A Game More 50/50 than Tony Khan’s Booking.
Original Score Before Backloggd Rounding: 4.5/10 (Below Average)
AEW: Fight Forever is a game I’m conflicted on. A real mixed bag. On one hand, games like WWE All Stars and TNA Impact! are some of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in a wrestling game, and much like this one, they were more arcade-like in their approach, and focused much more on fun, fast paced, high octane action, than being a 1:1 simulation of the product. The lack of content in that regard is more an annoyance I’m used to with games like this than a deal breaker. The WWE 2K series has the benefit of hundreds if not thousands of assets to recycle from entry-to-entry, while Fight Forever had to be build from the ground up. However, that does not excuse the state of this game. AEW: Fight Forever is a game that is intentionally held back, and not just due to budget or time constraints, but to emulate an N64 title that I personally never experienced, and hold little nostalgia for, and to focus on aspects of the game that I would deem unnecessary. In the end, I think taking more elements from the PlayStation 2/GameCube era of wrestling games, or modernising the old formula of WWF: No Mercy and really doing something new with it, anything would have been better than what we got, and ultimately I find myself disappointed (as you would when you were expecting the next truly great wrestling game, and you end up with a kneecapped end product).
As I mentioned, Fight Forever feels stunningly close to WWF: No Mercy, for better or worse, but it does very little to actually build upon or modernise the tried and true formula that fans have been begging to see return. I'd actually argue in some ways that it's worse. While it possesses a solid foundation, notably the core wrestling gameplay, that is sure to only improve through further updates and downloadable content releases, as it stands now, the game is lacking. While this title may have been a labour of love for Kenny Omega and AEW Games, and I have all the respect in the world for them and what their goal, their dream was, not enough was done to make the game as great as it could have been ahead of launch. Whether it needed a bigger budget, more time in the oven, I can't say. AEW: Fight Forever is lacking in several areas, including but not limited to its poor creation suite, lack of match commentary, match types, and single-player content, which again I let slide in games like TNA Impact! and WWE All Stars because of how darn fun they were. But even those games felt more polished and complete, especially with their single-player offerings.
While AEW: Fight Forever may improve over time, it’s hard to recommend or justify buying at its current full price, no matter how fun the base wrestling gameplay is. It feels more like a budget, digital title than a full fledged retail wrestling title. If you are interested in playing this game, I'd recommend waiting for a sale, and to see how dedicated to their future content plans they actually are. I can’t help but feel a public playtest beta would have done wonders for this game, but what’s done is done.
Original Score Before Backloggd Rounding: 4.5/10 (Below Average)
AEW: Fight Forever is a game I’m conflicted on. A real mixed bag. On one hand, games like WWE All Stars and TNA Impact! are some of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in a wrestling game, and much like this one, they were more arcade-like in their approach, and focused much more on fun, fast paced, high octane action, than being a 1:1 simulation of the product. The lack of content in that regard is more an annoyance I’m used to with games like this than a deal breaker. The WWE 2K series has the benefit of hundreds if not thousands of assets to recycle from entry-to-entry, while Fight Forever had to be build from the ground up. However, that does not excuse the state of this game. AEW: Fight Forever is a game that is intentionally held back, and not just due to budget or time constraints, but to emulate an N64 title that I personally never experienced, and hold little nostalgia for, and to focus on aspects of the game that I would deem unnecessary. In the end, I think taking more elements from the PlayStation 2/GameCube era of wrestling games, or modernising the old formula of WWF: No Mercy and really doing something new with it, anything would have been better than what we got, and ultimately I find myself disappointed (as you would when you were expecting the next truly great wrestling game, and you end up with a kneecapped end product).
As I mentioned, Fight Forever feels stunningly close to WWF: No Mercy, for better or worse, but it does very little to actually build upon or modernise the tried and true formula that fans have been begging to see return. I'd actually argue in some ways that it's worse. While it possesses a solid foundation, notably the core wrestling gameplay, that is sure to only improve through further updates and downloadable content releases, as it stands now, the game is lacking. While this title may have been a labour of love for Kenny Omega and AEW Games, and I have all the respect in the world for them and what their goal, their dream was, not enough was done to make the game as great as it could have been ahead of launch. Whether it needed a bigger budget, more time in the oven, I can't say. AEW: Fight Forever is lacking in several areas, including but not limited to its poor creation suite, lack of match commentary, match types, and single-player content, which again I let slide in games like TNA Impact! and WWE All Stars because of how darn fun they were. But even those games felt more polished and complete, especially with their single-player offerings.
While AEW: Fight Forever may improve over time, it’s hard to recommend or justify buying at its current full price, no matter how fun the base wrestling gameplay is. It feels more like a budget, digital title than a full fledged retail wrestling title. If you are interested in playing this game, I'd recommend waiting for a sale, and to see how dedicated to their future content plans they actually are. I can’t help but feel a public playtest beta would have done wonders for this game, but what’s done is done.