All Elite Wrestling released its first console video game outing, AEW: Fight Forever, on June 28, 2023. There was a lot of buzz surrounding AEW: Fight Forever initially, as it was the first licensed professional wrestling game outside of the WWE umbrella in over a decade. Promising a pick-up-and-play control scheme that would hearken back to the glory days of WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64, Fight Forever delivered on that particular promise, but it does so at the cost of presenting an overall package that feels generally behind the times as opposed to a nostalgic callback to the boom period of professional wrestling games.
To be fair to AEW: Fight Forever and the team behind the game, they had the unfair task of delivering a high-level video game, all while the brand on which the game is based was less than 5 years old and actively undergoing significant transformations and growing pains. For those unfamiliar, AEW is a professional wrestling promotion that began in 2019. Since its inception, the promotion has been branded as the first major North American alternative to WWE since the closure of World Championship Wrestling in 2001.
The action in a typical AEW match features high-speed action, numerous athletic maneuvers, and multi-man chaos, and it has been that way since the beginning. Therefore, when the video game celebrating this new company is released without features like multi-man Ladder Matches—a match type that has been a staple in games since 2000—it's a significant flaw that affects the game's ability to accurately recreate the AEW experience.
In that same vein, a regular part of a highly anticipated AEW match is the display of "Fighting Spirit" and the ability for wrestlers to kick out of their opponent's finishing move even after 20-plus minutes of combat. This not only keeps the match going but gets fans on the edge of their seats and upsets veteran talking heads who are easily displeased when wrestling is not as it was "back in their day." In AEW: Fight Forever, matches are over as quickly as they begin, with one finishing maneuver being all it takes to end any given contest in under five moments. Something like this is utterly unacceptable to anyone who wants to simulate what they enjoy about their favorite wrestling company accurately.
Entrances are another area where AEW: Fight Forever comes up short, quite literally, if we're being honest. Elaborate entrances are a fan-favorite part of the professional wrestling package. However, thanks to the insistence on making Fight Forever a more arcade-esque experience, the entrances are brief clips that, at times, are shorter than 60 seconds. Fans are given the ability to control pyro and special effects of that nature in the game. Still, it's not enough to overcome the shortness of the actual entrances, which significantly hinders the ability to simulate the true AEW experience properly.
The issues boil down to a disconnect in philosophy between the type of crowd All Elite Wrestling wants to attract with their television programming and the type of audience AEW Games expects to gravitate toward their game. AEW's slogan is "Where The Best Wrestle." AEW pounds its chest on the philosophy that, while WWE is too concerned with being "mainstream," AEW is for the hardcore wrestling fan, the sickos, if you will. On the other hand, AEW Games aimed to create an experience for casual, potentially lapsed, wrestling fans. Ultimately, the clash in philosophies has resulted in a disjointed experience, but this is not the only area where fans have felt let down by AEW's first console outing.
The DLC rollout has also received pushback.
AEW: Fight Forever did an excellent job in keeping its game up to date with the promotion's ever-changing roster. Downloadable content has allowed names such as Swerve Strickland, Adam "Cope" Copeland, Samoa Joe, Jay White, and others to be included in the game, despite Copeland's arrival coming well after Fight Forever was initially released in June 2023. However, each DLC package has come with a new price tag, and the overall price of the complete video game continues to soar, with some early players feeling that the core experience of the game just doesn't warrant continuous purchases.
So, how can AEW Games learn from its mistakes and make its sophomore outing a game worthy of being remembered? It's not as difficult as one may think, especially if they build on the solid foundation they already have with Fight Forever.
To start, the number of match types needs to be increased. Players, especially those who desire a heavy sense of simulation from their gameplay, simply need the ability for more creativity between the ropes and more match types that better represent what is shown on TV every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night. Fight Forever can't even do Trios (3 vs. 3) matches, and in AEW, there's a whole division and championship belt for teams that compete in groupings of three. Additionally, we all love WWF No Mercy on the Nintendo 64. Still, it's been nearly 25 years, and it's time not to make the idea of living up to that game's particular control scheme the entire basis of one's opinion on whether or not a wrestling game is strong.
It would also help if the price of DLC were reduced or dropped. It would be foolish to expect the latter, as gaming development is a costly endeavor. Still, players need to feel that a game is worth the price and that they can trust the developer to do more than just try to make a quick buck off of them.
AEW: Fight Forever has strong ideas, a fun graphical style, unique mini-games, and even a Battle Royale mode. Be that as it may, AEW's first console outing came away looking like a young wrestler who may be ready for a television debut, but certainly isn't prepared to be the face of the company or carry its World Championship.
Here's hoping discussions of a sequel have already picked up, and wrestling fans can experience a more complete package from AEW Games in the near future. For anyone who hasn't picked up AEW: Fight Forever yet, it is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and the Xbox family of consoles. Pick up your desired copy here.
