AEW: Fight Forever (PS5)

Product Information

Yet that’s precisely why the switch to making AEW games should trigger excitement: it’s a fresh start for a revered developer with a point to prove. Certain wrestlers have skills that change up the way they fight, allowing them to do things others aren’t able to. Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, but the skills are a lot of fun, and make each match feel a bit different depending on who you choose to play as. With 12 different branches to enjoy, you need to play through at least three times to unlock every possible image.

A long roster of the most popular AEW wrestlers, career mode, wrestler customisation, signature AEW arenas, multiple match types and even some good ol’ fashioned unsanctioned fun await! AEW star Kenny Omega is a massive gaming fan, and he promised this wouldn't be like Yuke’s wrestling sims of yesteryear.Players start on an exhibition mode, which has all the usual faire like singles matches, tag matches, multi-man matches and specialist bouts. Speaking about the game, former AEW Champion and Fight Forever creative director Kenny Omega said: "When I first signed with AEW, Tony Khan gave me the opportunity to assemble the best gaming team that understands and respects professional wrestling, to make the best wrestling games ever. N64 release WWE No Mercy is considered legendary in virtual wrestling circles, and when news of an AEW game broke in 2018, Japanese developer Syn Sophia was strongly linked to the project. They range from quizzes, to ‘collect the most’ challenges, to a game where you hit wrestlers as if they are a baseball. An Entrance Guide can be enabled in the Options Menu, which will then display an on-screen HUD during entrances.

A new mode is set to be added to the game soon, namely Stadium Stampede; a 30 person Battle Royale mode.Whether it’s the ridiculous amount of blood that comes out of Jon Moxley’s head, the fact that you can use Darby Allin’s skateboard to attack people, or you can hold an actual Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch that you can choose to have explode or fizzle out, just like in real life, it’s these nods to the tapestry of AEW as a whole that makes Fight Forever feel like a labour of love. AEW owner Tony Kahn kicked off the show with a quick speech about the videogame, asking the crowd if they wanted to participate in an impromptu recording session. Jericho was one of the first three wrestlers announced, alongside fellow main eventer Kenny Omega and long-time women’s champ Hikaru Shida.

This ranges from the mundane (in terms of wrestling) like springboard attacks and the ability to reverse high flying moves, to the outright bizarre. It’s likely that this Stadium Stampede mode is going to be shadow-dropped when the game launches, or it’ll be part of a “Season One” of content coming in the future, but it’s a shame because a mode like that could have done wonders for AEW: Fight Forever when reviewing it.The game, which comes from THQ and Japanese developer Yuke's, will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch consoles. Moves have a strong feeling of weight to them, and connected blows are sold almost as well as they are on TV.

What is it about wrestling games that make them so prone to some of the most mind-bending and comedic glitches in the industry? I'm GamesRadar's sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4.It sounds like a minor point, but for anyone who is coming from the WWE games, it’ll be a huge challenge to break the muscle memory and do it properly. AEW is considered the second largest professional wrestling promotion in the United States, behind WWE. Nintendo Life's Chris Scullion stated the gameplay "will feel right at home to No Mercy fans" due to similar mechanics and "a lot of it does feel like where we’d be if AKI’s series had continued to evolve and not stopped in 2000.