Welcome to another edition of For What it’s Worth, where bargain titles are examined to see if they really are worth your bottom dollar. I had fun this past month reviewing bargain bin Mario games and even the newer Mario Bros. Wii but it’s time to get back to basics here at For What it’s Worth.
I have said this before both here on Bitmob and on Screwattack in some of my Screwattack News posts but for this particular review it needs to be repeated. I am a huge fan of professional wrestling or a “mark” in wrestling lingo. As both a wrestling fan and a gamer I have been searching for a solid wrestling game that feels both fresh and original but unfortunately, with WWE being the only game in town (for the most part) that would seem impossible. Others have stepped up to compete in the squared circle to try and take out the Raw Vs Smackdown series but they do not seem to be a match for the pop culture juggernaught.
A new challenger approches:
In the fall of 2008, a new challenger emerged in the form of TNA Impact, created by the defunct Midway Games and the number 2 professional wrestling promotion in North America, Total Non-stop Action wrestling. Unfortunately, for TNA, the game didn’t do so well but was it really that bad of a game? Do they pose a future threat to the WWE in the gaming landscape? Or is this the last time we see the TNA ring (which is no longer six sided) on a home console?
Story: Unlike the competition, TNA doesn’t have the typical Season style Career Mode, where you choose a wrestler and he under goes a year's worth of storylines and eventually wins the World Championship. Midway decided to give this story a more “traditional” and crazier video game style story arc and it is actually a refreshing change, even if it is a little ridiculous. As the story begins, you’ll be cast in the role of Suicide, a mask wrestler who has become the king of the TNA Mountain. The story then takes a rather strange and interesting twist. In the opening cinematic, you are suddenly attacked by L.A.X. (The Latin American Xchange) and left for dead in Tijuana (the happiest place on Earth). You then find yourself waking up in a filthy hospital bed (still in Mexico presumably) as the plastic surgeon informs you that they had to reconstruct your face but hey, you were lucky enough to be alive. From here you create a wrestler and remerge in TNA and try to work your way back up the mountain as you try to uncover your lost memories and discover just who wanted to take you out of the title picture in the first place. Not a bad story by any means. It can be a bit stupid at times but it is still unique and entertaining and I like how your character does his narration during the load screens. It keeps the wait from getting boring.
Graphics & Design: This is where the game truly shines. This is by far the most realistic looking wrestling game on the market. Midway’s use of the Unreal engine has really paid off. The wrestlers look incredibly realistic. The character models look exactly like their real life counterparts. The entrances are amazingly animated but unfortunately they are way too short, only lasting mere seconds in comparison to RvS. The arenas also look great, being both realistic and colorful (although the crowd could look better) and the cutscenes all look fantastic. I also like the little touches Midway added to the game, like the blood and sweat stains that fall onto the mat over the span of each match. Wrestlers also get slightly sweater as they go on, although strangely (especially for TNA) they do not seem to bleed.
Sound: The music is pretty good, but besides the themes of each wrestler, the soundtrack isn’t anything overly special. Where the audio truly shines is the voice acting. Whether they are the voice actors hired by Midway or members of the TNA roster, the voice performances are all top notch.
Gameplay: Midway bragged about how the TNA superstars spent hours in the motion capture suits, allowing Midway to have over 2,000 moves ready to be programmed into the game. Well, that’s not how it played out. In order to rush the game out as soon as possible, the vast majority of these moves had to be cut out, leaving maybe around 50 and about 25 of those are finishing moves. So most of the wrestlers move sets are exactly the same, with the exception of the finishing move. This is a huge mistake. Why? Well, obviously this means there is no difference between any of the wrestlers except for the character models and finishing moves, making for an experience that can eventually become boring. Whether it was TNA or Midway Games, someone screwed up royal and hopefully the missing moves make it into any future instalments in the franchise. Not that I got that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, lets talk about the gameplay mechanics. With Midway’s experience developing fighting games like Primal Rage, Pit Fighter and of course Mortal Kombat, it is little to no surprise that they would give Impact an arcade style control scheme.
Of course you have your standard punches, kicks, grapple moves, high flying attacks and submission holds but the gameplay relies heavily on the analogue controls and the games reversal system. With the vastly limited move sets, the reversal system and the game’s fast pace are the only things that delay it from getting stale. Anytime you or your opponent is about to perform a move, it can be reversed by pressing the RB button. Reversals are counter attacks that can either be a simple counter attack or a devastating power move, depending on the situation but either way, you are going to have to be quick on the draw in order to perform them. Your always going to have to keep your guard up and be on the attack because the opponent will not get worn down. For some odd reason no matter how much you beat down the opponent, they will not show any signs of fatigue. They will just keep coming at full force. This is another flaw that needs to be fixed for the next instalment post haste. It just pisses me off to no end when you spend an entire match pounding on a guy and he just won’t stay down. My recommendation is to punch and kick the living hell out of them before hitting a grapple move and when they get stunned, hit as many high impact moves you can before they come to. Speaking of which, this is where the two analogue sticks come in handy. Once your opponent manages to stun you, you are going to have to move the sticks as fast as you can to snap out of it, but in my experience the amount of time it takes to come to can vary. As this mechanic tends to be non-responsive if not done in a particular way (which I haven’t been able to figure). This is something else that needs to be fixed. I mean I have been pinned after only receiving a single finishing move with a limited amount of damage done to my body. If it is not enough to finish off the AI, then why does it finish me off so easily? Speaking of body damage, in order to pin your opponent successfully, you are going to have to target a specific body part until it turns red. The same rule applies when you are looking to make your opponent tap out. You focus on a body part and when it turns red, grab it and lock in the hold. However, for it work you are going to have to play a quick time mini game. A three-button combo will appear at the top of the screen. Press them all in the correct order as quick as you can and continue to do so until your opponent taps out. To performer finishing moves, you will have to fill your Impact meter by performing your basic and high impact moves. Once the meter is full, you lock your opponent up in a strong grapple then press the B button. The moves look impressive and do a good bit of damage but in some cases they are the wrong move, which is lame.
Like any other wrestling game, TNA Impact offers a variety of different match types like Falls Count Anywhere which, is disappointing because you can only go as far as the outside of the ring and besides, there are no count outs or DQs in regular matches so this mode is pretty much pointless. There is also the Falls Count Anywhere Tag Team Match, which is the same idea as the singles version, just with tag teams.
Of course you have your regular Tag Team Match but with your AI partner being a useless imbecile half the time, it really isn’t a lot of fun, which is unfortunate because you have to suffer through a lot of tag matches during career mode.
There is the Submission Match in which the only way to win is to make your opponent tap out.
The Free For All Match can either be a triple threat or fatal four depending on your preference. The first person to score a pin fall or a submission wins. Actually, with the gameplay mechanics being as fast paced as they are, this scenario actually creates a fun bit of carnage.
The last match type is TNA’s trademark, The Ultimate X Match. In The Ultimate X Match, two tightropes are suspended above the ring and hanging in the middle of them is an X. The goal of the match is to climb the tightropes and grab the X. Here I recommend beating down your opponent for a while before trying to grab the X. Wait for your opponent to get stunned, then make your way to the X. To pull it down, you will have to play another quick time mini game. You will see a meter on top of the screen with an A in the middle. Every time you see the ball inside the meter hit the A, press the A button. If you do this enough times, you will pull down the X and win the match. It’s not bad and it is actually really fun if you are playing a Free For All Style Ultimate X Match.
Extra Features: There are unlockable characters and arenas, a trailer for Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe, two never before seen TNA matches. One being a six man X Division match and the other being a Knockouts Battle Royal (I guess that is supposed to make up for not including them in the actual game). You can also read the bios of each wrestler, even the jobbers created specifically for the game. There is a DLC pack, which includes Curry Man, Petey Williams (him not being in the actual game is bogus), and Mike Tenay (he’s free). The game also features special gameplay tutorials featuring TNA superstars Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Christopher Daniels, and AJ Styles, which are kind of funny. One last thing to mention is that the game can be played online. Apparently, you would have the chance to play real TNA wrestlers (most likely Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, AJ Styles and the Motor City Machine Guns) over Xbox Live but considering this game is closing in on being two years old, I wouldn’t count on playing against the Samoan Submission Machine anytime soon. But you can still play against other gamers (if anyone else still plays this thing). It plays as well online as it does locally but the fact that you can’t play as any of your created wrestlers online is a rather huge let down.
Replay Value: This is a tough one. On the one hand, the reversal mechanic can give matches a nice bit of a challenge and the easy arcade style controls makes the game easily accessible to veterans and noobs alike. Unfortunately, the vastly limited move sets make each wrestler feel the same, thus almost every match is going to have a really similar feel. After completing the story mode and unlocking all of the moves, characters and arenas, players may not want to stick around because of the repetitive nature of the gameplay.
Overall Value: Retail Price- $10 (used)
What it’s Worth- $20 (new) this is being generous
Unfortunately, even though Impact far surpasses Raw Vs Smackdown graphically, it fails to do so otherwise. The gameplay is simple and challenging (which is kind of refreshing) but it is very repetitive. TNA has again failed to overthrow the WWE Universe but there is a solid a foundation here that could make a great wrestling game in the future. But heed my warning Miss Carter and whomever becomes the developer of the inevitable sequel, it can not be rushed like so many Vince Russo inspired angles and storylines. How that hack still has a job anywhere is beyond me. But seriously if the proper time and effort is put into fixing the flaws, TNA could finally break the glass ceiling and actually defeat the WWE (at making a quality game). But for now, the search for a truly great wrestling game continues. There it is. I could have ranted about the poor booking decisions within TNA for the past four-five years or the idiocy of the current Hogan/Bischoff regime but that is another story for another time.
Until next time: Happy Hunting.
Next on the docket: Rock Band… for the iPod Touch/iPhone.
