When AEW first formed, hopes were high for a serious competitor to the McMahon family dynasty. Founded by wrestlers with a long-standing legacy in the industry, and recruiting some of the newest and most exiting talent on the circuit, no such competition had been seen since the Aces & Eights TNA heyday. Pay-per-views came and went and with them, rumblings of a playable title emerged with promises of gameplay akin to the Nintendo 64 classics. The initial release hit the ring to mixed reviews. It’s now 2025. Do people still want to fight forever?
For the uninitiated, professional wrestling as both a spectacle and a business is awesome. With storylines rivalling a Christmas EastEnders episode and more leaps than Sam Beckett, the thrill of watching a live show is a tough one to capture. The 2K series took this as making as realistic an experience as possible, with complicated button presses and event-based combos providing spectacular outcomes. This formula has been improved upon year by year, and the latest iteration was a treat to behold. AEW: Fight Forever, as with its programming, takes a wildly different approach.
Controls are as simple as they come, providing an arcade style brawler experience. Multiple combos can be easily executed and one of the main thrills is seeing the fruits of – minimal – labour. The depth may not be there compared to other wrestling titles, but the fun element certainly is. The main issue is that said fun can only last for so long before the lack of options is exposed. It is commendable how enjoyable the base game is (and it really is); however, that needs to be backed up with many other features and options to ensure a full, replayable package. The features in AEW: Fight Forever are painfully limited. This also wouldn’t be as big of an issue if the rest of the product was polished, but it occasionally feels that the love for the 64-bit era carries over to the presentation.
One of the main joys of a wrestling title is the roster and this has steadily grown over the months with DLC additions giving a healthy number of competitors. Some look great, others not so much. Games such as this are made for the fans, so it would have been a real boost if the time had been taken to flesh out each character, so to speak. Entrances are also painfully short, with very little entrance music being played, some of which is either out of date or incorrect entirely (Edge is Metalingus), and it is hard to get into the pinning mood. A neat little touch, however, is the option to affect the pyros and lights, but again this is implemented so minimally it often feels as if it isn’t worth the effort.
As previously mentioned, updates have been coming thick and fast and, to the developer’s credit, a lot of free content has been given. One of the best ones involves an online stadium rush leading to a last-man-standing stipulation. It is times like this where AEW: Fight Forever shines, with the mode being so chaotic that it demands replaying due to how fun it is. Items that can be picked up range from a simple bat to a golf cart, all of which can be used to inflict damage and collect power-ups. There is a real sense of urgency to proceedings and a feeling of “one more try.”
If more expansions like this are implemented, a real cult following could be gained by offering something others just don’t provide. Much like AEW as a company itself, embracing the bizarre is the key to success (and filling empty seats). Differences can be a great selling point when cushioned by many other strong elements, and it is there where things need to be improved to achieve this, or for new iterations in the future to compete.
They also need to give Grado a full-time contract…
