various levels each year. Now really that's the gist of it, to be honest. We just hopped in here for some first impressions to see what was new and to see if anything was broken. And so far the game seems to be performing well. This footage was captured on PS5, and since launch yesterday, at least, like, that pre-order launch thing, we've been getting along just fine. And again with everything here, it's kind of how it goes at this point with sports games when they have it figured out. And "WWE 2K24" now seems to join the ranks of those solid yearly sports games releases that may not be the most exciting things in the world, but still noteworthy for fans, nonetheless. And in terms of just little things they trickle throughout here in the creation suites and things you can access, I think that real wrestling nerdery, like, when you can really dig into that stuff, the lower and mess around and tweak and create your own fantasies, that's where this game probably provides the most value. And of course, play in matches with your friends. But like I said, that's really it. This is "Before You Buy." You know how this goes by now. We give you some pros, some cons and some personal opinion. And now we wanna hear yours down in the comments. What's your experience with these games? Are you still just playing the old classics on, you know, PS1, PS2, N64, or are you into this new stuff? Did you like 23? Are you interested in 2024? Let's talk anything WWE and 2K down in the comments. Now if you like this video and it helped you out and just talking games with us every day, clicking the like button does help us. Thank you. But if you're new, consider subscribing, because we put out videos every single day. And as always, thanks for watching, and we'll see you guys next time. - [Announcer] Smashing their face. Batista launching a savage attack. Call Animal Control. Batista's loose. Troy is capable of throwing some monstrous strikes inside though. How can he best make use of it in this match tonight? - [Announcer 2] Like you said, Drew can put some incredible power behind his blows and I think the key for him is to make sure he gives every hit his all. There's no room for glancing strikes or quick jabs. Drew needs to go all out. (wrestling mat thudding) (crowd cheering) Misses. (crowd exclaiming) Drew fending him off. (crowd cheering)
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Channel: gameranx
Views: 326,015
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: wwe 2k24, wwe 2k24 before you buy, before you buy wwe 2k24, 2k24 game review, wwe 2k24 review, wwe 2k24 gameplay, wwe 2k24 new, wwe 2k24 graphics, gameranx, before you buy, wwe 2k24 ps5, wrestling game 2024, new wwe 2k24
Id: FPi-zb1d2f0
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 10min 51sec (651 seconds)
Published: Wed Mar 06 2024
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