Launched in 2019, All Elite Wrestling has emerged as an alternative to mainstream professional wrestling. Professional wrestling is a genre of sports entertainment that has operated in the United States for decades with little or no real competition. The next game, AEW Fight Forever, is in much the same position. It’s an arcade, old-school alternative to the more realistic, simulation-focused WWE 2K series, and in that regard, it achieves its goals. Based on the pre-release build’s roughly two hours of playtime, Fight Forever, while a bit rough around the edges, is just as easily pick-up-and-play fun as wrestling games used to be.
I was able to play Fight Forever at Gamescom last year as well. Please check this out for details. here. Since then, even though I’ve played with more refined physiques, more wrestlers, and more match types, my thinking hasn’t changed much. What impresses me this time is all of the little touches that really bring an individual wrestler to life. One of the issues that inevitably affects every wrestling match is that many wrestlers feel very much the same. This is mainly because everyone draws from the same huge pool of tricks. But Fight Forever has a lot of really nice little touches that go a long way in giving the characters a unique feel.
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As an example, most characters can do a quick dodge by double-tapping the left stick in one direction. But MJF can’t do that. Instead, double-tap to 0 dodge and he will kneel and start begging for his life. He can then immediately cancel and launch an attack to catch his opponent off guard.this is very Like MJF, every time I landed a successful attack, I got really excited.
Orange Cassidy, on the other hand, who is well known and loved for putting his hands in his pockets during matches, can actually do it in-game. Clicking the right stick puts your hands in your pockets, changing some of your moves and even turning your classic toe-tap combo into a superkick. Tweaks like this go a long way toward making Fight Forever a truly enjoyable game for hardcore fans.
I was also able to briefly check out Road to the Elite, the single-player story mode. This mode, like the rest of the game, feels directly inspired by WWF No Mercy. First select your wrestler and your journey to AEW begins. It all starts with a phone call from Tony Kahn with an offer to appear on his first AEW pay-per-view, Double or Nothing. There are some great live-action video packages to help tell the story of how AEW was formed, which are nicely complemented by in-game cutscenes that allow you to further your own personal story.
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But what’s really exciting about Road to the Elite is that the story branches depending on whether you win or lose. There are several reasons for this. First, you’re always curious about what would have happened if you won or lost a particular match, and the motivation to play it again in another story branch obviously adds replay value. But it also feels perfect for professional wrestling games. Not all wrestlers run through a match as rough as Goldberg or Jade’s Cargill. I think there might be an interesting story told from the point of view of a wrestler who lost a big match.
Of course, this is just a guess, and I wasn’t familiar enough with the single-player mode to really comment on the quality of the story, but my impressions of No Mercy’s story mode and how Road to the Road worked. I like it very much. Elite is to look like the spiritual successor to this mode.
Between matches, you can also choose how you spend your time upgrading your character. Working out consumes energy but gives you skill points. Harder workouts require more energy and increase the risk of injury. You can also do press conferences to build energy and momentum. You can also play mini-games to earn money and skill points, or you can eat food. Or you can go sightseeing.
Only time will tell how well these systems work across the game, but at least it’s clear that Fight Forever’s single-player mode has some bones. Fight Forever is set to release for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox, PC and Switch on June 29th, so we won’t have to wait too long for AEW’s long-awaited video game debut.
Mitchell Saltzman is IGN’s Editorial Producer.you can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
