AEW Fight Forever is the first console video game offering from All Elite Wrestling, releasing in June and featuring updates with DLC.
The game has reminded fans of the N64 classics such as WCW/NWO Revenge and WWF No Mercy, with a similar look and control scheme.
Ultra Pro Wrestling, which hopes to release in 2024, is going for a familiar feel to the N64 classics as well, albeit without the backing of a major promotion.
Speaking to WrestleZone, UPW lead developer Sam Vallely weighed in on AEW Fight Forever.
“Yeah, I’ve played it. I think I got it the first week, I pre-ordered it and everything. I was looking forward to it and the first week it came out, I think I played it for a couple of days and then I took a couple days off, and then I went back to it. My initial first impressions of it, I found it very hard to get to grips with. There was a lot of times actually — When you do a dodge or a block in No Mercy, like it feels very obvious that’s what you’re doing. When I was playing the AEW game, I didn’t know if I was blocking or reversing because it wasn’t obvious, there was no indication that I was doing it, so then when I wouldn’t reverse moves, I didn’t know if it was because my timing was off or because I’m not pushing the right button, it just didn’t feel as pick up and play as I was expecting," he said.
He continued, “There’s a lot of subtle things that they do, they’re sort of pet peeves of mine. When a guy goes to do a move, and he sails towards the opponent, it’s to try and line up the connection so the animation looks good. That’s not something that’s really in No Mercy. In No Mercy, if you do a move and your opponent is not in the right place, you’re not going to rotate to connect with them. So that was something about the API games that I always liked because if I’m on the ground and I’m trying to get up and my friend goes to do this move, but he missed me, and not because of my fault but because he didn’t know the length of his move or he didn’t know how far his character was going to jump out, well that was his fault. Sometimes in these new games, 2K as well, it just feels like if you’re not positioned right, the game will rotate you towards the opponent. I never really liked that. Playing the AEW game, I think it was kind of a blend of No Mercy and Here Comes The Pain. I don’t know, for my taste, I think it was just a little too much.”
AEW Fight Forever currently has a 64 rating on Metacritic.
Elsewhere during the interview, Vallely gave an update on Ultra Pro Wrestling development. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Fans can follow the game's development on social media and support the game on Patreon.
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