WWE 2K26 Review - A Good Feud That Should Have Main Evented

I'd like to think of myself as a man of my world.

Following my hands-on time with WWE 2K26, I said something I never expected: I was excited to play through The Island.

Last year's version of The Island often felt like a vessel for microtransactions. This year, however, was different from the get-go, and it was the first mode I jumped into. Not the CM Punk Showcase, not the enjoyable and relatable MyRISE storyline. The Island.

I was rewarded from the very beginning. There's a greater focus this year on not just delivering more matches to players, but also putting them in the ring with recognizable WWE superstars. Despite that good first impression, its flaws have a habit of reappearing. Think of it as akin to (at the time) the current state of WWE programming. SmackDown is packed with plenty of matches and great wrestling. RAW, however, often feels like it's spinning its wheels, prioritizing backstage segments over in-ring action. It's a shame, because there's so much potential within the RAW roster.

In many ways, that's the perfect way to describe this year's WWE game. WWE 2K26 has so much potential and promise, and there are times I cannot put this game down. However, it doesn't always follow through on that promise and tends to succumb to the occasional botch or two.

The Island of Relevancy Actually Feels Relevant

Despite my issues with The Island in WWE 2K25, I'm glad it's back this year.

It's far too commonplace in the industry today for a developer to introduce a brand-new system only to drop it like a bad habit the following year. Developer Visual Concepts is aware of this, as well as of last year's criticisms, so it's nice to know they followed through on their goal of front-loading things to show players that things are indeed different from last year.

There's no awkward voiceless dialogue from Paul Heyman welcoming you to The Island this year. You're interacting with the three faction leaders (CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, and Cody Rhodes) from the start, immediately being thrust into The Island's storyline. Yes, you'll still be coming across some low-card or original WWE Superstars, but their inclusions are intertwined with more recognizable faces.

Of course, if you ask me, none of that matters because I'm having too much fun playing through The Tower, the new roguelike-ish (I'm using that term very loosely, mind you) mode that has you completing matches against random opponents and stipulations. You're introduced to The Tower early on in this year's Island story. Don't be surprised if you immediately spend a couple of hours playing through it while ignoring the main story quest. Such is life in an open-world game, always getting distracted by the side-quests.

Now, the depth of a true open-world game isn't necessarily here in WWE 2K26's version of The Island; I've yet to see any real reason to pick a faction aside from aligning with your favorite WWE Superstars, but honestly, that doesn't matter too much to me. What I wanted this year was something that felt legitimate and added some depth to the game's overall experience, and that's what happens here.

Full disclosure: The Island will still let you swipe your credit card to acquire Virtual Currency (VC) so you can buy all the merch and apparel that's available, as well as upgrading the stats on your WWE Superstar. It's less in your face about this year, though, and honestly didn't feel necessary. Are there some difficulty spikes that serve as a potential roadblock? Yes. Do you really need to spend VC to progress through the story? No, and that's a win in my book.

All of WWE 2K26's Gameplay Modes are a Blast to Play

It feels like there was a call across the board to make sure all of this year's gameplay modes deliver in terms of in-ring action.

This isn't too much of a surprise considering WWE 2K26's Showcase mode is all about CM Punk's career. As much as I enjoyed last year's Showcase with The Bloodline faction, having one character be the central focus for things is a nice change of pace. It's something that I didn't realize I had missed.

Best of all, there's still a healthy mix between taking a trip down memory lane and reliving Punks' most iconic matches, as well as a nice dose of revisionist history. I won't spoil anything, but some of the surprises in CM Punk's fantasy booking are an absolute delight.

Equally as delightful is this year's MyRISE storyline, which throws you into the role of a former WWE Superstar making their return after a few years away from the company. Rather than being thrown straight into the main event, as we see with some returning Superstars, you have to earn your spot back in earnest.

As much as I enjoyed last year's storyline with the NXT Mutiny, there's something nice, again, about having the focus be on one central character. Furthermore, it feels like this year's MyRISE focuses more on getting you into the action, rather than taking a backseat to the storylines and backstage segments.

WWE 2K26's Gameplay Saw Minor Tweaks That Result in Huge Changes

In terms of that in-ring action, things more or less play out the same way. There is, however, one minor adjustment that results in a pretty substantial change in terms of how the matches feel.

The reversal system has changed in WWE 2K26. To prevent matches from turning into non-stop reversal fests, counters are now tied to a stamina meter. Once you run out of stamina, you won't be able to perform a reversal for quite some time. In addition, that stamina meter is tied into more than just performing the on-screen prompts. Dodge an attack? That'll take up stamina. Run around the ring? That will also take up stamina.

It results in matches playing out more methodically. You can't just spam reversals anymore; that leaves you in a vulnerable state. Instead, you have to be extra careful and plan out your spots. This will lead to scenarios where momentum swings back and forth between Superstars. Of course, that's a good thing if you want to deliver a 5-star match, but sometimes, you just want to squash your opponent and move on to the next objective.

This is where one of my biggest gripes comes into play: it's harder to complete certain objectives in storyline matches than I anticipated, given how the gameplay feels this year compared to last year. Part of this is undoubtedly a learning curve, and I have indeed noticed I'm faring better and better the more I get used to WWE 2K26's nuances. It's still worth noting, though, especially when it feels like my opponent is always able to counter my every move while I'm stuck in a vulnerable state.

WWE 2K's Presentation Has Never Felt Better

WWE 2K26 isn't just about some minor gameplay tweaks. Presentations have undergone a change as well, notably what you can do with Superstar entrances.

Visual Concepts talked a lot about giving fans the power to customize, and it feels like they delivered. As someone who, more often than not, sticks to default appearances in character creators and skips the Superstar entrances (sacrilegious, I know), that wasn't necessarily the case this year.

Playing around with the camera settings, giving minor tweaks to things like pyro and crowd reactions, and taking in the spectacle of Superstar entrances was more fun than I had ever anticipated in WWE 2K26. Are there some things I'd like to see updated in the future? Absolutely; this isn't a perfect system, and the entrance options honestly feel a little lacking.

Perhaps one day we'll get official support for custom songs for our entrances, beyond the generic songs that currently exist. Believe it or not, they're worse than the Def Rebel themes we hear on WWE Programming. Of course, there are so many legal barriers there that I'm not holding my breath. Again, it's a start in the right direction, but I hope to see more progress here moving forward.

This isn't my biggest gripe with the game's presentation, though. We have bigger fish to fry here.

Despite Ditching Last-Gen Consoles, WWE 2K26 Suffers From Awkward Character Models and Bugs

You'd think that this would be the best-looking WWE 2K game yet, with the decision to focus solely on current-gen consoles. Sadly, that isn't the case.

While certain WWE Superstar models look fantastic, others are a little too uncanny for my tastes. Ideally, someone like Seth Rollins would look as good as, say, CM Punk or Roman Reigns. Alas, that isn't the case. It's an issue that plagues far too many WWE Superstars for my liking, and in a world where we have these lavish entrances where I have more control than ever before, it immediately breaks the immersion.

Equally frustrating are the game's bugs, several of which have either rendered my game completely unplayable or outright crashed it. At the time of writing, Dom Mysterio is not playable in Inferno Mode, one of the new match types for the year, due to a quirky bug. I was lucky enough last year to avoid these types of issues, but that has not been the case this year, and it's been incredibly frustrating. There's so much I like about WWE 2K26, so more often than not, these issues are a huge bummer.

WWE 2K26 isn't a perfect game. It suffers from too many technical issues, and I'm not sold on the tweaks to its core gameplay being a net positive, even though they make sense. That said, WWE 2K26 does so many good things that it's still worth it. This year's version of The Island is a massive improvement, and I cannot stop playing it, especially progressing through Tower runs. CM Punk's Showcase is an excellent presentation, and MyRISE is another successful story. Overall, WWE 2K26 is still another solid entry in the WWE 2K franchise, but I can't help but wonder where it could have landed. It reminds me of the recent LA Knight spot from this year's Men's Elimination Chamber match. He's got the crowd in the palm of his hand, he's ready for a big move off the rope...and he slips. He's still over with the crowd, and I think that's how things will ultimately land with WWE 2K26, but I have more reservations this year than I did last year.