In all its years, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has rarely had any credible competition. Since Vincent K McMahon bought out his father’s Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1982, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) has marched into the future largely unrivaled.
Of course, there was the threat posed to its ratings and talent pool by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) roughly between late 1995 and early 2001, but that was about it. Until 2019, that is.
The birth of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was announced at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2019, and it was a day later that the promotion began unveiling its talent. Now, over four years on, AEW is far from challenging WWE for its crown, but it’s hanging in there a lot more credibly than any of the other competitors (barring WCW) in the past.
The latest battle for credibility is all set to take place in the realm of the virtual with the launch of AEW: Fight Forever on 29 June. If the stakes weren’t high enough, there’s a subplot so intriguing that it probably belongs inside the ring.
The title is developed by Yuke’s and published by THQ. Fun fact: From 1997 to 2013, THQ was the official publisher of all WWE games. Until 2018, Yuke’s was the official developer of mainline WWE games. And now, Yuke’s and THQ Nordic (the original THQ was bought out by 2K Games) are back on the rival team. It’s almost akin to then-WWF stars Kevin Nash (Diesel) and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) showing up on WCW television back in the late 1990s.
First impressions
After initially hearing that an AEW game made by Yuke’s was on the cards, I admittedly did not pay much attention to the developmental news. Before long, a release date emerged, followed swiftly by a trailer for the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. In all honesty, it all seemed very gimmicky. That perception stayed with me until I fired up the game.
The slightly dated main menu and presence of William Regal and Cody Rhodes (who left AEW in 2022) gives the distinct impression of a game that was made some time ago. And this feeling is compounded by the altmodisch in-ring action. Going into AEW: Fight Forever, I had major concerns that I was playing an as-yet-unreleased game that was already obsolete. That the project had gone ‘way over budget’ and seen several features cut or reduced in size added to my sense of trepidation about the game.
Presentation, audio and visuals
The last time Yuke’s developed a pro-wrestling game (WWE 2K19), the maximum number of combatants competing at once was eight. Nearly five years on and in its first pro-wrestling game since, the upper limit is four. This greatly whittles down the number of possible match types to around nine (with a few variations possible in each).
A concerted effort was made not to compare AEW: Fight Forever with WWE 2K23 (that launched in March), but comparisons are going to be inevitable at every step because these are essentially ‘similar’ titles releasing within fourth months of each other. Much as with the erstwhile FIFA and PES football games, it’s unlikely that gamers will splash out on two games based on the same sport in a year. First comes brand loyalty and a desire for continuity, and then comes a comparison and weighing-up of pros and cons before making a decision.
Keeping that in mind, AEW: Fight Forever looks relatively like an indie title — a shiny one, no doubt, but an indie nonetheless. A very basic (but functional) set of menus, limited match types (the eagerly anticipated Stadium Stampede is yet to arrive), a roster of 52 wrestlers (60 after DLC, reportedly including the late Owen Hart in his first videogame avatar in over 20 years) compared to the heaving WWE2K23 roster of 178 superstars, a lack of in-match commentary (whether play-by-play or colour) and a grand total of seven arenas lends weight to that theory.
With the grapplers themselves, Yuke’s has gone for non-photorealistic and more cartoony (for lack of a better word) character models and this is evident in their faces and musculature. The move pays off because after years spent in the uncanny valley with the WWE games’ efforts to achieve photorealism, it’s refreshing to see a game going in a different stylistic direction. However, the extremely tiny crowds and darkened seats behind them give the idea that no one’s watching — probably not what AEW wants to project.
Onto the audio side of things, instead of running commentary, matches take place with background music from the game’s jukebox. This gets annoying after a while. Interestingly, the developer has included a mix of in-ring sounds of various wrestlers, which is certainly unique if nothing else.
Gameplay
The actual action is unarguably the main event, and it’s here that things start looking a lot more positive. First and foremost, the snappy loading times are a sight for sore eyes after the much longer and much more frequent loading sequences in WWE 2K23.
Wrestler entrances are a mixed bag because while it’s disappointing that the segment ends on the stage (i.e. wrestlers aren’t shown walking to, entering, and posturing in the ring), you do get the ability to direct the camera angle, pyros, and screen filter on the stage.
While initially, the brawling seems extremely staccato and disjointed, it does grow on you. And once you’ve figured out how to pull off weapon attacks, signature moves, and special moves, AEW: Fight Forever begins to hark back to a simpler time of more arcadey action than the simulation variety found in WWE games.
A host of nice little touches (Darby Allin can ride a skateboard in the game and Orange Cassidy can wrestle with his hands in his pocket) go a long way in terms of fan service. Also, once you get the hang of it, combat does start feeling quite satisfying.
Staying on the theme of a throwback to an earlier era of wrestling games, AEW: Fight Forever is reflective of its distinctly mature real-world product and so, there’s blood. Lots of it. Unlike the tiny scratches seen in WWE games, you can give your opponent a crimson mask and leave massive stains of the red stuff all over the ring.
This is best seen in the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch — which is a fun mode, but is burdened by its gimmick and gets boring after a while. Also making their return to mainstream wrestling games are intergender matches, where women wrestlers can battle their male counterparts.
The story mode, dubbed ‘Road to Elite’ is as much a story about your selected wrestler’s year in AEW as it is the origin story of AEW. Kicking off with the 2 January 2019 press conference, the mode splices real-life footage of the franchise’s highlights with the story as you progress.
Best of all, and in the vein of 2000’s WWF No Mercy, the story doesn’t come to a grinding halt if you lose. The branching options allow you to continue and play through the ramifications of your defeat. Another major bonus is that there are no “objectives” to achieve in order to progress — the story moves along no matter what you do. Plus, with a mix of backstage politics, life on the road and a dash of humour, Road to Elite is a highlight of the game.
And then, there are the delightfully quirky Mario Party-esque minigames that see you competing with three other wrestlers in such activities as grabbing poker chips, hurling bombs at targets, and so on.
Of course, there are also a few negative points. The absence of a backstage area for brawling and the provision of only seven arenas in which to ply your craft is limiting. As are your wrestler’s total number of moves at a given time, which can turn things a bit stale after a while. The create-a-wrestler suite is extremely shallow in terms of character customisation, but a bit more detailed when it comes to moveset and entrance customisation.
Gameplay physics are all over the place — with perfectly connected superkicks sitting alongside chair shots that hit nothing but air and yet knock an opponent over. It is hoped that a patch in the near future can iron out this aspect.
Verdict
So where does all this leave us? Your choice of whether or not to spend your hard-earned money on AEW: Fight Forever will largely come down to how keenly you follow the brand of pro wrestling. For the uninitiated, the appeal of playing as a bunch of names you’ve never heard of and a tiny sprinkling of ex-WWE talent might be quite limited. Your mileage will vary drastically if you are invested in the product and its roster.
However, if it’s an entertaining, if a bit rough-around-the-edges, wrestling game that takes pride in its real-world product, but doesn’t take itself too seriously, you can’t do much better than AEW: Fight Forever. It’s always exciting to see a monopoly break, and this title certainly proves that there’s a contender apart from the WWE in the ring, even if it’s some years till it can mount a title challenge.
Unfortunately, given the developmental hell AEW: Fight Forever experienced, this game might be the only AEW game for a while. I hope not, because most of the ingredients are in place for this to be a very successful franchise in the future.
AEW: Fight Forever is set to launch on 29 June on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, and Microsoft Windows
The game was reviewed on PlayStation 5. Review code provided by the publisher.
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