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TNA iMPACT
September 25, 2008 | 2:48 PM PST
by: John Thomas Perkowski
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What it's About
Midway steps into the wrestling ring with TNA Impact, the first wrestling game based on Total Nonstop Action. Ever since it started in 2002, TNA has managed to be the ever expanding thorn in the side of the WWE. This is TNA's first step into the video game market, fighting against the Juggernaut Smackdown VS Raw. Does it piledrive the competition? Or is it a Flair Flop?
What's Not
The graphics in this game are beautiful, with a special 'wow!' reserved for the animations. The game is fluid and smooth. None of the clipping, so often seen in the Smackdown games, carries over here. Wrestlers look very much like their real life counterparts, and there isn't a single bad job done in recreating the roster of 25 real wrestlers (and one fake boxer, Afro Thunder). It's also very easy to pull off even the most complicated of moves like springboards, turnbuckle, and over the rope attacks. This pick up and play mentality makes the game very accessible.
What's Not
There are not enough words to describe just how much potential is lost here. This is the wrestling game equivalent of Tiger Woods without golf clubs. To begin with, I understand that many wrestlers share the same moves in real life, but I counted three different wrestlers who used the exact same moveset. As you play through the game, this starts to get more and more obvious, until you come to the conclusion they may as well be called Generic Guy #1-25. Wrestlers have moves in TNA Impact that they wouldn't do on TV. Kurt Angle, for example, bends over at the waist to punch someone on the ground. Due to the abundance of elbow drops, kicks, flips, and a hundred other moves that people have developed, this odd looking punch would never be used. While I don't expect the insane list of options available from King of Coliseum, there should have been more moves in this game than WCW Backstage Assault.
This limited grapple variety carries over to the Create a Wrestler (CAW) options, which makes it the worst feature in TNA Impact. Wrestling games live or die on what options their Create A Wrestler has; TNA Impact starts out with its grave already dug and the mortician cashing his check. I appreciate the fact the Midway put in a CAW feature, but on a next gen system like the 360 or PS3, there is no reason to have only five Create A Wrestler slots. That might be forgivable if there was a decent array of outfit options to choose from, but there isn't. You won't be able to make your favorite wrestler in this game, nor anything that remotely resembles him. At least this won't be a problem when it comes to online play, because you can't use your Created Wrestlers online. Speaking of which, the options for online play are lacking to say the least. Your limited to three people at a time. During an era where an online match can have up to 32 people, this limitation is just unacceptable.
The PS3 and 360 got off lucky here, however, as the Wii suffers the greatest insults. On the Wii, there is no online play of any kind. The omission of online play isn't the biggest fault of Wii Version. Nintendo players have no Create A Wrestler feature at all! THQ should have just handed Midway a check for boosting sales of Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 for the Wii. Also of note, the controls don't fit a wrestling game. TNA Impact is setup as a fighting game with a wrestling theme, which is okay in theory but bad in practise. There are two attack buttons, one for kicks and one for punches. No wrestling game has ever needed more than one strike button. If you couple that with the shared movesets, the controls make each character feel even more generic. Finally, each character has only one finisher. So Sting will have the Stinger Splash, but not the Scorpion Deathlock. Since they are both an integral part of his character, this just makes the game feel like it was pushed out the door too soon.
Final Word
The real problem with TNA Impact is the lost potential. Gamers wanted there to be an alternative Smackdown Vs Raw that wasn't in Japanese or 2D. Sadly, they will have to keep waiting for one. Rushing this out the door did nothing for consumers and even less for TNA or Midway. It's a good rental if you are a TNA fan, but nothing more than that. I do hope that there is another TNA Impact Game, and that Midway will invest time and resources to finish it.
What it's About
Midway steps into the wrestling ring with TNA Impact, the first wrestling game based on Total Nonstop Action. Ever since it started in 2002, TNA has managed to be the ever expanding thorn in the side of the WWE. This is TNA's first step into the video game market, fighting against the Juggernaut Smackdown VS Raw. Does it piledrive the competition? Or is it a Flair Flop?
What's Not
The graphics in this game are beautiful, with a special 'wow!' reserved for the animations. The game is fluid and smooth. None of the clipping, so often seen in the Smackdown games, carries over here. Wrestlers look very much like their real life counterparts, and there isn't a single bad job done in recreating the roster of 25 real wrestlers (and one fake boxer, Afro Thunder). It's also very easy to pull off even the most complicated of moves like springboards, turnbuckle, and over the rope attacks. This pick up and play mentality makes the game very accessible.
What's Not
There are not enough words to describe just how much potential is lost here. This is the wrestling game equivalent of Tiger Woods without golf clubs. To begin with, I understand that many wrestlers share the same moves in real life, but I counted three different wrestlers who used the exact same moveset. As you play through the game, this starts to get more and more obvious, until you come to the conclusion they may as well be called Generic Guy #1-25. Wrestlers have moves in TNA Impact that they wouldn't do on TV. Kurt Angle, for example, bends over at the waist to punch someone on the ground. Due to the abundance of elbow drops, kicks, flips, and a hundred other moves that people have developed, this odd looking punch would never be used. While I don't expect the insane list of options available from King of Coliseum, there should have been more moves in this game than WCW Backstage Assault.
This limited grapple variety carries over to the Create a Wrestler (CAW) options, which makes it the worst feature in TNA Impact. Wrestling games live or die on what options their Create A Wrestler has; TNA Impact starts out with its grave already dug and the mortician cashing his check. I appreciate the fact the Midway put in a CAW feature, but on a next gen system like the 360 or PS3, there is no reason to have only five Create A Wrestler slots. That might be forgivable if there was a decent array of outfit options to choose from, but there isn't. You won't be able to make your favorite wrestler in this game, nor anything that remotely resembles him. At least this won't be a problem when it comes to online play, because you can't use your Created Wrestlers online. Speaking of which, the options for online play are lacking to say the least. Your limited to three people at a time. During an era where an online match can have up to 32 people, this limitation is just unacceptable.
The PS3 and 360 got off lucky here, however, as the Wii suffers the greatest insults. On the Wii, there is no online play of any kind. The omission of online play isn't the biggest fault of Wii Version. Nintendo players have no Create A Wrestler feature at all! THQ should have just handed Midway a check for boosting sales of Smackdown Vs Raw 2009 for the Wii. Also of note, the controls don't fit a wrestling game. TNA Impact is setup as a fighting game with a wrestling theme, which is okay in theory but bad in practise. There are two attack buttons, one for kicks and one for punches. No wrestling game has ever needed more than one strike button. If you couple that with the shared movesets, the controls make each character feel even more generic. Finally, each character has only one finisher. So Sting will have the Stinger Splash, but not the Scorpion Deathlock. Since they are both an integral part of his character, this just makes the game feel like it was pushed out the door too soon.
Final Word
The real problem with TNA Impact is the lost potential. Gamers wanted there to be an alternative Smackdown Vs Raw that wasn't in Japanese or 2D. Sadly, they will have to keep waiting for one. Rushing this out the door did nothing for consumers and even less for TNA or Midway. It's a good rental if you are a TNA fan, but nothing more than that. I do hope that there is another TNA Impact Game, and that Midway will invest time and resources to finish it.
November 20, 2009
