WWE 2K23 Hands-On Preview

We played an early build of WWE 2K23 and are happy to report the changes made for this year's installment are going to make fans of the games very happy.
#gaming #WWE2k23 #gamespot

The WarGames match type is incredibly chaotic and can be hard to follow at times, much like the real product itself. It is made up of two three- or four-man teams, depending on what you choose (we only had access to 3v3). Two opposing wrestlers start the battle inside two rings which are encased in a steel cage, and one-by-one, members of each team are released from cages in the crowd. Momentum swings back and forth as one team gets the advantage over the other and team members make their way to the ring. No one can win the match, however, until every member of each team has entered the WarGames bout. Yes, it's exceptionally convoluted as far as rules go, but luckily, an intro scene before the match breaks down everything for you. We're pretty sure there was also audio explaining the rules on that screen, but the room was a bit noisy, so we couldn't hear anything.

Outside of the learning curve of the rules, the match type is a breath of fresh air for a franchise that needed something special to keep up with the television product. Once you embrace the utter chaos within the confines of two wrestling rings enclosed in a cage, the match type is one of the most fun and innovative things 2K Games has done with the franchise in years. Depending on who you are playing as, you can even do springboard maneuvers between the two rings, which is something that completely caught me by surprise. "The Trench"--the area between the two rings--is a confined space your wrestlers can find themselves in from time to time, but unlike the limited area of movement in Hell in a Cell matches, you have a much fuller range of movement in The Trench, so it doesn't have a No Man's Land feel. You can and should fight in this area, as you'll want to use the entirety of the brawling space available, including climbing to the top of the cage and moving around by scooching on your butt. Granted, there's not necessarily a tactical reason to do that, but it is pretty funny to watch.

Outside of the chaos, the first thing WWE fans will notice is that WarGames has a different presentation compared to the live TV product. Typically the wrestlers who haven't entered the battle wait for their chance to come out in shark cages--which tend to be at the top of the entrance ramp. WWE 2K23 puts these wrestlers in cages in the middle of the section behind the ring, complete with stairs for them to walk down, so players can always see the other members of their team awaiting their chance to get involved in WarGames. And when these wrestlers enter the ring, they may or may not toss a treasure-trove of weapons into the ring--whether they do so is an extra randomized element.

From the build we played, WarGames works. It's something we were skeptical of because the real-life version is an exciting match type, but one that can be hard to follow. Sure, WWE 2K23's version is also somewhat hard to follow at times, but that works given how chaotic the match is meant to be. Yes, you're primarily taking on one person at a time, but you also have to be mindful of the rest of your members of your team, in case you have to break up a pinfall or submission. Then, there are two rings, so you can separate from the other people in order to have more time to pin someone, but in doing so, you put distance between yourself and other members of the team, making it tougher to break up pins. There are tough decisions to make, and that's what makes this such an exciting--and at times, anxiety-inducing--match type.