Last year, 2K Sports released WWE 2K20 to scathing reviews, with the game being universally panned for its serious technical issues and generally poor game design. In response to this (and in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic), 2K Sports made the decision to cancel WWE 2K21 and give Visual Concepts some more time to work on the next entry in the long-running pro wrestling simulation series. To tide fans over, 2K Sports commissioned NBA 2K Playgrounds developer Saber Interactive to create WWE 2K Battlegrounds, an over-the-top cartoony fighter that's quite the departure from WWE 2K simulation games.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a budget release, and it's immediately apparent why that is. In more ways than one, the game feels rushed, and that is most apparent with its core fighting gameplay. Even though WWE 2K Battlegrounds has a massive roster of wrestlers from the 80s to present day, they all feel like carbon copies of each other. And even with each wrestler placed in a different class, everyone fights generally the same, lacking the individualized movesets that would be found in the WWE 2K simulation games (outside of finishing moves, that is).

More evidence of corner-cutting can be found with slipups like using an image of Tessa Blanchard on a tutorial screen and especially in the campaign mode. In lieu of cut-scenes, the WWE 2K Battlegrounds story is told through still comic book panels, which is a hallmark of low-budget or rushed releases. The comics lend a little bit of context to the matches (it's all about Paul Heyman and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin recruiting the next-generation of wrestlers) but they are completely skippable. There are some mildly amusing deep cut jokes and references for longtime WWE fans, but not much else.

The WWE 2K Battlegrounds story campaign is a good way to get acquainted with the different arenas and match types, but things start to get repetitive about three chapters in because players will have seen everything there is to see. There are standard singles and tag matches, steel cage matches, gauntlets, and Royal Rumbles. Players keep going through these match types against different opponents for a few hours, and then the campaign is over.

The campaign is short and repetitive, but to its credit, it does have a lot of content for players to unlock. WWE 2K Battlegrounds players can push through the main story missions, but they can also stray off the beaten path, completing side missions to earn extra customization items for Create-A-Wrestler. This makes the campaign at least somewhat worth playing, even if the matches themselves are dull.

Like most other WWE games, WWE 2K Battlegrounds has a character creation system, though it's far less extensive than the simulation games. But WWE 2K Battlegrounds' cartoony art style doesn't really justify in-depth character creation tools anyway. What's here is fine, and it gives players the chance to create anything from Big Show-like giants to someone that looks like a spitting image of Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan.

Being able to create absurd-looking characters fits the WWE 2K Battlegrounds theme perfectly. The game fully embraces its silliness, with electrified steel cages, wrestlers punching each other with fists that are literally on fire, and locked characters appearing in action figure boxes, trying to pound their way out. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is completely over-the-top, letting players do everything from hitting their opponents with a motorcycle to feeding them to alligators.

The ridiculous arenas are some of the most entertaining aspects of WWE 2K Battlegrounds. Instead of simply fighting it out in the Performance Center or a standard WWE stadium, WWE 2K Battlegrounds arenas are set in places like swamplands and military boot camps. Most of the arenas have special interactable elements, like the aforementioned alligator, or in the case of the Mexican arena, a remote-controlled goat.

For the most part, these gimmicks give WWE 2K Battlegrounds arenas some extra personality, and they're good for a laugh. But the longer one plays WWE 2K Battlegrounds, these gimmicks become less amusing and more inconvenient. The remote-controlled goat can be especially annoying, as the AI tends to go straight for it and it slows the pacing of the match.

The goat is hilarious the first time players encounter it. The electrified steel cages are exciting the first time players encounter them. But as the game goes on, these gimmicks lose their luster, and what's left is a repetitive, arcadey fighter that's not compelling enough to sustain one's interest for long. Most will likely have their fill within a few hours, but some players may find leveling their created character to be a worthwhile endeavor or may enjoy unlocking WWE 2K Battlegrounds' locked fighters.

However, it's safe to say that most will find unlocking WWE 2K Battlegrounds characters to be a boring grind. The game is stuffed full of microtransactions, and predictably, it seems balanced to encourage players to spend real money on characters instead of unlocking them through gameplay. This may not be so bad if the core gameplay was more entertaining, but it's too barebones, and so players simply don't have many reasons to keep playing the game beyond its opening hours.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds struggles to give players a compelling reason to keep solo players playing the game for any extended period of time. Where it shines, though, is with its multiplayer options. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is good for laughs with the right group of friends, and it also has a variety of online multiplayer options, including a unique King of the Battleground mode.

King of the Battleground in WWE 2K Battlegrounds is basically an infinite Royal Rumble match. Players are free to run around while they wait for it to be their turn in the ring, and once they're inside, the goal is to stay in as long as possible. And unlike many of the other WWE 2K games over the years, the WWE 2K Battlegrounds online actually works quite well, and it even has cross-play support.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds has local multiplayer options on top of its online, with support for up to four players at a time. While WWE 2K Battlegrounds' silly gimmicks get old pretty quick during extended solo play sessions, they do a good job of adding some extra chaos to the multiplayer matches. In this way, WWE 2K Battlegrounds is fun as a party game to play every once in awhile in short bursts, but it's hard to recommend for anyone looking to get much else out of it.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds has significantly less online and technical issues than most of the WWE 2K games, but it still struggles to shake off its identity as a small-scale, "budget" game. A lot of it feels rushed or lacks depth, and the result is a relatively barebones, repetitive wrestling game that loses its appeal in mere hours. That being said, those looking to use it as a multiplayer party game may find it to be a worthwhile investment after a price drop.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided with an Xbox One code for this review.