AEW Fight Forever is slated for a June 29, 2023 release date and in the lead up to the release, developers Yukes have showcased gameplay and graphics from the title.
While both have received praise and criticism, one thing everyone can agree about is that Yukes did not mess around when it comes to blood in this game.
AEW Fight Forever Could be the Bloodiest Wrestling Game Since 2003’s Backyard Wrestling
We already know that the gameplay will be a modernized version of the late 90s Yukes and AKI wrestling mechanics. This was the main selling point for the game when it was still in the conceptual stage. It was something that the talents involved were adamant about before work started on it.
In some ways, this reminds me of when the TNA Impact game was being developed and stars such as Samoa Joe and Low Ki were interested that it would be like Japanese wrestling classic Giant Gram 2000: All Japan Pro-Wrestling 3, released in August 2000 for the Dreamcast.
Of course, the TNA Impact game didn’t meet that goal and didn’t come off as a true TNA experience. If anything, the in-game scaling made the company appear larger than it has ever been. It was as if Midway developed a WWE game with a TNA skin.
That brings us back to AEW which runs a significantly violent, bloody product than WWE has in recent years. It even resulted in WWE founder Vince McMahon calling the AEW product “Blood and guts wrestling” during a meeting and giving the company an event name in the process.
We've heard that many of you were worried that the blood was removed from #AEWFightForever. We'll let these new screenshots speak for themselves.#AEWgames pic.twitter.com/BPxhrSXZyg
— AEW Games (@AEWGames) May 23, 2023
Well, a recent tweet from AEW Games showed two screenshots of Orange Cassidy and Jericho in a blood-splattered ring and Hikaru Shida standing over Abadon in a similarly bloody ring.
I have to say, there’s a lot of blood—more than in Backyard Wrestling: Don’t Try This at Home which was a game based around the blood and insanity of late 90s-early 00s backyard wrestling.
It’s as if the AI ref should call for a stoppage or put on their gloves when someone bleeds in this game. Actually, it’s refreshing to see given it captures the sometimes-excessive violence and blood loss that occurs on AEW programming.
What do you think of the blood in AEW Fight Forever? Is it too much or not enough? Let us know in the comments. Fight Forever drops June 29, 2023 on PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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