AEW: Fight Forever Review

Over the past four years, we’ve been living through somewhat of a professional wrestling renaissance. The paying public might not be rushing out of cinemas and into bingo halls and basketball courts in droves, but the sport’s popularity is at an all-time post-Attitude Era high. While WWE’s output has improved drastically, this shot in the arm can largely be attributed to the rise of All Elite Wrestling. Since its first pay-per-view in 2019, AEW has grown to have three weekly TV shows, a pair of enormous crossover events with NJPW, and countless top stars joining the roster to step between the ropes. Further expanding this ever-growing portfolio, the land of All Elite is releasing its first video game, with former WWE 2K developer Yuke’s at the helm, no less. Looking to recapture the spirit of games like WWF No Mercy, AEW: Fight Forever (clap, clap, clap clap clap) has some very big boots to fill. So, does this inaugural outing have what it takes to bring home the gold, or does it end up staring at the lights for the 1-2-3?

Watching any amount of gameplay, it’ll be immediately clear that AEW’s debut title isn’t going down the WWE 2K simulation route. Wearing its No Mercy inspiration on its tasselled tights, Fight Forever is an arcade-style wrestling game that favours pick-up-and-play gameplay over emulation and photorealism.

Whether you’re a long-time fan of the 64-era games or you’re greener to the genre than The Outcasts, you’ll easily be able to grab a controller and put on a bout that would make Dave Meltzer blush. The Square/X button throws a punch, Triangle/Y launches a kick, Circle/B is run, and X/A initiates a grapple that can then lead to a manoeuvre when followed up with another button press. Each strike can be modified with a longer press of a face button or an accompanying push of the left thumbstick, all of which are simple to understand and execute.

MJF ended up regretting his mid-match taunt

Let’s face it, though, we’re not all Kenny Omega, so some defensive options are required. Pressing the left shoulder button will block a grapple, while the right shoulder will stop any incoming strikes, with a well-timed input resulting in a reversal that swings the momentum back in your favour. If you’re feeling particularly athletic, a quick double tap in any direction has your wrestler perform a dodge to avoid taking damage.

Shocking the crowd with a massive return to the ring after a 23-year absence is the Momentum Meter from No Mercy. This bar at the bottom of the screen fills as you pull off moves and deal damage, making you harder to pin and submit and allowing you to hit your signature move when filled. Better yet, you can perform an ego-shattering taunt once the meter is full to gain access to your special (finisher) move that’ll all but certainly put your opponent away. On the other side of the equation, your gauge will deplete as you take damage, making it far more likely that you’ll eat the pin if your meter is blue, regardless of how quickly you mash the face buttons to kick out.

Mixing it up in the squared circle is easy to learn but hard to master. There are plenty of small nuances to get your head around, such as springboard moves, topes and anti-air reversals, but you’ll largely be left to discover these details yourself. While there is a tutorial of sorts (led by none other than William Regal), the more advanced tactics are buried within static menus or, worse still, never mentioned at all. With that being said, the gameplay is an absolute blast, and it’s the kind of pick-up-and-play approach that wrestling games have been sorely missing.

Sorry Jade, the ref’s count is final

Fight Forever features nine different match types, from the regular to the ridiculous. Accompanying the one-on-one, two-on-two, three-way and four-way matches are the ladder, Unsanctioned Lights-Out and Falls Count Anywhere matches, the Casino Battle Royale and the aptly named Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. The carnage that is the death match and the bankable fun that comes with the battle royale is appreciated, but I found the options to be slightly limited overall, especially with AEW’s focus on tag-team trios matches being nowhere to be seen.

Wrestling is naturally a physical form of entertainment, but at its core, it’s all about the story. Fight Forever’s story mode, titled Road To Elite, chronicles the company’s first calendar year, from Double or Nothing to Revolution. Creating your own bone bender using the game’s somewhat limited character creation suite, you play through four blocks, each consisting of three weeks of Dynamite matches that lead to a pay-per-view. But you aren’t just grappling back-to-back.

Between matches, you can train at the gym, go out for a meal, sightsee or even compete on Rampage and Dark. These side activities raise your energy and motivation, which dictate how quickly you gain momentum in a match and how easily you can stave off injuries, and they’ll also earn you skill points. These skill points are used to strengthen your wrestler and unlock new in-ring abilities.

I could give you context, but it’s honestly better without

You also have the option to take part in minigames run by the Young Bucks and Omega. These bizarre departures are just as arcadey as the in-ring action and share a lot in common with the minigames found in Pokémon Stadium. Clefai, sorry, Penta Says has you following timed button prompts, Shida’s Slugfest plays out like a microgame of baseball, and AEW Pop Quiz does exactly what it says on the tin. As odd as their inclusion is, I liked the minigames on offer, but that could just be the nostalgia talking.

Win, lose or draw, the story will adapt to the outcome, providing some level of replayability to the two-hour mode. Text-based cutscenes will push the narrative along, with your created combatant rubbing shoulders with everyone from Chris Jericho and Britt Baker to Scorpio Sky and PAC. Each block is self-contained though, so if you win the tag straps, but your partner turns on you at the PPV, don’t expect there to be any follow-up on next week’s Dynamite. You can also use an established name and take them through the same journey, but the skill-based progression is locked, so it ultimately feels a bit shallow in comparison.

At launch, Fight Forever’s roster consists of 52 of the promotion’s biggest names…and others who have jumped ship to the Fed. Whether it be a main event name like Jon Moxley, CM Punk and Malakai Black, or a mid-carder like Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor, the models are all filled with character and personality. Moreover, each wrestler’s moveset, taunts and playstyles are decidedly their own. Each wrestler even has their own chant that the crowd will throw at them when they’re on top during a match.

Clefairy would be proud

This attention to detail is found in almost every facet of Fight Forever. Orange Cassidy can put his hands in his pockets, sloth style, giving him access to new moves, MJF cowers on the ground instead of blocking, only to get a cheap shot in on his opponent, and tag team matches let all competitors duke it out for a few seconds after a tag is made. These little touches go a long way to making Fight Forever feel like an AEW game, not just a No Mercy tribute act.

I know that it’s a bit of a moot point, as wrestling programming makes it nearly impossible for games to release and for the content to be perfectly up to date, but it’s worth mentioning that there are some odd omissions, particularly when it comes to the women’s division. Not only is the field very thin, with only 13 of the 51 playable wrestlers being female, but the design of the women’s title depicted in the game is severely outdated, having been updated well over a year ago at this point. I know that DLC is on the way and updates can fix these issues, I’m just hoping that the brilliant women’s division will get most of the love going forward.

Final Thoughts

The pro wrestling scene was left without a true alternative for almost two decades before the creation of AEW, and the same can be said for wrestling games. While the simulation gameplay and presentation of the WWE 2K series are impressive, being able to pick up and controller, blast away at some buttons and knock your opponent out of their boots with a buckshot lariat just feels right. Missing match types, a threadbare tutorial and a lack of care shown to the women’s division are all issues that need to be addressed, but with that said, the game is just so hard to put down. Fight Forever captures the essence of the great and silly sport that is pro wrestling, delivering an accessibly fun experience that I’m hoping will graduate from Rampage to Dynamite as time passes.

Reviewed on PS5 // Review code supplied by publisher

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