The following review is set for one score! Making its way to the ring, from THQ Nordic and Yuke’s, coming in at a release date of June 29… AEW: Fight Forever!
I’m Back
After a lengthy hiatus, Osaka-based studio Yuke’s has returned to the wrestling gaming world and brought the AEW roster with it. AEW star/executive Kenny Omega had spoken about a video game in the years since American professional wrestling organization All Elite Wrestling was formed in 2019. Omega often referenced 2000’s WWF No Mercy as what he would like to see in a game that could be spawned from AEW.
I’m happy to report that AEW: Fight Forever is indeed of that DNA. Fight Forever releases later this week on Nintendo Switch (which I played on, courtesy of a review code from the publisher), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. And while the game is incredibly faithful to the style of the classic N64 wrestling games, it does have its own shortcomings.
Notably, AEW: Fight Forever is not on the AKI engine that ran those classic N64 titles, but rather Unreal Engine 4. Yuke’s has developed its own pedigree of classic fighting games, like 2003’s Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain. UE4 works, but it does bring some of the issues that came with the team’s earlier work on the WWE2K series. Clipping, warping, and the occasional skip (characters will blink briefly and reappear in the middle of a grapple or punch), are the engine’s main hang-ups. However, those blemishes do not stop this from being a particularly good game and one that has a lot of legs thanks to the promise of post-release content.
The First Dance
AEW: Fight Forever opens with a great video package that hypes up the game. The montage shows images of almost the entire roster as it currently stands and various iconic images from the four-year history of the organization. The title screen features the Wednesday Night Dynamite theme song, and the loading screen showcases a wrestler on the roster with a quote referencing some past TV events. The main menu even shows a wrestler standing in the locker room, and as you make selections or move through the menu, the camera swings around to different areas of the room.
Not only is the nostalgia factor there, but there are a lot of small touches that drive home the fact that this is an AEW product down to its bones. From transitions, to colors, to animations, the game’s presentation is top-notch and truly embodies the AEW property.
Game On
The gameplay in AEW: Fight Forever is reminiscent of N64-era games but with some of the more modernized aspects that Yuke’s has brought to the WWE/2K series. This isn’t the full AKI style most of us have been clamoring for, but there is more than enough here to scratch that nostalgic itch without making the game feel like Yuke’s strayed from the vision.
Reversals are pretty simple to pull off and there’s even a setting that will allow you to see visual feedback when you perform one, giving you an opportunity to learn the timing. The striking and grapple systems are simple enough to learn, with regular and strong versions of both moves and variance based on pressing the left stick down before pressing a button. If you’ve played the games that inspired this, you’ll feel right at home. If this is your first experience with it, you’ll be able to hold your own.
Graphically, the more cartoonish art direction looks better in motion than it did in some of the pre-release screenshots. There are some slight hiccups visually, including the aforementioned clipping and some glitches with the ring ropes when your wrestler is out on the apron. However, these issues aren’t game-breaking, and THQ Nordic is aware of them, so I would expect a patch soon if not on day one.
Cult of Personality
AEW: Fight Forever’s creation suite lets you create a wrestler, team, or arena. However, the options are a little bare as you can’t create a title like in other games. In addition, the game lacks a variety of face types and other personalization options (at least at launch).
Create A Wrestler announcer names are insanely plentiful, though, including some references to the other big company and a pretty awesome tribute to the late Shad Gaspard who died saving his son from drowning. You can essentially create almost any major wrestler from the last 30 years. While there are limitations, the creation suite is fairly impressive.
I would like to see more options added over time, as the game will continue to be supported over its lifetime. Fight Forever has already been confirmed by Kenny Omega to not be a yearly release and will be treated more like a live-service game. Thankfully, unlike true live service games, actual money is not a factor here. There are no micro-transactions in AEW: Fight Forever; everything in the game can be unlocked with in-game currency that is earned simply by playing the game.
Now, HIT MY MUSIC
The sound design in AEW: Fight Forever is also pretty solid. Crowd noise is great and you can really feel their energy when they cheer you or your opponent when one party gains some momentum. There are also some audio clips from various AEW personalities such as Tazz, Excalibur, and even Good ol’ JR.
What’s most striking to me is there is no color commentary in the game. I expected that most of the old-school trappings would be intact, but I absolutely did not think that Fight Forever would go without some play-by-plays. What’s less surprising to me is that I didn’t miss it at all.
Commentary in wrestling games is traditionally not good (as compared to other sports series, where buckets of resources are poured into real-time announcing). I remember enjoying my time with the N64 games just hearing the in-ring action and the game’s soundtrack, and it’s refreshing to be back in it.
Speaking of which, the Fight Forever soundtrack is also impressive. Every wrestler’s theme is included. There’s also AEW’s 2022 Black History Month Album, Who We Are, featuring artists such as indie rapper True God who, in addition to his music career, has spent over a decade in the wrestling business himself. Including that album with the soundtrack is a great touch; its importance has gone understated over the last year, but was a necessary step in carving out a different lane of content for the company. Hopefully, we’ll see more projects like that.
One of the cooler touches in Fight Forever is that the game uses some of the same item selection sounds as the N64 games. It’s a hard sound to describe, but if you hear it, you’ll know it. I love hearing it again here; it’s a great use of such a small detail that really pulls you back into those days sitting on the couch with your friends and some snacks.
Can I Tell You a Story?
AEW: Fight Forever features a career mode called Road to Elite. It covers one year of a wrestler’s career in AEW—specifically, the first year in the company’s history. It’s an interesting place to start given that AEW has been around for four years now and has become incredibly successful, particularly over the last two years.
Road to Elite starts with a video package showing some of the beginnings of the company’s biggest stars. The prologue continues with your chosen wrestler working out and getting a call from AEW owner Tony Khan. Your wrestler finds themself as an entrant in the promotion’s Casino Battle Royale, and it is every bit as chaotic as the real thing. Win the Battle Royale and much like the actual event, you will find yourself with a chance to challenge for the AEW World Championship.
The best thing about AEW: Fight Forever’s career mode is that it features a full tutorial that walks you through the details of how it works, so you never feel lost. I highly suggest using it to get familiar with the game, as trying to plow through the mode will result in your wrestler getting injured and forcing you to wrestle with reduced energy/stats. You can train your wrestler for more skill points, which are used to upgrade your wrestler (note that these upgrades only apply to custom wrestlers). Any stat upgrades you gain with your custom wrestler will carry over to the rest of the game.
Road to Elite also makes use of the game’s much-talked-about mini-games, which bring a bit of Mario Party-style chaos to the experience. They’re a fun distraction, and I could see them being a blast to play with other people in between matches.
The overall career mode is pretty short, owing to the fact that the game actually wants you to play through it with each of the 50 wrestlers available on the roster. While I’d love a longer, more autonomous career experience, I understand that given budget and time constraints, this was the best move. Beyond that, the career mode is pretty standard for a wrestling game. Nothing ground-breaking, but a solid time nonetheless.
A Score To Settle
AEW: Fight Forever was described from the beginning as a return to the glory days of wrestling gaming. Yuke’s did not disappoint, and Kenny Omega did not lie to us. His love of video games (particularly ones of this style) seems to have paid off. Fight Forever has some small issues, but there is nothing here that affects the moment-to-moment gameplay. I would like to see more varied options in the creation suite, but I look forward to the continued support and DLC for this game. This is one I can see myself putting a significant amount of time into.
Fight Forever, much like AEW itself, is a welcome alternative and a damn good time.
