AEW Fight Forever - PS5 Review

AEW Fight Forever by developer Yuke'sand publisher THQ Nordic—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Jim with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

I have been a fan of pro wrestling for almost my whole life from watching WCW back in the day to WWE today and I would probably be a fan of AEW if I got the channels to watch it on TV. I know enough of the AEW roster to want to play this game though and I was a fan of Yuke's past work on the WWE games.

AEW Fight Forever is an arcade-style game meaning it's fast-paced and normal matches can be short with most lasting less than 5 minutes. Fight Forever has a handful of exhibition matches where you can play against a computer or another player sitting next to you. These matches are 1 on 1 normal matches, lights out matches, and falls count anywhere matches. Then there's 2 on 2 tag matches that are normal matches only. There is no option to do a tornado tag match. With a 3-way match, again you have normal matches only with no DQ. Four-way match, again normal with no DQ. Casino Battle Royale is a 21-man take on the Royale Rumble match. I did like the Casino Battle Royale. When I entered my first one in Road to elite mode I entered at number two and I didn't think I would win. I ended up winning lasting over 20 minutes!

Switching things up to the more extreme match types. My favorite being the Exploding barbed wire matches where the rope around the ring is barbed wire and set to explode after a set number of minutes that damages both competitors. I loved how brutal this match could be, especially when you push the other wrestler into the barbed wire and it explodes on them dealing big damage. Then there are Ladder matches that are 1 on 1 only in exhibition mode. There are no DQs in this type of match so I was able to use weapons and not just the ladder but I also had fun doing moves off the top of the ladder. To win this match I had to climb the ladder and grab what was hanging above it by mashing the button it shows.

There are also Mini-games I started with a few unlocked and I unlocked more by playing Road to Elite mode. I honestly didn't care for the mini-games. I really didn't like the baseball mini-games where I had to hit a wrestler dressed up as a baseball that his partner throws. I was winning by a bit but every throw I did as a pitcher the computer player ended up with a home-run. That mini-game was also way too long. So far I have not found a mini-game that I did like. And lastly, there is training. Training is a good place to start for learning how to play.

For some reason in Road to Elite mode there is a 3-way ladder match, and 1 on-3 gauntlet matches, but there are no options for these in exhibition. It seems kind of odd to do something like that. Why have them in one part of the game and not the other? There are also ranked casual, and private online matches if you would like to play with someone random or with a friend.

I'll describe a match for you. Firstly there are no health bars, just a momentum bar at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes after taking a hit a damage icon will show up showing what part of the body is hurt. As I land moves my momentum bar will rise and getting hit will lower it. Once it fills up I can use a signature move by getting close and hitting a button on the d-pad or by grappling and pressing any button on the d-pad. I could do this more than once if I wished but one hit and the momentum bar will lower and I will lose the chance to do a signature or finisher. To use a finisher the wrestler must taunt using the right stick by pressing in any direction. Once I do this the wrestler will be in special mode and you can use your finisher the same way you do with the signature but with a flick of the right stick. I can do this once and your momentum will drop back down, but you will do massive damage to your opponent. I can then rebuild the momentum bar if an opponent kicks out of a pin. I am glad that pulling off signatures and finishers is easy as some games make it way too hard to do special moves. The one thing I didn't care for is using the R1 and L1 buttons to reverse a move. R1 is used to block a punch or kick while L1 lets me block a grapple. Why use two different buttons? It isn't fun trying to press the right buttons at the right time. And then when needing to kick out of a pin or submission I have to mash buttons. I don't like button mashing in my games and doing this made it way too hard to kick out for me and probably some other people too.

In matches with no DQ, you will find lots of weapons from normal things you would see in wrestling like steel chairs, tables, kendo sticks, and so on. But there are also some wilder ones like a barbed wire baseball bat that explodes when you hit someone which is my favorite and a propane tank that you can throw and blow up on an opponent. The exploding barbed wire match is especially brutal but I had a lot of fun. In the more action-packed matches, I heard the crowd chant “holy shit”. I found this amusing because in WWE2k23 they change it to “holy crap”. There is also blood in this game and unlike WWE there is more than just blood appearing on their foreheads. When I hit someone with a barbed wire baseball bat for example they will have blood on the part of their body I hit. I hit them on the head and their face will become bloody. This also is the same for their back and chests. Blood will also drip onto the ring mat and stay for a short time before disappearing for both male and female wrestlers. You can even do mixed matches in this game if you want a male to fight a female.

The game's roster is decent with well-known wrestlers from AEW like Chris Jericho, Christian Cage, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Jon Moxley, and Sting to name a few. The Female wrestlers are a little lacking though with only thirteen. You need to unlock Aubrey Edwards so there's one less if you are just starting out. You get some decent talent though with the likes of Abadon, DR. Britt Baker D.M.D., Nyla Rose, Riho, and Thunder Rosa just to name a few of the females. There has been one female DLC confirmed but it still feels lacking. This brings up the fact that I do think the DLC is overpriced at $12 for two wrestlers and two mini-games in each pack while WWE gives you five wrestlers for $10. Maybe they should have focused more on the wrestlers and not mini-games that tend not to be a lot of fun.

AEW like most wrestling games these days lets you create your own wrestler. They will start off weak and you will have to play Road to Elite to train them up. But you can pick what moves you want them to use with their signature and finisher. You can make or modify teams and arenas too. Neat stuff, but not everyone is into making their own things but it can be fun to mess around with.

The game features challenges for you to complete that will give you in-game money. There are daily, weekly, and normal challenges that you can compete in time just by playing. They kind of reminded me of the challenges in NHL 23's HUT mode, but these are easier to do such as just playing as a certain wrestler. You can also earn in-game money by just playing matches, so it's easy to rack up to unlock new things. You can unlock apparel for created wrestlers, poses for them, arena items for when you make an arena, new moves for your wrestlers, things for your wrestler's entrance like their movement and music, and lastly what the game calls 'More items' where you can unlock wrestlers like Cody Rhodes and Aubrey Edwards to use as a fighter. There are a few new attire items for some of the wrestlers you can buy. By playing Road to Elite you can unlock new things to well unlock again with in game cash.

It is cool to see Cody in two games in one year. Where AEW has one up on WWE you can play Cody's theme song Kingdom by Downstait in the menu and while fighting. It was strange that WWE wouldn't let you pick this for play in the menu, but maybe it had something to do with the AEW game? I don't know?

My favorite mode in the game is the career mode called Road to Elite. In it, you can use a created wrestler and start his career in the AEW. This wrestler will work his way up or use one of the other wrestlers in the game, but they cannot be trained up in this mode unlike your created star. I played both and I did enjoy using my own created wrestler. When starting you will always start at the very first Double or Nothing and if a male is in the Casino Battle Royale, as a female, you will start in a 4-way match with some of the tougher opponents in the AEW.

I started with multiple wrestlers and each time I did I always started second. Either I have really bad luck or the game was designed this way. One of the nice things that I liked without knowing much about AEW that the game shows live-action clips of events and things that happened in AEW's short history. If I managed to win the Casino Battle Royale I would get a title shot at the next PPV. In-between events there were four turns to do things to train my wrestler. There are a few things to watch first and that was my energy. The lower it is the more likely I would get injured while working out or wrestling. If injured, I would have to take a turn to go to the hospital to get fixed up. The other thing I needed to watch for is my motivation. The higher the motivation is the more momentum I started with in a match. It also determined how many skill points I received when working out.

In the four turns you have in a week I could workout to earn skill points. Each city I went to has its own cuisine based on real life such as Philly cheesestake in Philadelphia. There is an option when starting for vegetarian meals only it has no impact on the game other than what you eat. Dining restores my wrestlers energy so it was good to do once in a while. I could also go out and sightsee to raise my motivation or depending on the city I'm in, do a meet and greet, press conference, or appear on a talk show. This would raise my motivation by one and earn a small amount of energy. While doing one of these there would be an event with other wrestlers and sometimes the dialog can be a bit funny. I heard; "At one time breaking the forth-wall," and another time mentioning smelling what Dwayne is cooking. Lastly, doing a mini-game for extra money and skill points, but if I lost I got nothing. Again I am not sure why they wasted time on these mini-games when Yukes could have used that time for other things like glitch fixes. After a few weeks I will be able to appear on AEW Dark and AEW Rampage matches once a week for extra money and skill points.

Sometimes you get your picture taken with the wrestler for some reason. I never really understood this but you can go back and look at them from the menu. Once your four turns are up you will have a match on Dynamite or a PPV. If you are using a created wrestler you can use your skill points to make your signatures and finishers stronger, movement speed faster, stronger arms that let you deal more damage with strikes, leg strength for stronger kicks, and so on. You can also spend your skill points on perks that let you gain momentum in different ways like landing the first hit!

Money in this mode is different than the normal money you get and is for this mode only. This money can be used to do things like heal without going to the hospital, gain extra skill points, gain some energy, or even buy and unlock a shirt from the city you are in. Now even though I did like this mode it ended way too soon lasting only a few hours and it is over. But luckily a few different things can happen so replaying it might be fun now and then. One thing that did bug me was Matt Hardy is in this mode, but to use him he is blocked behind a paywall unless you pre-ordered the game. If you didn't then he is $5. Why put him in this game mode where it seems like a tease that there might be a way to unlock him but you can't?

It is a little sad that there is no voice-over for the wrestlers. You do get JR, Tax, Excalibur, and William Regal now and then but it's for short bursts like telling you about a match type or before a PPV. There is also no commentary for matches it's just music, crowds, the ref counting, and the grunts of the wrestlers. If you go into the options menu you can pick the music you want to play in matches and in the menu so that's cool. You can also pick one of two refs for the match with Aubrey Edwards or Rick Knox.

Graphically the game isn't as powerful as WWE but it matches it's arcade style of game-play. Wrestlers entrances are short but one cool thing I got to do during entrances is by pressing one of the four buttons I could set off pyro and smoke! A cool touch if I do say so, but some entrances do zoom in to close to the wrestlers and you can't see any of the pyro.

Overall the game is fun for a while but it lacks anything to keep me hooked for a long time. It took a few tries to get used to the game, but after I did I found it way too easy even on a harder difficulty. I do hear a new match type is being added for free and that's nice. I do want to try this Stadium Stampede match which puts 30 wrestlers in one Stadium to duke it out and the last man or woman standing is the winner all while the area you can fight in shrinks in size.

Hopefully, they will keep adding new match types and maybe expand on Road to Elite mode but this is AEW's first game and it is a fun arcade-style fighter that is enjoyable for a while. I do hope they make another AEW and make it even better next time but for this one, I do feel it was rushed as my time with the game has not been perfect with lots of glitches and the worst of them seeing wrestlers falling right through the ring and getting stuck both players and computer players with no way out other than quitting the match or restarting the game.

Score: 7.5 / 10