AEW: Fight Forever Review: A Solid First Shot

When All Elite Wrestling first announced it was working on its first console video game title back in 2020, it did so with a parody video of a 2000s-era Steve Jobs Apple presentation, complete with multiple wrestlers dressed in black turtlenecks, glasses and mom jeans. AEW: Fight Forever has finally arrived three years later, baked in the same kind of winking nostalgia that fueled the initial announcement. It's not just trying to revive an era when multiple wrestling promotions were putting out successful video game titles but longs for the days when the arcade style of wrestling games with simpler control schemes could thrive — going so far as to hire Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita, the director behind the gold standard of classic wrestling games in WWF No Mercy and WCW/nWo Revenge. 

Fight Forever thrives in its quest to recapture that style of gameplay. The controls hit the sweet spot of being just easy enough for beginners to pick up and start playing while also having enough depth for more experienced players to dig in and attempt to master. Matches go at a quick pace and every wrestler has their own individual attributes that make them feel unique, from Kenny Omega's ability to spam V-Trigger knee strikes to Jon Moxley countering nearly every attack in brutal fashion. The game also manages to capture the essence of each wrestler to where playing as them will outshine any copy fans have attempted to create over in WWE 2K. There's also an obscene number of Easter eggs scattered throughout the venues and in particular matchups, actively rewarding players who try to get creative with their offense or attempt to recreate iconic AEW matches. 

It's once you look beyond the gameplay loop that Fight Forever starts to fall short. The options for creating your own wrestler are frustratingly shallow, only somewhat redeemed by the wide variety of options for crafting your wrestlers' moveset. The "Road to Elite" story mode can be knocked out in just a couple of hours. And then there's the roster itself. 

Based on who's available at launch and the ring gear that's available, the cutoff was set somewhere around late 2021 and even then there are plenty of AEW originals still missing. This means none of the additions made in the past year make the cut — including the AEW Trios championships, Orange Cassidy's International Championship, any mention of Ring of Honor or its roster and former champions like Samoa Joe, Saraya, The Acclaimed and Jamie Hayter. Even AEW's famously loaded tag division only has four of its tag teams, and its current champions — FTR's Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler — are DLC. So while plenty of AEW's main event players and fan favorites are available at launch, you'll feel the shallowness of the roster rather quickly. 

If there's any saving grace to the game's shortcomings it's that it never takes itself too seriously. Most of the dialogue and visuals in "Road to Elite" feel like a cross between Street Fighter II and a Being The Elite sketch. The mini-games are good for a laugh and feel straight out of Pokemon Stadium. And there's plenty of fun to be had in the more extreme stipulation matches, from the absurdity of the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to an assortment of weapons found in Lights Out matches. 

AEW: Fight Forever has the core of a genuinely great wrestling game, as the gameplay is pure, unabashedly fun. And while going the route of No Man's Sky has been teased in interviews — in which waves of post-launch updates and DLC help improve the experience — it's also possible this goes the route of Street Fighter where a sequel could build off the original idea and strike gold. This game won't change the pro wrestling video game landscape, but fans of AEW and players looking for a different experience from WWE's annual offering will enjoy it. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

AEW: Fight Forever's Standard and Elite Editions will release on Thursday, June 29, for PlayStation 5 & 4, Xbox Series X/S and One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.