Editor’s Note: For the purposes of this column, a review copy of AEW Fight Forever for PS5 was used.
I still remember watching Hulk Hogan battle King Kong Bundy in a steel cage at WrestleMania 2. That VHS tape was my introduction to professional wrestling, and I’ve been hooked ever since. While my interest in watching pro wrestling has ebbed and flowed through the years, the one part of my wrestling fandom that never went away was playing wrestling video games. That same year Hogan triumphed over Bundy in the cage. I bought my first wrestling video game. It was called Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E. for the Atari 2600, and it was awful. What else did you expect with a joystick and a red button?
Thankfully, there was nowhere else to go but up for the genre. While console games were rough back then, the arcades were a different story. With games like Wrestlefest and WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game chewing up people’s quarters every weekend, they offered a glimpse of what a good console wrestling game could be. We just had to wait for the technology to catch up.
Things changed in the mid-nineties with the release of the Nintendo N64 system and Sony Playstation.
To me, the key difference between the systems was gameplay vs. graphics. Sony’s games looked better, but for the most part, Nintendo had Sony beat when it came to actually having fun. With those two systems, we started to see the split between a more arcade wrestling game and a more realistic simulation game.
This time period culminated with the release of WWF No Mercy for N64 and WWF Smackdown for Playstation. To this day, a strong contingent of wrestling video game fans feel WWF No Mercy is the best wrestling game to ever exist. I am one of those people. An entire community of wrestling gamers currently exists to mod that classic game so it includes modern wrestlers. It really says a lot about the quality of the game that it is still held in such high regard over 20 years laters, especially with the major advancements we’ve seen in console gaming system capabilities since its release in 2000.
A year after WWF No Mercy came out, WWF purchased their major competition, World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
WCW had fallen on hard times. After dominating the Monday Night Wars between both company’s flagship shows for several years, the tide turned in the late ‘90s. After overtaking WCW, WWF eliminated all of their competition by purchasing ECW and WCW.
With no one to compete against, the on-screen and video game wrestling started to get stale. While there were attempts to create wrestling games that focused more on fun than realism and simulation, none of them ever really panned out. Thus, the WWF Smackdown series became the predominant wrestling video game franchise until 2K Sports took over from THQ and added professional wrestling into their stable of 2K games.
Fast forward to 2019.
Two events in the wrestling industry served as the catalyst that got us to where we are today with the release of AEW Fight Forever. First, long-time WWE video game developer Yuke’s was no longer part of the WWE 2K franchise, and second, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was officially announced as a new professional wrestling organization.
Both were seismic shifts for the sport. For one, the first wrestling video game without Yuke’s was absolutely horrendous. It was so bad, 2K canceled WWE 2K21 and took a two year hiatus from the franchise. Secondly, AEW’s emergence meant wrestling fans finally had a viable alternative to the stale WWE product.
Watching wrestling became exciting and fun again.
People like me who walked away and became casual fans started to come back. There was a buzz and an excitement surrounding the fledgling company. Watching AEW reminds me of how much fun I had watching WCW in my youth. Sure, I watched all three major promotions back then, but WCW had my heart. When WWE bought WCW, the magic was gone. I know AEW isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it has brought that magic back for me, and I thoroughly enjoy it. Sure, it’s a little rough around the edges at times, but at its core, AEW is a lot of fun.
Then, once the scrappy upstarts showed proof of concept, the conversation about an AEW video game naturally started to gain some traction. That’s where Yuke’s comes back into the fold. AEW teamed up with the folks at Yuke’s and THQ to begin developing their own video game. That game became AEW Fight Forever, out now on all major platforms.
In terms of gameplay, AEW Fight Forever is heavily influenced by WWF No Mercy.
The development teams even went as far as hiring the video game director responsible for games like WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF No Mercy to work on this project. Knowing how well-revered those two games are within the wrestling gaming community, the folks working on AEW Fight Forever set out to provide a similar gameplay experience.
Having been a diehard AEW fan from the beginning, the possibility of playing a new game with all my favorite AEW wrestlers was extremely enticing to me. I miss fun wrestling games. I’m happy to report that AEW Fight Forever is a genuinely fun game.
Knowing they were going for a retro arcade style, I knew the graphics would be more cartoon-like and stylized. Much like N64 games, I’ll sacrifice graphics for gameplay any day of the week. Folks used to sports games from the likes of 2K and EA Sports will likely see the graphics and assume it’s a bad game. If that’s all their basing their opinion on, then they’re missing out. The graphics fit the overall presentation of the completed game and don’t detract from the fun at all.
In terms of game modes, there are several match types, an option for online play, and a story mode called “Road to Elite.”
Personally, the match options are a bit anemic at first glance. Glaring omissions include the lack of trios matches, tournaments, and cage matches. I’d like to see the Trios and International championships added in a future update. If you’re predominantly an online player, the more trimmed-down match type offerings likely won’t be that big of a deal, but for us solo gamers, it would really be nice to see some more match variety.
“Road to Elite” also needs a bit more finesse, especially with the women’s division. If you’re running through the story mode with a female wrestler, they eventually get inserted into the main storylines and start wrestling the men’s division. Yes, I realize this happened out of necessity because there just aren’t enough woman wrestlers on the starting roster to expand the stories. But it’s still a bummer.
The game also focuses on old story angles, which was slightly disappointing. I know it’s extremely challenging to make a wrestling game with current stories, but I had hoped the angles were a little more up to date. I know the premise of Road to Elite is to showcase the beginnings of AEW, and that’s a fun idea. However, I think it would be interesting to have that as a separate mode as well as a more current story mode with each championship belt as the focus.
The makers of AEW Fight Forever have shown a commitment to its longevity.
They’ve stated from the beginning that they wouldn’t release an annual installment. Instead, they will improve upon it as time goes on via downloads and season packs. In fact, THQ Nordiq will be releasing a new game mode soon inspired by the Stadium Stampede match, and they’ve even reached out on all of their platforms asking for player’s wish lists for the game.
When a wrestler gets over with the fans, AEW does a good job of listening to the audience and reacting accordingly. It’s refreshing that their partner for AEW Fight Forever shows that same level of care and interest in what the fans want. In all my years of gaming, I can’t remember when a developer has openly solicited feedback and has been as transparent with their fans as the THQ Nordiq team has been since the game’s release.
While most of the community has chimed in about having better creation options for custom content, I’d much rather see them increase the roster. At first glance, the biggest omissions to me include Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, Jamie Hayter, Swerve Strickland, Saraya, Kip Sabian, Butcher and Blade, The Acclaimed, Sonny Kiss, Red Velvet, and the rest of House of Black. I would also include the omitted members of the Jericho Appreciation Society and Blackpool Combat Club.
If they dedicate the resources to fine-tune this game and add appropriate updates, I can see AEW Fight Forever staying at the top of my list of wrestling games for a very long time. If handled the right way, AEW Fight Forever can become the No Man’s Sky of the sports game world.
So, how does it play?
The core mechanics and grapple system for the game are solid. They spent a lot of time making sure they got that right. Because of my experience with WWF No Mercy game, I had no problem picking up the controls. Honestly, it was like riding a bike.
They also paid attention to the tiny details that add to the immersion of the game. For example, if you’re lining Adam Cole up for the Boom, you can press a button to get him to remove his knee pad like he does on TV. You can also make Penta pull his glove off as well. Orange Cassidy can even wrestle with his hands in his pockets. Those little details go a long way to show players just how passionate the people involved are with delivering a quality product. It’s both fun to play and offers up little Easter eggs and touches of reality for the fans.
Even though I love the game and have a blast playing it every time I turn my PS5 on, there are some obvious areas of improvement the team should focus on for future patches. The good news is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the core mechanics and game engine. As it stands right now, AEW Fight Forever is a good starting point, and future updates should definitely push it into the great category. I can’t wait to see where AEW Fight Forever goes from here because it has so much potential. This game is the one wrestling fans have been asking for since WWF No Mercy.