There are a ton of WWE wrestlers, references, and fun callbacks to sate hardcore fans, but the action gameplay still has a chance of luring in those who aren’t fans of the product already. The combat is easy to learn, simple attacks and straight-forward mini-games for the most part, with characters having classes, selectable talents, and meters to micro-manage. Battlegrounds is reaching for that hard to grasp sweet spot of fun and accessible for casual players while being nuanced and taking much longer to master for those that want to put some real time into it. There are a total of seventy unlockable wrestlers and eight arenas, along with the ability to create characters and customize arenas. The character models may seem chibi and cute, but the game packs a punch in what it tries to offer.

In that respect, I find it enjoyable, but I wish I had more good things to say about it.

This doesn’t feel like a replacement as much as something that was supposed to accompany a larger title after seeing its art style, simpler concepts, and lower price. In lieu of another traditional WWE 2K entry for the franchise, fans were offered an arcade-style brawler, reminiscent of the WWE All Stars game. It may not sound like that, but that’s praise I’m offering, even if I think the game still has a list of problems. Back when I was eight and bashing my TMNT and wrestling action figures together for fun, WWE 2K Battlegrounds would have been the type of game to keep me entertained for weeks on end.

Wwe 2k battlegrounds review