The spectacle of Professional Wrestling has thrilled generations for decades, to maintain this streak of inventiveness, characters, storylines must be reimagined, reworked, and reinvited constantly. Innovation is key, especially in their media products, with so many games over the years, this can be especially challenging. In 2019, after many games under the development by Yukes, new developers, Visual Concepts brought World Wrestling Entertainment their latest, and possibly ultimate videogame installment, in W.W.E. 2k20.

Outside the myriad of tantalising options the menu presents. A lot of the modes return from previous 2K titles allowing the shining stars of the current show’s roster to take on legendary names, Kurt Angle, among others make their 2K debut here. You also have the return of the 2K Central mode. This year’s campaign focuses on the rise of the Four Horsewomen, accompanied by well-crafted interview segments setting up the match. The gameplay consists of finishing objectives and recreating the highlights of the quartets meteoric rise.

The combat has been reworked slightly, though not too much to leave fans of the previous 2k game that lost. Noticeably the way you execute finishers has been reworked into a two-button combo. 2k20 is welcoming in walking new players through, Allowing most players to get stuck in. For further customisation, 2k20 offers ample opportunities. The return of the Universe mode, and the incredibly intricate creation mode, allowing you to fine-tune your belts, entrances, and the finest details of whatever custom wrestler you can conceive of. It is still impressive to see the revolutionary face-scanning techniques, capturing the likeness of more heavy hitters than before. In short, the content on the disc is staggering.

Though the main work has been done to the MyCareer mode. In the MyCareer you create two wrestlers “Tre” the more light-hearted but still physically capable and “Red” his best-friend who is more determined and arguably greater potential but has a fiery temper. The story follows their trials and tribulations from their high school days dreaming of W.W.E. Stardom to finally achieving that goal in the 2030s. As rivals in the organisation and from Highschool plot and scheme, in their attempts to complete their literal list of goals. The writing is sharp, injecting humour regularly into their adventures and the campaign wastes no time in introducing characters from the franchise’s past. This mode has you doing it all from starting on the independent circuit to competing in Money in the Bank matches, and Wrestlemania itself. It feels more involved than in previous entries, offering fans a greater opportunity to virtually live out their dreams.

W.W.E. 2k20 offers a lot and as the probable final outing for the franchise in its current form, is a testament to everything that has come before it. It is an understatement to say there is a lot to do here, with the D.L.C. this is exceptionally so, keeping you entertained well into the calendar year. The new developers manage to do a great job considering, keeping what works well and enhancing other areas with ingenuity. W.W.E. 2k20 is a smackdown of a wrestling video game title.

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