Like what you may have heard already, this is a game that has a good chunk of good but is extremely held back by design choices, clunkiness, and seeming to be really stuck in the past in the worst ways.


This game heavily relies on it being No Mercy like. Don't get me wrong, I get the point they want to do and while No Mercy isn't my favorite, I did like the PS2 games and am open to a game combining realism and arcade-ish gameplay.


However, I feel like the execution in gameplay is overall alright but weirdly extremely similar to the WWE2K games with slight differences. I don't mind the controls being the same because I really like the WWE2K controls but the differences end up feeling superfluous and clunky (like the run button on circle or not really having a reversal besides jamming triggers).


I know the intention was to make the game more beginner friendly but I feel like this design motto really just makes the game more bullshit. For example, the WWE pin system goes by a bar that you have to time to land. While it can be impossible extremely far into the match, you at least have a chance.


In AEW, they reverted back to the button mashing system. On paper, this would be great so someone wouldn't have to learn a new mechanic to escape. However, in execution, it ends up feeling like a pin is a gamble and you have no real control on if you escape or not no matter how hard you press the buttons.


This way of trying to revert to the past has made pins feel completely bullshit even compared to WWE. I highly doubt a beginner would even enjoy this system as they would get frustrated over having no real control.

I will say I do like some button choices, mainly with making dragging opponents 10000x easier than in WWE games. Sacrificing an actually good run button for it may of not been worth it but like the wise words of Taz, I digress.


I do like the momentum system as it encourages players to constantly engage. Plus, it can ensure you can recover if you're able to land a few hits in, something that can feel like an impossibility in the WWE2K games. This makes matches feel more skillful and actually help cater to casual audiences so they're not just dominated.


However, this momentum system is held back by the pin because it can feel like attempting to experiment will lead you to lose completely if someone just quickly lands a pin on you. It seems like even if you do recover, you still have permanent damage that will pretty much ensure you stay down if you get pinned.

I do enjoy the extreme matches, I feel like these will be the highlight of the game for majority of people. Unlike WWE, the game has extreme amounts of blood and you can do some pretty brutal shit against your opponent. This really makes playing a match extremely fun.

This also helps hide how outdated the movement feels because when they said old wrestling games, they meant it. The movement feels like rock 'em sock 'em robots. It's really hard for me to feel like something goes smoothly in this game, especially with running. I wish they would have tried making this way more smoother as this was a huge issue in WWE2K yet its like 10x worse here.

Now, despite seeming like controlling an android, the matches do move fast which is appreciated and helps with a pick up and play style they wanna go for.

As you can probably tell, this game has major highs and dips just throughout it only by talking about gameplay. It's like a Monkey's Paw and I feel like the epitome of this analogy is the Creation Suite.

Everyone knows the WWE games are kings of the creations, they give you near unlimited opportunities to make whoever you like. No matter how mid a WWE game can be, creation can really help spice up even the worst ones.


AEW decided to ignore 20 years of progress, despite being made by the same studio as those games with great creations, and instead revert back to a N64 styled character creator where options are extremely limited. If you want to make somebody beyond the real life interpretation of the default Mii, good luck.


However, despite this, AEW actually features a ton of creation QoL improvements not seen in WWE. You can have tons of attires, you can set up entrance props and be able to set off your own pyro, I believe you could even make your own finishers. Plus they have a whole store of creation parts that ideally would help expand the Creation Suite even more with affordable parts.


However, none of those improvements really matter if the creation itself just sucks which kind of shows the point of this game.


Going back to entrance creation, yeah its cool they have so much customization for an entrance, even surpassing WWE2K in some cases, but it doesn't matter since they decided they loved No Mercy so much that they made entrances like 2 seconds long.


The majority of entrances you don't even hear the actual theme song, just like the slight buildup like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, or Chris Jericho. They did shorten the themes like for Kenny Omega but its few and far between and its always awkward.

I know many would argue this doesn't matter but like entrances help set a mood for a wrestler. Sure, you can not care for entrances and that's why WWE gives an option to turn them off if you want. However, considering they spent resources making random ass minigames they could have maybe put resources into making full entrances


and the real kick in the balls is that no mercy had full entrances so this 2023 game is getting its ass eaten by the nintendo 64. You heard more of the 5 second loop of The Rock's theme on No Mercy than Rhodes' Kingdom in AEW.


As for the story mode, I think its actually alright. I think the base of it is completely fine and I don't mind activities being more superfluous as I would rather not deal with a workout minigame or managing a wrestler diet on the road lol. I can live with those being more opportunities for cutscenes.

However I feel like they give extreme focus to this story mode despite the fact its not that deep. You can't mess with your created characters' stats like WWE, you have to grind story mode for them. Issue being this story mode is extremely repetitive and decently long for one playthrough, nevermind like 10 to unlock some characters.


They're trying old NES bullshit tricks of making the game slightly different to count as a new story when you replay but that's obviously not really worth it and doesn't make it an actual "infinite game."

I'd say stop huffing their own farts with the story mode's super epic dialogue variants and just accept one playthrough being enough for everyone lol. Besides its leech on created character, which doesn't matter anyway because create a character sucks, the story mode is okay just not really worth replaying like marketing wants you to believe.


As for minigames, they exist. They're kind of frustrating to see considering how extremely lackluster major areas of the game are but ignoring that, they're just nothing special. They can work well to make the story mode a lil more exciting but like you're never gonna wanna replay them after seeing them all lol.


Now despite everything, this would make a great $30 game if you can find it for that price. Its still fast paced and fun with nice no rules modes to help keep it spicy. There's also a lot of hidden unlockables and details you can find along with not having any microtransactions or overreliance on DLC like WWE2K.


However, for a $60 dollar game, it's nowhere near worth it. I'd honestly say just go with WWE 2K23 if you don't have it already because this is not the new king of pro wrestling games as of now. However, they did say they will continually update this game so some aspects of this review could be outdated.


If the game is really changed, honestly it'd probably max out at a 3. The core gameplay is still extremely clunky and stiff for me to give it a great score and I highly doubt that can ever be fixed but in being fair, I give WWE games similar score so hey they would match.