BrutalGamer Bringing you Brutally Honest feedback from today's entertainment industry.
There’s a huge change coming for current-gen console editions of year’s WWE title, and you can get an in-depth look right now.
Welcome to my island
Well, it’s not actually our island, that honor belongs to the Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns’. As we mentioned above, WWE 2K25 is welcoming in a wholly new gameplay experience with The Island, an online and open-world(ish) map that’ll be exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the title. There, up to 50 players at once can take part in a story mode and engage in what looks to be some new customization options.
We’re still little fuzzy on just what’ll be happening with the latter, especially as goes the all-important creation suite, but it’d be tough to say that The Island isn’t (at the very least) an interesting addition to the WWE 2K lineup. And as you’ll hear from longtime wrestling personality Paul Heyman in the video below, it’s also sounding like it’s just a first step.
In total, WWE 2K25’s The Island will present players with four locations, focusing on different elements of the WWE Universe. They are:
- Hero HQ is a bright bastion of all that is good, honoring the “good guys” of WWE. This district is constantly under attack by WWE villains, who seek to gain power on The Island;
- The Arcade of Tomorrow is a technological haven that shines as a fusion of tradition and innovation, with a pop-culture flair;
- The Temple of the Ancestors stands as a colossal testament to power and reverence to the importance of Lucha culture;
- The Deadlands is a portal to the supernatural, featuring a spooky graveyard and cathedral.
2K Games press release
But locales are just the start
Some interesting stuff there for sure, though remember it’s far from all. The shops will be available as well, but the whole mode sounds more like a game unto itself than anything else. According to 2K, The Island will feature the MySUPERSTAR Builder, which allows for fans to craft a wrestling identity.
Seemingly a completely different thing than the tried and true creation suite, The Island sounds more like a WWE RPG-lite experience.
Players will be able to customize their MySUPERSTARs in The Island with MySUPERSTAR Builder, where players can craft their identity. There are many extensive customization options that impact not only the look of a MySUPERSTAR, but their in-ring ability as well. Every choice shapes a MySUPERSTAR’s build, including minimum/maximum Attributes, availability of Badges, and Payback access. With up to four MySUPERSTAR builds available, players can experiment with different options.
In The Island, progression is key. By completing quests, challenges, upcoming live events, and matches, players will earn XP and VC that can be used to increase MySUPERSTAR attributes, unlock badges, and customize their appearance. Winning PvP matches will earn rank points that move a player up in the rankings, while losing a match will also result in a loss of Rank Points.
2K Games press release
A whole new tale
With all of that said, don’t assume that The Island is one-dimensional. The curent-gen-only mode will have an over-arching story in addition to customization and PvP matches, and that’ll be driven by the quests that we mentioned above. In those, players will have to complete a series of tasks, working their way through a narrative that’s apparently headlined by “Roman’s challenge”.
Chapter one of the tale will be included with the game at launch, with four expansions arriving some time later. And yes, those will be free of charge.
The story in The Island is driven by quests, with WWE Superstar quest-givers scattered throughout the overworld and inside landmarks. Speaking to Superstars in each district or the overworld will start quests, which can be tracked through the quest menu. Types of quests range from competing in matches, engaging NPCs or Superstars, and exploration. Players will progress through five playable chapters, each one revealing more about Roman’s challenge and The Island itself. Chapter 1 of the single-player story is available at launch with 4 additional chapters coming post-launch at no additional cost.
2K Games press release
So what do you think? Sold on The Island? We’re a little apprehensive honestly, if for nothing else than the question marks that surround wrestler creation (for other modes). But as long as those remain intact, then this new addition is plenty interesting, as is the promise that it might hold for future iterations of the series.
WWE 2K25 lands on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 14th, with the premium Deadman and Bloodline Editions coming down the aisle ahead of that, on the 7th. Just remember, if you want to get into The Island, that new experience is exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. You won’t be able to play it on a last-gen console, or on the PC.
