AEW: Fight Forever — A Nostalgic but Bumpy Ride for Wrestling Enthusiasts

As the popularity of the novel All Elite Wrestling surged, it wasn’t unexpected that a video game adaptation was on the way. Serving as a credible alternative to the mainstream wrestling scene — where WWE reigns supreme — the franchise established its reputation by incorporating well-known talents from the community, along with high production values that could compete with any other. THQ Nordic’s AEW: Fight Forever aligns in this regard, relying on a lineup of iconic legends, as developer Yuke’s taps into their extensive experience from WWE titles, delivering a gameplay experience that emphasizes arcade action. Indeed, we’re revisiting the nostalgic era of ‘WWF No Mercy,’ where the robust and straightforward mechanics made it easy for virtually anyone to enjoy the game.

AEW: Fight Forever review – Gameplay

For players accustomed to the modern WWE 2K series, the lack of extravagant elements in this title might be disappointing. AEW: Fight Forever doesn’t prioritize realism, so don’t expect high-fidelity visuals or lifelike lighting that makes sweat gleam. It’s not a simulation, so the art style strikes a peculiar balance between cartoonish exaggeration and realistic looks — almost as if Yuke’s couldn’t choose one aesthetic and ended up blending both.

I’m not one to equate ‘poor graphics’ with a ‘bad game,’ but adopting a single style would have enhanced immersion; this is a tonal issue. Mentioning this here is important because it’s one of your initial observations when checking the roster, which displays the wrestlers’ in-game models rather than real-life images. Combine that with a dull menu and forgettable soundtrack, and you end up with a lackluster first impression.

The core appeal of AEW: Fight Forever lies in its exhilarating gameplay, where each strike and collision feels substantial without making the controls overly complex. Similar to earlier Yuke’s games, the objective is to build momentum throughout a match by stringing together combos and executing taunts, ultimately culminating in powerful finishers. Damage to body parts is a fundamental mechanic, allowing players to focus attacks on specific areas and exploit weaknesses to debilitate an opponent’s limbs, arms, or torso. While playing as CM Punk, I found it essential to concentrate my assaults on the opponent’s head; this way, when I delivered my Go to Sleep (GTS) finisher — a knee strike to the face — I ensured they struggled to recover from the pin.

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AEW: Fight Forever’s gameplay loop focuses on gradually escalating momentum
Photo Credit: Yuke’s

The levels of damage are indicated by a small visual bar that appears at the bottom after delivering significant hits, with the warning shifting from yellow to red as more damage accumulates. This diagram is conveniently located beside the momentum meter, so when it begins to flash, you’ll know it’s time to capitalize on this with a finisher. Coming back from a poor start is also satisfying, as you can literally hammer opponents to the point that their momentum fades swiftly, causing them to lose their finisher.

Escaping pinfalls and submissions is straightforward and doesn’t require stressful timing-based minigames that might sometimes feel unfair. The in-ring action is fast-paced, but it lacks the polish and responsiveness typically associated with the WWE 2K series. Wrestlers would frequently miss punches or springboard moves despite being in range, while grappling them into ropes or corners often felt awkward. The default targeting system in AEW: Fight Forever is unreliable, prompting me to switch to manual controls within my first hour of gameplay.

This period can feel frustratingly long when trying to master the controls solo, as the game’s tutorial mode just throws you into a free-roam training area without guidance, making early matches a challenge. There’s also no omnidirectional sprinting, limiting movement to a single straight line. Therefore, you have to stop and adjust angles each time you want to change direction before dashings to another spot.

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When a partner is tagged in, all four wrestlers jump in and tend to linger for a while
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar

While the AI of opponents can be somewhat lacking, their decision-making becomes a nightmare during Tag-Team encounters. Tagging your partner triggers the opponent’s teammate to enter the ring too — no matter which corner you’re in — creating a chaotic scene with everyone wrestling one another. The referee fails to intervene, allowing all four wrestlers to remain in the ring, attacking those who aren’t down. If your AI partner mistakenly strikes someone during the chaos, it could lead to even longer periods of everyone staying in the ring.

Weapons add an enjoyable twist to wrestling games, with AEW featuring a comical variety of baseball bats, steel chairs, kendo sticks, skateboard decks, frying pans, and even explosives like propane tanks. However, the controls for acquiring and utilizing these items can be frustrating, often leading to no response despite repeated button presses.

Professional wrestling is about entertaining the audience, and regrettably, AEW: Fight Forever falls short here. The presentation feels lackluster, with almost no match commentary, resulting in an atmosphere filled with uninspiring background music and ambient crowd noise that only spikes when something exciting occurs in the ring. Furthermore, wrestler entrances have been drastically reduced to mere seconds, forsaking the impressive spectacle of massive titantrons, flashing lights, and signature entrance themes. While some players might skip these sequences after a couple of weeks, they are a hallmark of the sport, and their absence markedly detracts from the immersion. But hey, at least you can mash buttons to trigger the pyrotechnics during those brief seconds (sarcasm). I wouldn’t be nitpicking if the quality lived up to its AAA price tag of Rs. 2,400/ $59.99.

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The Exploding Barbed Wire death match features electrified ropes, leading to some extreme gore
Photo Credit: Yuke’s

Nevertheless, it’s not entirely disappointing, as the game demonstrates it knows how to have fun. AEW: Fight Forever embraces a form of comical brutality that expands upon the limits of what the WWE 2K series has explored — possibly to avoid parental scrutiny. The existence of an Exploding Barbed Wire death match offers ropes lined with electrified coils — mimicking an electric fence — shocking and damaging anyone who comes into contact. This creates urgency and tension, compelling you to maintain dominance and remain in the center of the ring. A slip-up into the corners or sides leads to sparks flying and blood spraying as your damaged body contacts the electrified ropes.

Ladder matches, though entertaining, can feel drawn-out when the controls sometimes fail to register your attempts to lift them. Furthermore, the Casino Battle Royale mode (AEW’s take on the Royal Rumble) appears very shallow, as the game restricts the maximum number of wrestlers onscreen to just four at any moment. Given the game’s focus on sheer chaos, this limitation feels like a slap in the face to a match designed to escalate the stakes by flooding the ring with multiple participants. It’s puzzling that classic wrestling elements such as steel cages and six-man tag-team matches are entirely absent from AEW: Fight Forever, leading to a barebones experience that could quickly turn repetitive. Hopefully, the studio will build on these aspects in future updates.

AEW: Fight Forever review – Road to Elite (story mode)

Casual gamers might have been intrigued by Road to Elite, AEW: Fight Forever’s compact career mode with alternative paths, but it ultimately disappoints. Whether you choose an existing roster star or create a custom one, you can complete a rapid 16-month journey, traveling across North America as you evolve from a new signing to a champion. Your victories and losses, along with choices you make, determine your fate through a condensed retelling of familiar plotlines that link you with Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle faction and others.

In the beginning, you also form friendships with other wrestlers and partake in Tag-Team contests, during which losses accumulate, leading to a bitter fallout between you two. This segment includes a storyline about your partner confessing to stealing your luggage for weeks, which feels amusing at first, but fits the light-hearted tone of a typical episode of All Elite Wrestling. However, my concern is that these narrative threads fail to create a cohesive story arc, instead acting as disjointed incidents to shuffle you from match to match. There’s a noticeable lack of depth or satisfying resolutions with branching choices.

Skill points and stat upgrades become irrelevant if you opt for an existing wrestler from AEW’s lineup
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar