AEW: FIGHT FOREVER [Gameplay Trailer] – Looking Dynamite.

With THQ Nordiq & Yuke’s in their corner, the hottest pro wrestling promotion on the planet is about to take it back to the ol’ school days of WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, WWF WrestleMania 2000, and — of course — the legendary WWF No Mercy.

But this is All Elite Wrestling’s time, bay-bay, and it’s time to chant “Fight Forever” (or “This [could be] awesome!” with AEW: Fight Forever. Publisher THQ Nordiq has a digital showcase in advance of GamesCom on August 12th, so expect more gameplay, more wrestlers revealed and more reasons why this might very well compete with the solid WWE 2K22 title from earlier this year. Iffff.. we get more than the 2-minute clip with Tony and Britt far down below…

AEW diehards will be happy to see the inclusion of the Casino Battle Royale, Unsanctioned Lights Out (doesn’t count against your record!) and Exploding (we promise!) Barbed Wire Death Match. Would be both hilarious and sad if there was a glitch that prevented the ring from blowing up. Poor Eddie. The Casino Battle Royale should be a ton of fun with 21, of course the final entrant will play the “joker” while the others arrive in packs via the random draw of clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades. And Omega/Mox deserve that Death Match rematch, don’t ya think?

A feature I’ve wanted from the WWE 2K series for a long time now: wrestler edit. And I don’t mean custom wrestlers, I mean given the ability to update the appearance and attire of current roster wrestlers (yeah, not “superstars”). Yuke’s was also nice to include the ability to change/update anyone’s move-sets, entrances, and, of course, factions. What if Daniel Garcia stops appreciating Jericho’s Society? Exactly. Other than accessible gameplay, the feature many THQ/Yuke’s vets arguably appreciate the most from the esteemed creators’ wrasslin titles was career mode, and AEW: Fight Forever promises a campaign along with online tag team co-op.

We can’t wait to feel the Rampage when this future multi-plat (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch!) pro wrestling hit pins us with a release date announcement on.. oh, never mind– it doesn’t look like we will find out on August 12th, if that leaked footage above has anything to do with it. With 2K22 still fresh on many palms, I’m hoping they shoot for a fall release date, despite the usual holiday competition.

So, mini-games! How very Japan/Nintendo of you, Kenny. So far we see: dance-dance, pachinko and baseball. It all works with the vibe Mr. Omega wanted to v-trigger into Fight Forever. And seeing intergender matches in AEW has hardly happened to this point, but want Britt vs. her beau, Adam Cole? No problem. You can have the D-M-D curb stomp and twist that prettyboy’s teeth in, with gameplay that appears more arcade-speedy and fluid than its WWE counterpart.

More stuff we found:

-According to THQ’s official AEW: Fight Forever website, the game’s deep career mode highlights the fun and personality of an All Elite Wrestler’s life on the road. Players can create and develop their own wrestler who joins the AEW roster and appears in matches and stories over an event schedule. Points are earned by winning matches and fulfilling certain objectives which can then be used to enhance their wrestler’s stats.”

-When more dangerous moves are applied, the game relies on a particle effect system on screen.

AEW: Fight Forever features 40 weapons (yeah, that’s way more than any 2K).

-Despite no release date just yet, you can already preorder the game on Amazon and soon on the PlayStation store!

-Travis Moody