An Upset by the Upstart: TNA Impact! Reviewed


With a history spanning nine years, and three console generations, the Tony Hawk franchise was long considered the quintessential skateboarding videogame. In recent years, however, the series offered marginal improvements to its gameplay; its annual installments seemed urged by shareholders, not gamers. Along came EA’s Skate, a title which took a completely dissimilar approach to simulating skateboarding. The innovation paid off- Skate outsold Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, by a 2:1 ratio, and forced Tony Hawk developer Neversoft to take a year off to rethink its approach.

THQ’s Smackdown series has a lot in common with the Tony Hawk franchise. Both series’ have grudgingly evolved from nearly decade-old, Playstation One games. The Smackdown franchise is known for giving players a relatively minor amount of new content from year to year, instead rehashing old code with only a nominal amount of graphical improvement. The vulnerable series is also in danger of losing its fanbase to a punky upstart that looks to reinvigorate and retool the console wrestling game. Can TNA Impact! for the Xbox 360 and PS3 become the new king of the canvas?


The developers of Impact! clearly wanted to move away from the slow and methodical play of the Smackdown series and offer players fast, and fluid arcade-inspired controls.  For the most part, the Los Angeles-based Midway development team has succeeded- punches and kicks are pulled off with a button press, and can be intensified with the modifier button. Most actions are intuitive and recall the ease and rapidity of a fighting game. While the animation is buttery-smooth, occasionally the player will find themselves not making contact with an enemy wrestler, as the hit detection suffers from the intermittent glitch. Reversals and double-reversals can be pulled off with a timely button press, and add a burst of excitement to the proceedings. One dilemma we’ve had with most modern wrestling titles: a canned animation sequence must play out before your on-screen persona executes his next move. Impact!, however, allows players to interrupt all attacks, creating the sensation that you are in constant control of your wrestling, not just influencing him.


Distancing themselves from the larger and sluggish character models of the Smackdown series, Impact!’s wrestlers are slightly smaller, yet astonishingly detailed. While some might bemoan the lack of any female wrestlers, the textural quality of the combatants in the game nearly overcomes this shortcoming. The game’s venues seem painstakingly modeled after their hexagonal counterparts- while at E3, a designer showed us a faded bloodstain on the canvas the remained in the final texture maps. The developers at Midway managed to capture the physicality and speed of professional wrestling- throws and finishers looks sufficiently punishing. 

Despite the team having spent over two years developing the title, Impact! has its share of faults. While each wrestler has their own signature moves, the great majority of their taunts, slams, and strikes are shared with other characters. So while characters are balanced, there is a certain uniformity that dulls character selection. Story mode is hampered by a dawdling pace to unlock a nominal amount of new player moves. Additionally, CPU A.I. during tag-team matches in unapologetically poor- be prepared for a lack of any assistance from your computer partner in moments of need.


Online bouts are limited to single matches with no option for created wrestlers. Currently, online play is relatively lag-free, but players accustomed to the fluidity of local matches will notice the occasional gameplay hiccup. TNA Impact! is a title that seems built around dorm/frat house play-  the game almost requires the face-to-face trash talking these settings offer.

Overall, TNA Impact! dethrones the aging Smackdown Vs. Raw, but not in the crushing manner we were expecting. Impact! has the speed and fortitude to shame its rival, despite some sloppy execution. Hopefully, we’ll see a return next season with an increased amount of finesse and mastery of wrestling nuances.

Final Grade: B

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Posted by DesertEagle at 9/11/2008 12:29 PM
Categories: PS3,360,Reviews
 

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