Fight Forever Review – A New #1 Contender

For a long time (too long really) WWE was the be-all, end-all, grand poohbah when it came to pro wrestling. Similarly, WWE 2K was really the only wrestling video game franchise in town. Sure, there were indie promotions and games, but WWE was it when it came to the mainstream. Thankfully, that’s changed in recent years with the rise All Elite Wrestling, the first company in decades to offer mainstream Western audiences a real pro-graps alternative. And they’re not just challenging WWE on TV – with the release of AEW: Fight Forever, competition comes to the video game arena as well.

AEW: Fight Forever has had a somewhat rocky development cycle, suffering a number of delays and being listed as “coming soon” for an inordinate amount of time. With that in mind, does the game have what it takes to upset the competition? Or is AEW’s first big video game not main event material? Time to find out how elite this one truly is…

As I’ve said in the past, a good wrestling game requires three simple ingredients: entertaining in-ring action, a deep, intuitive creation suite, and a decent career mode that lets fans live out their wrassler fantasies. So, does AEW: Fight Forever deliver?

Let’s get something out of the way first – AEW: Fight Forever isn’t exactly a looker. Character models are at least a decade out of date, and that may be generous (CM Punk looked better back in WWE ’13). Arenas are sterile and sparsely populated, which is a shame, as AEW’s lively crowds are one of its defining features. If presentation is what you care about most in a wrestling game, you can tap out right now. Looking at the brighter side, the game does run smoothly and feels responsive on the PS5, so perhaps there are benefits to the primitive visuals.

While AEW: Fight Forever is a bit of an eyesore, the game gets it done between the ropes. AEW Games boss Kenny Omega has said the goal was to make a game that played like WWF No Mercy, and while you do see bits and pieces of that classic in the final product, don’t expect an exact replica. Fight Forever just doesn’t have the arcade responsiveness of No Mercy, with animations still having a somewhat canned feel. Let’s not forget, Fight Forever is the work Yuke’s, which worked on WWE’s games for years. While Fight Forever doesn’t feel nearly as leaden as the worst WWE titles, you may be disappointed if you’re expecting the action to be completely different.

With that caution out of the way, I’m happy to report AEW: Fight Forever has some very solid fundamentals in place. Arguably more solid than the most recent WWE 2K game (which I quite liked). Controls are simple, with players being able to punch, kick, and grapple with the face buttons, and dodge with a double-tap of the analog stick. The left and right shoulder buttons will allow you to either block grapples or block strikes, and hitting the button at the right time will result in a reversal.

I’ve never been a fan of how reversals are handled in the WWE 2K games, as the timing is extremely finicky and the reversals themselves are way too elaborate, locking you into annoyingly-long animations. By contrast, Fight Forever’s reversals are easier to execute and relatively simple. There’s a straightforward yet effective risk-reward system in play here — block a strike and you can be grappled, telegraph your intention to block a grapple and you can get punched in the mush. This back-and-forth feels like a natural extension of the action rather than an artificial mechanic.

Best of all, much like No Mercy back in the day, AEW: Fight Forever uses a momentum system rather than the more standard life bars newer wrestling games have adopted. Executing a chain of moves, reversals, and taunts will increase your momentum, eventually earning you a Signature move. Pull off one more taunt at that point and you can unleash your Special. These finishers are easy to pull off, as you simply have to push the right stick in a set direction while in a grapple or a specific position. If you’ve never played an old-school wrestling game, the momentum system may take a few minutes to get used to, but I feel like it more accurately reflects how real-life wrestling matches play out. It also means you’re never truly down and out – a key reversal or flurry of offense can always put you back in the fight, making for exciting back-and-forth contests.

Admittedly, AEW: Fight Forever is a bit rough in some respects. Unlike some other wrestling games, there isn’t always a move for every situation, although on the other hand, there aren’t a million different maneuvers to remember. There are glitches (I fell through the mat a few times and one time during a ladder match the titular piece of hardware shot off into the sky like a rocket). Opponent AI is sometimes a bit wonky. Ultimately though, I’m willing to overlook those blemishes given how exciting and engaging Fight Forever often is. And hey, No Mercy wasn’t exactly pristine when it came to bugs either.

AEW: Fight Forever offers up a decent array of match types, from basic one-on-one affairs, to ladder matches, to the dreaded Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, although there are a few key omissions like ironman or cage matches. Not every type of match works perfectly – tag matches reflect those seen on AEW TV, with their non-stop interference, double-teaming, and broken up pins. Combine that with the momentum system, and it sometimes it feels impossible to gain an advantage and actually finish a tag match. That said, most match types work well enough. The Barbed Wire Deathmatch is probably the standout of the bunch, as it has a certain arcade-y flair, and you can’t help but chuckle at the Looney-Tunes-esque carnage when you throw your opponent into the electrified “ropes.” Speaking of Looney Tunes, the game also serves up a series of goofy Mario-Party-style minigames, ranging from a rhythm-based game of Simon Says to some surprisingly-tricky trivia. These minigames aren’t much more than a quick laugh, but I don’t begrudge their existence.

Moving onto the creative suite, you have the chance to make your own wrestler or arena, with the options being relatively limited. There are only a few facial templates to choose from, there could be more clothing options, and you can’t alter your wrestler’s every freckle, wrinkle, and eyebrow hair like in other games, but honestly, that’s not a terrible thing. Creating wrestlers in WWE titles has become so complex it almost feels like a chore, while Fight Forever channels games like No Mercy by letting you toss together a funny-looking character in 20 minutes or so. A number of additional items for the creative suite can be unlocked, but there’s no nickel-and-diming going on here. In-game currency is awarded generously, and at least pre-launch, I saw no evidence of a premium currency or microtransactions.

Much to my surprise, perhaps my favorite part of AEW: Fight Forever is its career mode Road to Elite. While most wrestling games try to incorporate too many phony-feeling sim elements into their career modes, you get the sense actual pro wrestlers influenced the design of Road to Elite. As the title implies, the mode focuses on surviving The Road – the typical life of a traveling wrestler. Making money and wrestling and training to raise your stats is important, but you also have to maintain your energy, health, and mental wellbeing. You do this by eating at the local hot spots in every town you visit, going sightseeing, doing interviews, and sometimes visiting to the local medical facility (wait, you can actually call it the hospital in AEW) if you get hurt. Yeah, dialogue feels like it’s been translated and re-translated a few too many times and cutscenes take the “inspired by WWF No Mercy” thing too literally, but, overall, this career mode feels more true-to-life than most.

Road to Elite also serves as a history of sorts of AEW’s exciting formative days. Unlike the WWE 2K games, which usually make up original stories of wildly varying quality for their career modes, Road to Elite largely plays off real-life events and storylines. You’ll experience the re-debut of CM Punk, get embroiled in Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle’s feud with MJF and the Pinnacle, and more. Road to Elite won’t take up all your time, with a campaign that can be finished in 3 or 4 hours, but branching story paths offer a high level of replayability. I often lose interest in wrestling game career modes halfway through, but I was eager to jump back into Road to Elite upon completing it the first time.

Make no mistake though, while its career mode has depth, AEW: Fight Forever is a bit light on content overall. Beyond the Road to Elite, there’s no big signature modes, and the game launches with only around 60 wrestlers. That’s not a terrible number, but well short of 200+ regularly offered by the competition. Online matches worked well enough for me, but admittedly my ability to test them out was limited. The game disappointingly doesn’t offer crossplay and it remains to be seen how servers hold up once the game launches. Still, despite the game being a bit lean, there’s a spark of something here that I think will keep a lot of players coming back. Given Fight Forever’s difficult development, it’s hard to say if we’ll ever get a follow up, but there’s a chance it could be a franchise player.

This review was based on a PS5 copy of AEW: Fight Forever provided by publisher THQ Nordic.

AEW: Fight Forever

Like the promotion it’s based on, AEW: Fight Forever can be a bit rough around the edges, but the game is also a welcome breath of fresh air. Fun, approachable in-ring action and an endearingly-quirky career mode largely make up for scruffy visuals and some missing content. AEW: Fight Forever won’t be for everyone, but if you’re looking for an alternative, feel free to push your chips All In.

Buy for $59.99 from Amazon

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