TNA Impact! wasn’t a bad game, nor was it a good one, but history will tell you it’s the only TNA game to hit the console market to date and it was fun in short bursts. That’s if they didn’t reverse the attacks repeatedly. You’d have to beat them to a pulp and give them a load of finishing moves to have any chance of keeping them down for the count of three. What didn’t help matters either was the ridiculous A.I., especially in the Story mode, with almost unbeatable opponents at times. See, the fun just didn’t last long enough, the move sets were quite limited and you’d be left doing your best impression of John Cena (who’s known for only having five moves) every match. Trying out all of the exciting finishing moves was enjoyable, but to build up the Impact! meter in order to perform them saw a lot of move repetition and that’s where the boredom kicked in. Players had the choice of AJ Styles, Sting, Samoa Joe, Robert Roode, Kurt Angle, Christian Cage and many, many more. Most of the models looked darn good for its time too. There certainly couldn’t be any complaints about the roster as most of the names either were huge stars back then or have since made their way to the WWE. The rest of the matches were just your usual single types, tag team affairs, fatal four ways and such, with nothing else too special or interesting to speak of. With two cables suspended across the ring and a big X hanging in the middle to try and grab, it was a lot of fun to participate in. Speaking of the X Division, the inclusion of the Ultimate X match in TNA Impact!, which is used to contest the division’s championship belt, was something completely fresh. A handful of other wrestlers have become Suicide sporadically since then and to this day, there seems to be no sign of them pulling the trigger and killing him off. After Frankie Kazarian portrayed the character initially, it was Christopher Daniels who took on the mantle next and won the X Division Championship to create a real buzz. The dramatic narrative wasn’t the only thing that made it stand out though, with the real life introduction of the Suicide character being a very cool crossover concept. You could then bring him back under a new guise and begin the journey to regain the top spot in the company, fighting around the world in Mexico, England and other locations depicting the independent scene, before returning to the Impact Zone in Florida. Those mainly centre around the Story mode and the ingenuity of Suicide, the main character who falls from grace after a backstage beatdown for not doing as he’s told and throwing the big title fight. Perhaps it’s because the motion capture was done by real TNA wrestlers- whatever the reason, it looks damn pretty and the wrestlers have a nice, tangible feel to them.Unfortunately, it didn’t have enough substance to the gameplay to have any real longevity, but there were a few aspects of TNA Impact! that I still remember fondly to this day. So do the graphics, which are already sharp and smooth and can only get better as the game gets closer to launch. We really liked this aspect, because we hate those long moments in WWE when you’re just stuck in the opponent’s grasp, waiting for him to have his sweaty way with you.
Keeps things interestingĪlso, if you happen to find yourself in the grasp, if your captor doesn’t input a move within a second or two, the grab switches from him being in control to a neutral lockup, from which either of you can execute a move. What this means is that not only can you counter an opponent’s attack, he can counter your counter, you can counter that counter, and he might be able to counter yet again, if he’s quick enough.
#TNA WRESTLING IMPACT VIDEO GAME WINDOWS#
Speaking of which, there are at least three, if not four counter windows in each move.