All Elite Wrestling is striving to make AEW Fight Forever a very different experience from WWE 2K22 with arcade-style visuals and controls. Recent trailers and gameplay have provided some insight into what players might experience when they get their hands on the game, and it looks to be a significant departure from WWE 2K22. For better or worse, AEW and Yuke's are attempting to make AEW Fight Forever a very different wrestling game from the others we have seen recently.
Since its inception in 2019, AEW has strived to be a stark contrast to the mainstream WWE had come to represent. While WWE would talk about sports entertainment, AEW was unafraid to boast that it offered professional wrestling. More than anything else, AEW television reminded its biggest fans of the Attitude Era of the late 1990s, a time cherished by wrestling fans. In many ways, AEW is a fan service organization. Its owner and CEO, Tony Khan, grew up a fan of professional wrestling and runs the company as such. This approach has often led to memorable matches and very good television. It has also led to moments of disorganization and conflict, as viewers witnessed after AEW's 2022 All Out pay-per-view. Either way, All Elite Wrestling has always been willing to take risks and go against convention to set itself apart. AEW Fight Forever will be no different.
Authentic But Fun Gameplay
As a game focused on realism and authenticity, WWE 2K22 is a large improvement over its predecessor. Gameplay is much more clean and there are far fewer glitches than WWE 2K20, one of the most disappointing games of 2019. Despite the improvements, WWE 2K22 left fans of a more arcade-style wrestling game wanting more. AEW Fight Forever has sought to give a viable option to those fans. In Fight Forever, Yuke's is creating an experience that more closely resembles 2000's WWF No Mercy, a game revered by many fans.
AEW has sought to represent simple, action-packed content that reminds wrestling fans of the Attitude Era since its beginning, and AEW Fight Forever is no different. AEW knows it can't compete with WWE 2K22 visuals and production, so it is going for the fun factor with Fight Forever. More arcade-style visuals, and controls give AEW Fight Forever the promise of being a fun and fast-paced alternative to the more true to life WWE franchise.
That doesn't mean that AEW Fight Forever will not be authentic. Gameplay shown so far by Yuke's has demonstrated that in-ring action is fluid and responsive at its core. Many of the animations in Fight Forever look incredibly similar to animations in WWE 2K22. If the launch is successful, a similarity in animations should give players some familiarity while providing a more arcade-based game. At its best, professional wrestling is a mixture of realism with just the right amount of over-the-top silliness and spectacle. AEW Fight Forever just might find that "special sauce" better than WWE 2K22 or even WWE 2K Battlegrounds. In Fight Forever, that mix is attained through having a balance of modes that can appease to all types of fans. While some modes like Career Mode give players the opportunity to live the life of an AEW wrestler, other modes in the game highlight the fun and silliness of professional wrestling at its very best.
Become the World Champion
The AEW Fight Forever career mode is the centerpiece of the game. Players will be able to create their own wrestler and start from the bottom in an effort to carve out a career in All Elite Wrestling. As gamers participate in matches and get victories, they will earn points for their wrestler that they can use to upgrade their wrestler's attributes. A level of customization allows players to tailor their created wrestler to the play style they prefer. They can be a brawler, high-flyer, mat technician, or they can master flips and super kicks in true AEW fashion.
Career mode gives players the chance to live out the dream of facing Kenny Omega ,Jon Moxley, or one of the other top wrestlers in AEW in an AEW World Championship match after a hard-fought climb up the rankings. Additionally, AEW Fight Forever offers a host of match types to experience, whether it's on the road to the title or the road to showing their friend who's best at the game. Developers have promised the following match types in the game:
- Single
- Tag Team
- 3-Way
- 4-Way
- Ladder
- Casino Battle Royale
- Falls Count Anywhere
- Unsanctioned Lights Out
- Barbed Wire Death Match
A Wrestling Dance Party
Few, if any of these match options distinguishes AEW Fight Forever from WWE 2K22 or Battlegrounds. The strength of Fight Forever is that AEW seems to know Fight Forever better than WWE 2K22. Instead, it is focused on making something that is both different from today's wrestling simulations and reminiscent of what made wrestling games fun in the past. Fight Forever will play like WWF No Mercy, and it will look like WWF No Mercy, but it will feature all the benefits of being a 2022 game. Foremost among these benefits is the customization suite. Gamers will be able to tailor the look of their wrestler and their wrestler's move set. They'll also be able to compete in customized arenas, rings, and on customizable teams.
The addition to AEW Fight Forever that is probably the biggest difference from other games is the mini-games that are included for players to experience. If a gamer gets tired of the career grind, they can jump into some simple and fun mini-games in Fight Forever. One confirmed mini-game is a sort of dance competition that takes place in the ring. Fans can live out the dream of doing the griddy with "Hangman" Adam Page or some other dance moves while controlling a number of wrestlers in the ring. If AEW's take on Dance Dance Revolution is not appealing, there are other options. A baseball mini-game sees an AEW wrestler turn into a baseball that players take their swings at in a baseball stadium. It's now entirely possible to play the derby with Darby.
Fight Together
Not Only can players fight forever, but they can fight together. Online co-op in AEW Fight Forever allows friends to team up and form a tag team, competing for gold and executing special team moves. Tandem offense is a staple of AEW, and it is featured in AEW Fight Forever. Both online and in single player, players will be able to use tandem attacks to create innovative offense in their matches. Crush opponents with super kicks just like the Young Bucks. Or team up with a friend to defeat them.
Adding mini-games and some of the more wild match varieties that are unique to AEW helps AEW Fight Forever stand out as a different option. However, it's the nostalgia generated by the look and feel of the game that should remind fans of WWF No Mercy and really help it stand apart. Many games have promised to bring back the fun of WWF No Mercy. Yuke's appears to be trying to make AEW Fight Forever as close of a replica as possible. If successful, it should be a fun arcade-style wrestling experience.
AEW Fight Forever is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.