AEW: Fight Forever

For decades, wrestling games have been dominated by various WWE series. From Smackdown! vs. Raw to WWE 2K. And that's pretty much how it's been in the real wrestling world as well. The smaller NJPW and TNA have both tried Fire Pro Wrestling World and TNA Impact! respectively, but like their real-world counterparts, it only reached a niche group of fans. In recent years, however, a completely different competitor has emerged in AEW and now their first video game is here, AEW: Fight Forever. I really like All Elite Wrestling and that is now what I follow, but this game is unfortunately not something I will want to play forever.

Yuke's really lays a good foundation where they have taken the step away from the ultra-realism that most sports games focus on today. Instead, they've chosen to try and return to that entertaining arcade feel of games like WWF No Mercy for the Nintendo 64, something that one of the people behind the game, Kenny Omega himself, said they were aiming for. The foundation is solid, but it's a shame that everything built on top of it seems to be some kind of unstable faux pas. Because the game has problems, from small to game-destroying.

Let me start with what I really like. Perhaps not surprisingly, it's the arcade style. When everything works in the ring, it's really damn fun. One button to punch, one to kick, one to srping, and one to grapple with a few modifications for different lifts. It's simple and newcomers won't have any trouble getting started either. Using LB/RB on the Xbox or L1 and R1 on the Playstation allows you to block grabs or punches. The left one is pressed to counter a grab if one comes. If there is a punch instead, you get it in the jaw. The right one is pressed just before a punch or kick lands to block it. It's not hard to understand, but the timing can be difficult to master. What the game borrows from old-school titles is a momentum meter. Pummel your opponent and it fills up, get pummeled and it empties. When it is completely full, you can make your signature move. Then, in order to do your finisher, you have to do a nice little taunt. But it's not entirely effortless. I can't understand why they chose the way to get out of a pin attempt. It's happy button hammering, which may well be okay, but there is absolutely no indicator of how much you have to press. The referee can count "1, 2, 3, ring the bell!" while I hammer my fingers bloody and have no idea if I was close to making it or not.

But that's not the only problem the game has in the ring. Computer-controlled characters don't seem to understand how to step over someone lying on the ground. Imagine you are playing a match with three characters. One of them has been knocked down and the computerized character probably wants to take its bloodlust over to you on the other side of the one lying down and looking up at the ceiling. It can't. This little person on the mat has now become an invisible wall. There are also problems with visibility where it sometimes looks like two drunk men are swinging at each other in the dark. Add to that some bugs in the graphics and it's a mix that is not pleasant.

Where should I continue my disappointment? The choice of wrestlers might be a good place. While there are a whole bunch of them to choose from, some of the greatest are missing. The duo FTR has been removed to be DLC later down the lline. Claudio Castagnoli, the former Cesaro, is conspicuous in his absence. The Acclaimed can't do any finger scissors. Titleholders like Toni Storm, and Hook are also missing. However, there is Cody Rhodes who left the company over a year ago.

Can the Road to Elite story mode reverse the negative trend? Yes and no. It is possible to play as a real wrestler or as a custom one. I created my Svenne Vikingsson in the somewhat thin character creator and put on the shorts with the Swedish flag that are available. So where is he from? Well, not Sweden anyway as it is one of the few countries that cannot be chosen. So there are shorts and a cap with the Swedish flag, but you can't choose Sweden as your character's country. It all starts with your character competing in Casino Battle Royale. What I like is that the story can then actually go in different directions depending on whether you win or lose your matches. It is divided into four chapters that all lead to a PPV. Each chapter is then divided into four different weeks where the story progresses and the fourth week is always the same PPV. Depending on the success, or lack thereof, each chapter can be one of three different stories. 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, and so on.

Each week you can also do four different activities. Work out in the gym for trait points, go sightseeing to get some energy back, eat at a local restaurant for even more energy, hold a press conference, play mini-games and more. It also allows you to unlock secret conversations with other characters. This means that the replay value is high, especially since the whole story is not so long and can be completed in an evening if you so wish. Don't expect a Nobel Prize in literature, but it's entertaining enough. Here, however, I encountered a real bug. I can't start the last week. When I press "go to PPV" the game locks up and I have to force close it.

The graphics and sound are a mixed bag. It is clear that they have gone for a slightly less realistic look to the characters and I don't mind that. However, some characters do look a bit odd with Chris Jericho being as wide as a barn door. The sound is good in some places and bad in others. For example, there are no commentators during the matches and instead some background music is played. This may be off-putting to some, but considering it's supposed to be a bit more arcadey, it works for me.

However, the voice recordings for the aforementioned story mode are not great. Good old JR, Jim Ross, has never sounded more uninspired and is almost laughably bad. In the ring, however, most things sound good, from punches hitting to other sounds you can imagine in there. The possibilities in the ring in terms of match types are good. There are the classic 1-on-1 and tag teams, but then there is also the Casino Battle Royale and Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. The latter has so much blood that the WWE games have to look away.

I have mixed feelings about AEW: Fight Forever. It's really fun to play and it's top-notch arcade wrestling when everything works in the ring, but unfortunately that doesn't always mean it's not pretty devoid of content. The best description I can give is probably the match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega in the aforementioned Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. The base is damn interesting and special, but in the end it's just a sparkler and not a big explosion. But even sparklers have their entertainment value.