Games and wrestling have been a match made in heaven for years. Unfortunately, their quality can vary massively. For every No Mercy or Fire Pro Wrestling, there’s a WCW Backstage Brawl.
As a Nintendo guy growing up, No Mercy is the King of the Ring personally but there’s been a huge number of amazing games. After the huge fall from grace with WWE2K20 , wrestling games have a long way to redeem themselves and prove that they are worthy of our time and money.
Ahead of the release of the AEW wrestling game, I’ve taken a look at what the game needs to make sure it’s a success.
Here are 5 things the game needs to have to make this fan happy:
A Fun Story Mode
Wrestling games and story modes are a match made in heaven, given the nature of wrestling and the sometimes crazy storylines, it lets players live out their dreams and fantasy bookings and in more recent times, fix the sometimes silly decisions made by the creative teams involved ( I.E Vince Mc….)
The most recent WWE games have lacked this feature but used their Showcase mode to allow players to relive some of the highlights of the last 20 or so years. Although there have been some highlights during this (for me the Undertaker and Attitude era Showcases stand out), It still pales in comparison to the wonderful and weird storylines that were offered before. Here are a few that stand out:
WWE Day Of Reckoning, Players take control of their custom character as they ascend the ranks of either Smackdown or Raw. If they choose Raw, you will join Triple H’s Evolution stable and if they choose Smackdown, they will be a part of Undertaker’s New Ministry stable. Twists and turns happen as the story rolls on and finally, it ends with you facing your stable’s leader at WrestleMania for the world title
Chris Jericho’s Mystery Attacker – Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, In Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, Chris Jericho was the focal point of an intriguing mystery. As soon as Jericho finishes his first match, he is targeted by someone using his own cryptic messages against him. Each match and segment brings you closer to the reveal of who is the masked man behind it all. And it culminates with a WrestleMania match for the WWE Championship.
Rey Mysterio’s Amnesia – Smackdown vs. Raw 2011, This story sees Mysterio suffer from amnesia after getting into a car accident. Jack Swagger, the real bad guy of the tale, convinced Rey that they were friends and got him to follow in his footsteps. It’s a fun story that works so well because it’s different from what we’re accustomed to.
TNA Impact!,The story mode’s main character was a wrestler named Suicide. During every iMPACT! episode after the August 14, 2008 version of iMPACT! the words “whoissuicide.com” flashed on the screen for less than a second. On the website, it shows that Suicide is being taken from the game to real-life television. At the Final Resolution pay-per-view in December 2008, Suicide first appeared on TNA programming.
Even at their worst, storylines are fun to play thru and let players change the way that previous things have happened. AEW would be wise to take advantage of something that has been missing from previous WWE games and (sorry in advance, “run wild”) and let players create their own adventures.
Match Types
On this point, it’s one of the few things that WWE and 2K have got right, even though it has faded away in recent years. Wrestling matches can be great examples of a story when the right people are involved but there is no doubt that match types can take things to another level.
To be a success they also need to have the speed of the game work. Nothing too fast, but also avoid the simulation style that 2K games have taken since 2K13.
Anyone playing wrestling games tends to jump straight to a Hell In the Cell or Hardcore match to live out their fantasies, It’s only the IWC that can live with 101 normal matches in a row. AEW has managed to feature some great (almost 😉) original match types and it would be a massive disappointment to not be able to experience this.
Wrestling games can be made and lost of features like these and having the mentioned matches could make the game a blast to play.
An Evolving Roster
It might seem like I’m asking for AEW to fix the biggest issues the WWE games have had recently, but this is massively important. When paying upwards of £60.00 for a game, I think the least we should expect is a product that’s up to date.
The last few WWE games have featured rosters that are out of date and with wrestlers that might have changed from babyface to heel and also changed their outfits. It would be a huge win for AEW to release a game that’s totally in line with their most recent PPVs.
Taking note of the last few WWE games, there is no way that the game will sell well if it was missing people cush as CM Punk or Bryan Danielson and then later added to the game as DLC or even worse locked behind pre-order content. WWE 20K20 made this mistake by locking “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt behind a paywall and I’m keen to see AEW avoid issues like this with their first release.
Also, it would be great to see the developer’s issue updates and additions as needed. Be that for attire changes or new wrestlers being added to the roster. At the very least the game needs to feature options to allow players to change and update the game to keep it current.
Behind The Forbidden Door
This is something most would like to see but it might be lock away behind a ton of cash and licencing agreements.
It’ll be a logistical nightmare, but fans and players have always used wrestling games to create matches and storylines that “might” never happen in real life. Outside of player-created versions of real-world wrestlers, it would be amazing to see the AEW game use the recent influx of characters from NJPW and TNA or elsewhere if possible.
Even as someone that’s fallen away from wrestling in recent times, I’d love to recreate the recent Kenny Omega and Christian Cage storyline or matches. Although this kind of content can be made with fans via a good create system, it would be even better to see it integrated to start with.
Great Create-A-____ Mode
One of the few areas that 2K have done well in is the create modes featured in the last few WWE games. However although they have been good, features that existed before have been removed.
AEW could take yet another leap ahead of WWE by having create modes for almost everything. Characters, belts, storylines and finishers to maybe even fan posters should be featured and it would once again prove that AEW is closer to the thoughts of fans that WWE has been in the last 10 years.
I’d also love to see the ability to add customs entrance music for either existing characters or more importantly, player created characters.
GOAT story
I’ve tried to stay as objective as possible thru this feature on what could make the AEW game a hit, But now it’s time for me to shout out for what I want.
CHRIS FECKIN JERICHO
In line with the best feature of the most recent WWE games, I’d love to see a feature that lets us play as my second favourite (Shaun Michaels will always be the best for me), wrestler of all time. Working like the Showcase stories in 2K games, let players relieve “the list” of Jericho’s story in AEW so far.
From the creation of the Inner Circle to the 5 labours of Jericho, let’s get the bubbly on the go and experience more of one of the greatest ever on the mic.
As much as it will make me cry, take the story a step further and let us play thru what could be his retirement. The bold Chris is the most underrated wrestling of all time and a true GOAT. This would be a fitting way to crown the first AEW Game.
That’s my list 😉, and I hope you don’t think I’m a Judas for saying….soz for the crap wrestling puns…