Post by sh17 on May 24, 2009 15:49:08 GMT -6
I know I'm somewhat behind on this, but while at the palace of cheap Wal-Mart the other day I was rummaging around the 20 dollar bin and found TNA Impact in there. Disappointed that they were sold out of UFC Undisputed(which I went the day after it was released) I figured I would give it a shot. I just beat the game today, so I think I can give a fairly good representation of the game.
The good: This game used the Unreal Engine to create the graphics, and wow does it show. The wrestlers look like they have climbed into your TV and are fighting at your whim. Creating your own character, just the same, looks spectacular. You have a lot of different choices as far as hair styles, clothing, tattoos, you have plenty of options in order to re-create yourself or your own twisted view of a wrestler on the game. Also, the environments they include are quite realistic. The Impact Zone looks perfect, along with the other environments they include in the game. Right out of the case, you get most of the main wrestlers to use in exhibition mode with others unlockable by gaining style points and completing the Story mode. However, you have characters such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and alike when you just start out. The actual gameplay is not that shabby, relative to all wrestling games. It gets as close as you can get to real wrestling, mainly since they used real wrestlers (AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Sonjay Dutt, Colt Cabana, etc.) as their motion capture models.
The bad: The Story mode follows the recent trend of WWE games and needs some work. While the basic storyline is good, the way the game forces you to execute it gets boring after awhile. Instead of wrestling actual TNA talent the entire time, you must fight these computer generation characters with made up names and weird looks before you get to fight real wrestlers. It's really depressing, as even WWE lets you fight real wrestlers when you start the Story mode. Also, while I did enjoy the looks of the characters, there's a couple of logistic problems with the game. One, all the wrestlers are the same height. So, if you have a small high-flyer character, he can stand toe to toe with Abyss because they are both the same height. Secondly, this same high flyer can chokeslam Abyss if you have the move in your arsenal. Let's think here, a person who is supposed to be the size of Chris Sabin or Jay Lethal chokeslamming Abyss. It makes no sense, and is not supposed to since it would not happen in real life.
The ugly: While I raved about character creation with design, TNA drops the ball on your move set. Not only is your move selection limited(WWE's method of giving you everything at the beginning is the way to go), but of the moves you have available throughout the game you have to unlock ALL of them. You start out with default across the board, and by gaining Style points you have to unlock every single move for your created wrestler. I was quite unhappy with this, since I was used to WWE giving you every move upfront. It takes away from the customizable aspect of the game. Also, as a created wrestler you are given set intros instead of mixing and matching theme songs and entrances as such. There is no way to preview these intros or what they look like, so you have to just choose one, and keep switching them back and forth until you find one you like. Speaking of entrances, TNA also screwed up by shortening the entrances of actual superstars. They don't actually make it to the ring, just halfway down the ramp. The load screens are just annoying, but that's just a fact of life for games.
The verdict: For 20 dollars, I think I got a good deal. Whoever bought this game for retail(not sure if it went for 60 like most 360 games) should have hated it because they got ripped off. If you are a TNA fan you will enjoy this. If you are just looking for a wrestling alternative, you will most likely be disappointed as I still think most WWE games are better in the majority of categories. If you find it cheap somewhere, don't hesitate to give it a shot. I spent 20 dollars, and I definitely think I got my money's worth out of it.
If you have any other questions about it, post them here and I'll answer them as best I can.
The good: This game used the Unreal Engine to create the graphics, and wow does it show. The wrestlers look like they have climbed into your TV and are fighting at your whim. Creating your own character, just the same, looks spectacular. You have a lot of different choices as far as hair styles, clothing, tattoos, you have plenty of options in order to re-create yourself or your own twisted view of a wrestler on the game. Also, the environments they include are quite realistic. The Impact Zone looks perfect, along with the other environments they include in the game. Right out of the case, you get most of the main wrestlers to use in exhibition mode with others unlockable by gaining style points and completing the Story mode. However, you have characters such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and alike when you just start out. The actual gameplay is not that shabby, relative to all wrestling games. It gets as close as you can get to real wrestling, mainly since they used real wrestlers (AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Sonjay Dutt, Colt Cabana, etc.) as their motion capture models.
The bad: The Story mode follows the recent trend of WWE games and needs some work. While the basic storyline is good, the way the game forces you to execute it gets boring after awhile. Instead of wrestling actual TNA talent the entire time, you must fight these computer generation characters with made up names and weird looks before you get to fight real wrestlers. It's really depressing, as even WWE lets you fight real wrestlers when you start the Story mode. Also, while I did enjoy the looks of the characters, there's a couple of logistic problems with the game. One, all the wrestlers are the same height. So, if you have a small high-flyer character, he can stand toe to toe with Abyss because they are both the same height. Secondly, this same high flyer can chokeslam Abyss if you have the move in your arsenal. Let's think here, a person who is supposed to be the size of Chris Sabin or Jay Lethal chokeslamming Abyss. It makes no sense, and is not supposed to since it would not happen in real life.
The ugly: While I raved about character creation with design, TNA drops the ball on your move set. Not only is your move selection limited(WWE's method of giving you everything at the beginning is the way to go), but of the moves you have available throughout the game you have to unlock ALL of them. You start out with default across the board, and by gaining Style points you have to unlock every single move for your created wrestler. I was quite unhappy with this, since I was used to WWE giving you every move upfront. It takes away from the customizable aspect of the game. Also, as a created wrestler you are given set intros instead of mixing and matching theme songs and entrances as such. There is no way to preview these intros or what they look like, so you have to just choose one, and keep switching them back and forth until you find one you like. Speaking of entrances, TNA also screwed up by shortening the entrances of actual superstars. They don't actually make it to the ring, just halfway down the ramp. The load screens are just annoying, but that's just a fact of life for games.
The verdict: For 20 dollars, I think I got a good deal. Whoever bought this game for retail(not sure if it went for 60 like most 360 games) should have hated it because they got ripped off. If you are a TNA fan you will enjoy this. If you are just looking for a wrestling alternative, you will most likely be disappointed as I still think most WWE games are better in the majority of categories. If you find it cheap somewhere, don't hesitate to give it a shot. I spent 20 dollars, and I definitely think I got my money's worth out of it.
If you have any other questions about it, post them here and I'll answer them as best I can.
