WWE 2K Battlegrounds review: A refreshing spin on WWE 2K

The WWE 2K series has always been polarizing, as there has always been a vocal section of gamers that long for the days of No Mercy on N64, but there was no disagreement from any side that WWE 2K20, released last October, was a mess. Critics heavily criticized the game as countless videos circulated showing off bugs and glitches, and in April, 2K announced that would be no WWE 2K21 as the studio planned to extend the development timeline for its next sim-style game.

Instead, the company pivoted to WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a wildly over-the-top, stylized arcade brawler – and it’s a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series.

Gameplay in Battlegrounds is much more straightforward than in 2K20 and previous entries, but still has a degree of depth. There are still submissions and grappling moves, but each character’s move list isn’t gigantic and executing the moveset is not difficult, which makes Battlegrounds a fairly easy pick-up-and-play experience.

Battlegrounds wisely throws any vestige of the sim-style WWE 2K realism out the window. Imagine how a child might stage a match with WWE action figures and you’ll have an idea of how Battlegrounds plays out on the screen. Punching and kicking animations are exaggerated, moves are extra high-flying, and the action is chaotic. There are also added environmental hazards to play around on certain fantasy stages, such as a ringside alligator you can throw opponents towards to be chomped.

Match presentation, though, is not up to the 2K standard, perhaps by design. In 2K20 and in earlier games, 2K attempted to recreate each wrestler’s entrance exactly, from their gear to their gestures to whatever pyro was included. In Battlegrounds, wrestlers simply drop onto the ramp in a crate and walk into the ring. Mauro Ranallo and Jerry Lawler are on commentary in Battlegrounds, but they have a reduced role, and mostly just shout out one-liners after a huge move. It makes sense for a fast-paced arcade title, but at the same time, it would have been cool to see some of the more theatrical entrances re-created with Battlegrounds‘ art style.

The roster of superstars in WWE 2K Battlegrounds is huge but not yet complete, with 70 characters at launch, including legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan. 2K has already announced plans to release more than 50 additional characters post-launch. The entire roster is not unlocked at the start of the game – you’ll need to play through the campaign mode to unlock characters and amass in-game currency.

2K Battlegrounds‘ campaign has you progress through a giant flowchart of story events and matches, unlocking characters and arenas and experiencing the various match types along the way. The gist is that Stone Cold Steve Austin and Paul Heyman have joined forces to create a new “Battlegrounds” brand for Vince McMahon, and they travel the country recruiting new talent. You play as a different fictional wrestler for a few matches in each section of the flow chart, which keeps things fresh, and there is a section of the campaign that focuses on women’s wrestling, which is great.

As is typical for 2K wrestling games, there is a character creator, though it’s not quite as comprehensive as what you’d find in a usual WWE 2K or NBA 2K game. You can then take your created superstar into Battleground Challenge mode and progress through a similar flow chart of matches, gradually increasing your character’s stats along the way.

Make no mistake, though, WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a party game. You can play it as a single-player experience, but you’ll undoubtedly have the most fun playing with a group of friends, or with other real, live people online. The gameplay in 2K Battlegrounds is fun, but there’s only so much battling against the AI opponents you can do before the fun starts to run dry. The real replayability here is as a multiplayer party title, and Battlegrounds provides the best WWE multiplayer experience of the generation.