number1contender.net

E3 Preview of TNA iMPACT! for the XBOX 360

 

July 16, 2008

E3 Day 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center-Los Angeles, California

 

This is the first TNA video game and will be coming out in September for the XBOX 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii. Midway is designing the game to not only appeal to fans of TNA, but to appeal to fans of wrestling video games that feel WWE's SmackDown! vs. Raw series has gotten stale and are looking for something different.

 

Midway with a ton of input from Samoa Joe and AJ Styles are putting a heavy emphasis on making this game different from the WWE's video games. This game is going to focus on the athleticism of the X Division athletes. In a promotion heavy on gimmick matches, Midway is going to keep this game simple. The only TNA specialty match that has currently been announced for the game is Ultimate X. There have been reports of the King of the Mountain Match being in the game, and Monster's Ball being in the game. TNA's own website says that the King of the Mountain match will be in the game. However, at E3 the people I spoke to at Midway said that the King of the Mountain match would not be in the game. Midway was adamant that Monster's Ball will not be in this game. Currently the only weapons announced for this game are steel chairs. However, they did say they planned on announcing more weapons before launch.

 

Midway wants this game to focus on the athleticism of the wrestlers and not hardcore wrestling. Therefore, except for a few permanent blood spots on the mat at the iMPACT! Zone the game will be completely bloodless. This is a game that should be very accessible to children, ad has already been rated T for Teen. Midway has made the controls very easy for younger fans and new gamers to pick up. All of the moves are pulled of using the 4 face buttons to pull of moves. The LB can modify any of the moves and the RB counters. It is a very easy and intuitive control scheme to pick up. However, mastering the reversals will be challenging and should prove a rewarding experience for veteran players.

 

The developers are intent on making this a successful series. Therefore, they are not over promising with the first iteration of the game so fans are disappointed if they cannot fully deliver. There will only be 2 player online matches*. However, it will run at an impressive lag free 60 frames per second at all times. The impressive graphics the game is displaying are being powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 3. This has created a very lifelike look to the wrestlers and environments. The trade of for the time the developers have spent making the game look so polished is that The Six-Sides of Steel will not be making its video game debut this year. Also, the TNA women's division is not going to be in the game until next year. The only woman in this game is Christy Hemme and she is unable to wrestle in the game. She will provide Christy's tips and play a part in the story mode.

 

The developers promised a strong story mode, but were not prepared to announce the full details of the story mode, yet. They did say the story mode will involve voice acting by the TNA wrestlers. Christopher Daniels said he taped 4 different scenes for the game. (He will appear in the game as The Fallen Angel with the look he used during his storyline with Sting. Curry Man will not be in this game.)

 

The only arena the developers were able to officially announce was the iMPACT! Zone in Orlando, Florida. However, they promised several other arenas will be in the game. Screenshots have already shown up of arenas in Japan and Great Britain. However, The Asylum will not be in the game.

 

The game will feature 25 competitive wrestlers with those announced so far being: AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Booker T, Christian, Hernandez, Homicide, Jay Lethal, Kurt Angle, Sting, Rhino, Tomko, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Scott Steiner, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Eric Young and Christopher Daniels. I was also able to pick out several wrestlers who are still locked away from the media by their silhouettes in the time I was given with the game. They are Shark Boy, "Cowboy" James Storm, and Consequences Creed. It is also safe to assume Petey Williams is in the game, since the Canadian Destroyer is advertised as being in the game. There is also video of motion capture work being done by Sonjay Dutt and Senshi. That brings the roster count to 24. With all of that in mind, the 25th roster member is probably Elix Skipper, who would complete Triple X and is consistent with the games focus on the athletic X Division style of wrestling. The announcing duties will be taken care of by Mike Tenay and Don West. Jeremy Borash will be handling the ring introductions.

 

The game will feature downloadable content for the potential of many additions including roster updates, new arenas and story mode expansion. There will be a create-a-wrestler mode in the game with some of the moves and outfits to be unlocked.

 

The series looks very promising. The developers are counting on fan feedback to see what players want in next year's game. Therefore, if you post on a forum they will be watching.

 

I would like to thank TNA's Ross Foreman and Midway's Reid Druck for getting me into E3. Reid also, arranged time for me to meet with TNA wrestlers Christopher Daniels and Christy Hemme at this show so an especially big thanks to him. Reid has arranged that the next look at this game will be at the TNA PPV Hard Justice, where number1contender.net's Contributing Editor, Derek Burgan, will be traveling to New Jersey to get a look at the newest build of the game.

 

*Disclaimer the technical statistics are for the XBOX 360 and PS3, only. The Wii and PS2 versions will not feature online play or downloadable content. There are other technical differences and for any other questions regarding the technical differences between the versions or anything else please email me. My contact information is at the bottom of this preview.

 

This appears to conclude our E3 coverage on f4wonline.com, unless there is a demand for more. I hope everyone enjoyed it and we would like to here your feedback on what we delivered. Our E3 coverage is a work in progress that we hope to evolve over many years. There will be a ton more coverage of all of the events of E3 on number1contender.net. There is already a lot there. Derek Burgan is also scheduled to release a review of SNK Arcade Classics for the Wii on the website, soon. We are working on some very big things, and made a lot of very good connections at E3 that should benefit everyone for years. Starting in 2009, we expect to have yearly coverage of Comic-Con and really have some huge plans on the horizon.