The tradition of annual sports game releases even envelops the biggest wrestling company in the world.
WWE, with their weekly shows and monthly PPV events, may not be a sport in the eyes of many, but nevertheless they get an annual title with 2K Sports which excites and entertains wrestling fans everywhere.
As with every sports game, the big question for WWE 2K20 is "what's new?". We attended a preview event in London last week to get a feel for exactly what is new this year with one of 2K's biggest titles ahead of its 22 October release date.
New controls
STUNNER: Be ready for a new finisher trigger
The first thing players will have to get to grips with is new controls. 2K have completely revamped the way you control your wrestler, while things like basic strikes and grapples are the same, you execute finishers and reversals differently, while special controls like ladder climbing and cage exits are also different.
This isn't too much of a shock to the system, but I quickly found myself mashing RT for a reversal, forgetting that Y is the new control for it. It will take some getting used to for seasoned players, but it promises to clarify the way you control your wrestler, with fewer commands linked to the same button.
2K Showcase: 4 Horsewomen
BREAK THE WHEEL: This year's Showcase is all about breaking boundaries
It's safe to say that the women's roster has been making waves in the WWE over the last few years, with the charge led primarily by The 4 Horsewomen. These 4 NXT graduates hit the main roster and discovered the usual issues that working under Vince McMahon brings, but their powerful personalities and talent in the ring led to a number of glass ceilings being broken.
To celebrate the milestones these women hit, 2K has dedicated this years Showcase to them. It opens with Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, & Bayley talking about their early dreams of wrestling before throwing you into the NXT Women's Championship match between a young Charlotte and Natalya. With Ric Flair and Bret Hart at ring side you get the usual beats of a Showcase match before moving on and eventually reaching the main event of WrestleMania.
READ MORE: Full WWE 2K20 soundtrack
Online Lobbies are back
It has always been tough to find a match online in WWE games. With an insane number of match-types to choose from there can be thousands of people online, but only a handful in your selected game type, leaving you with few options to play.
To help build the online community 2K have returned lobbies to the game. Now you can open a lobby for a specific match-type if you want, or jump into a quick-play lobby and just accept whatever game type comes up. Maybe you'll be in an Elimination Chamber, or maybe a Falls Count Anywhere, but you'll be in a game and playing rather than waiting around.
New MyCareer
This year's MyCareer sees you control two characters, one male & one female. High School friends with the dream of making it big in WWE, you control both in turn and see flashbacks and take charge in matches.
With limited play time we didn't get to do much. The early part of MyCareer is a lot of cut scenes, but we got to have a feud with Ronda Rousey during a Money In The Bank ladder match and have a one-on-one with AJ Styles.
The usual skill tree is there, making the early stages incredibly hard as you fight against superior foes, and almost certainly flipping in the later stages once again.
With the roster including characters like FrankenStrowman, Apex Predator Randy Orton, and "Wicked" Aleister Black it is sure to get suitably weird and wonderful as WWE 2K stories tend to do.
Roster ratings
THE GREAT ONE: The Rock sits atop WWE 2K20 ratings
WWE 2K20's roster is enormous, with 200 superstars ranging from the legends like Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, & Jake Roberts as well as NXT UK stars Rhea Ripley & Toni Storm and debuting personalities like Keith Lee, Io Shirai, & Chyna.
The top 10 superstars are:
- The Rock (93 OVR)
- Brock Lesnar (93 OVR)
- Seth Rollins (92 OVR)
- Steve Austin (92 OVR)
- Roman Reigns (92 OVR)
- Shawn Michaels '97 (92 OVR)
- Bret Hart (91 OVR)
- AJ Styles (91 OVR)
- Sting '99 (91 OVR)
- Triple H '01 (91 OVR)
Not everyone is happy with their rating though. Sasha Banks expressed her disapproval of her 80 OVR rating on social media.
You can see all 238 characters in this years game HERE.
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Creation Suite
CREATE: WWE 2K offers the best creation tools in any game
The WWE 2K creation suite has long been one of the best things about the game. It has given players the chance to create not only themselves, but the latest looks for wrestlers in the game and those from the wider wrestling world that aren't available.
This year's is no different. There is a facial scan option to put your own likeness into the game, and countless options to create the wrestler of your dreams, or nightmares.
Together with the move-set options and the ability to create intros you can add a wrestler to your WWE Universe at will and bring your own flair and style to the wrestling world.