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For almost a decade now, the WWE has dominated the wrestling world in both TV broadcasting and video games.  Midway and TNA Impact! are looking to change all that, at least in the video game world, with a new wrestling title called TNA IMPACT!  We got a chance to play the game with one of the project developers, and from what we saw, they may have a chance to do just that.

After having our match type selected for us (Ultimate X) we were able to select from a near-complete roster of TNA’s wrestlers.  A brief load screen followed, and we were on to our match.  After some coaching by the Midway rep, we quickly figured out the intuitive control scheme and were punching, throwing and slamming each other to our hearts’ content.  The button layout is very different than WWE’s with all grapples assigned to the Xbox 360’s Y button, attacks mapped to the A and X buttons, and the B button reserved for using and interacting with items and environmental elements.  Running is accomplished by holding the right trigger, the right bumper acts as a counter or block, and the left bumper modifies any other button to make it more powerful.  The scheme feels natural and it was very easy to adjust after years of WWE experience.  After a few minutes of randomly beating on each other, the Midway rep showed us a few of the game’s more interesting feature, and what exactly differentiates it from the Raw vs. Smackdown games.  First off, the uninterruptible animations you’re used to are not present here.  If you attack someone while they are in the middle of a suplex, both men will fall to the ground, just like they should.  This means no more waiting around while lengthy animations are finishing, giving a much more action-packed experience.  Ground grapples operate differently too, with a button-pressing minigame determining the length of the hold as well as how much damage it delivers. 

Despite all the gameplay improvements, the most obvious difference between the TNA and WWE franchises is the visuals.  To say that TNA looks better than recent WWE games wouldn’t be accurate, but they certainly look different.  Faces seem more lifelike, and animations are smoother and more fluid, but the game does have a bit of a grainy look that detracts from the presentation to some degree.  Still, it’s a nice looking game that runs smoothly with three wrestlers in the ring.

The build we played had some clipping issues, but that could be something that will be fixed before the final version is released.  One issue I had with the mechanics was the fact that there are three different meters to keep your eye on.  One for your damage, which is body part-specific, one for your momentum, and one that tells you how close you are to performing your finishing move.  It’s a lot to keep track of, especially once we see matches with four or more wrestlers.  It’s a minor detail, but with all the improvements we’ve seen from this game, it’s worth mentioning something that may be a bit of a drawback.

TNA wrestler Kurt Angle declared that this game would not only be the best wrestling game ever, but the best game of all time.  While this is obviously a case of overly enthusiastic hyperbole, the first part of his statement may not be far off.  There’s a lot of promise here, and if the clipping issues can be addressed, Vince McMahon may have some serious competition for his video game dominance.  We’ll find out when it’s released on September 2.

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