A game like a cheap hooker: stripped, rushed, and sloppy.

User Rating: 5.5 | TNA iMPACT! X360
The Intro

So, TNA wrestling continues its bid to match the WWE in all things by doing the inevitable and coming out with their first game. For wrestling fans, this is pretty exciting, as it marks the first time since the folding of WCW that we have had an official non-WWE wrestling this side of the Pacific. If only it could've been better.

The Good

This game is sloppy fun at its best. This is NOT a good game, but when played locally with a few friends, it can be enjoyable because of it. As you've probably found in wrestling games in general, it's fun to just mindlessly flail away at each other. With a few friends, the game becomes a wild, chaotic mess and can become fun because of it. You'll have a lot of laughs and a pretty fun few hours before the game's flaws manage to penetrate through even the mirage of local multiplayer gaming. Playing with friends can make many things fun, and TNA Impact is no different, as it delivers the perfect arena for a sloppy good time.

Also, it needs saying that it really IS a thrill to be able to play a TNA product. Using wrestlers like Samoa Joe or AJ Styles is a total mark-out for wrestling fans, many of whom have probably created said characters in WWE-based games. It's fresh, and from a novelty perspective alone, it's worth a go.

Finally, the graphics are solid enough in single player, with the character models moving well enough and everything looking fine.

The grappling system, though nothing earth-shattering, also proves itself fairly competent.

The Bad

Oh dear, where to start.

My first major gripe is with a design choice in the game. Midway obviously understood that unlockables play a big role in a game like this. That said, they went totally overboard here. Fresh out of the box, the game is absolutely crippled. This does not make you want to play more and unlock things. Rather, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth after a rental. About a quarter of the characters are playable out of the box. Furthermore, you'll only be playing in ONE arena. And oh yeah, it takes a LOT to unlock stuff.

Worst of all though is how this utterly ruins the create-a-wrestler mode, which is otherwise pretty good. The Create a wrestler mode is solid, but the thing is, every single move choice is locked. That's right. That means that until you start unlocking moves, you literally have almost no choice of moves for your created wrestler beyond a series of preset models. This basically destroys everything the Create-a-wrestler mode does well in the game.

As far as gameplay goes, there are also numerous problems here as well. There are hit detection problems. Often times, your character will be hit by running attacks that clearly did not touch you.

Also, the grappling system, while solid, simply does not have enough moves across the board. There is a LOT of move duplication between the game's wrestlers. For instance, me and four friends played several 4 man free for alls, each time with different wrestlers and each time, every single one of our wrestlers was able to perform a death valley driver. That's ridiculous. It really starts to impede on the novelty factor of playing these fresh wrestlers when so many of their moves are the same. This is only worsened by the fact that each wrestler only has one special finisher.

The game also breaks the cardinal rule of wrestling games by simply not having enough match types. Ultimate X is basically the only gimmick match playable here. Considering TNA's love of gimmick matches, this is unforgivable. Worse still is that if you're trying to play with 4 players, you're straight out of luck. No Ultimate X with 4 players and frankly, there's nothing to offer four players save for a tag team match or a free for all. There are no ladders, no cages, no nothing. This is just rushed.

Part of what this leads to is another feeling of the game's being rushed and stripped, as it means there are NO "hardcore" type matches. Instead, every match is "hardcore." However, all this means is that there are four chairs outside of the ring that can be used until they break...and that's it. There are no other weapon types and the chairs do not regenerate. Ugh.

Ultimate X mode, as the only gimmick match available, is unfortunately pretty crappy, in that it is incredibly difficult to win. Not that it's difficult to win in a game difficulty way, but more that it's just impossible to finish the match. Players get to the centre and then have to complete a difficult action-metre test at least eight times, while players on the bottom are free to pull them down. This is bad news and can lead to 3 player Ultimate X matches last well over an hour, as nobody is free to win unless the other players give up and allow it. If the other players play to win, no one will win the match.

The single player campaign's story is also incredibly lame. Story-wise, it felt absolutely ridiculous, in particular because it didn't feel like a wrestling story-line, but instead, it felt like the plot-line of some strange Japanese beat-em-up from the 90s.

Finally, graphics show a significant drop as more players jump into the game. As the camera zooms out, suddenly the game no longer looks particularly good at all. Ugh. I also miss the referee dynamics of other wrestling games. TNA Impact goes back in time, having no referees within the match.

The Conclusion

Worth a rent, I guess, if you're wrestling fan. If not, don't bother. Honestly, unless you're incredibly curious, even as a wrestling fan, you can probably pass even renting this. It's just so rushed and barebones in comparison to its competitors that it's weaknesses are glaring. It's restricted and limited, yet also sloppy and rushed. That's not the formula for a good game. Maybe next time, they can build on this and make it better, with more match types, more moves, and less unlocks. Until next time then.