FIRE PRO WRESTLING WORLD – PS4 Preview

Step aside 2K, the king of pure wrestling games has returned…

Despite the grandeur and high budget refinement of the WWE2k series, there is a franchise that remains near and dear to my heart. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to report that after 13 years in the wilderness, Fire Pro Wrestling is back this summer for the PS4. I’m even happier to report, It looks fantastic!

Fire Pro Wrestling was released by Spike-Chunsoft in December 2017 and for the past 5 months has wowed its audience with it’s unique and fun take on the wrestling genre. don’t let the 2D graphics fool you. The emphasis is on fun wrestling gameplay with its trademark arcade fighter style on the outside but underneath the almost cheap looking exterior is a hell of a thorough tribute to all things wrestling. Here are 5 reasons that If you love wrestling, then you owe it to yourself to experience this game.

1. CREATION CREATION CREATION!!!!

One of the biggest appeals of any Fire Pro game is creation. In FPW nothing is off limits in terms of how you customise your experience. You can create wrestlers from thousands of exterior parts and thousands of moves, titles, promotions, rings and even referees! Do you want to create a full Attitude era roster? Relive ECW? A promotion made up of Simpsons characters? You can do it here. Add the debut of online sharing of content and you have the makings for the ultimate wrestling sandbox where the only limit is your imagination. On PC within 2 days there were well over 4000 creations ready to download on Steam… If even half of that is achieved on PS4 then we could be looking at quite possibly the easiest game ever for getting new content to maximise your experience.

2. MODES MODES MODES!!!!!

Anything from standard wrestling bouts with customisable rules to cage matches, death matches, landmines and even a full MMA style octagon are at your disposal to live out your fantasy matches. Rules are customisable to include 2 out of 3 falls, submission only, knockout, elimination and many more settings. You’re the promoter here. What match have you been dreaming of? You can make it happen within Fire Pro Wrestling World!!!

3. THE BEST WRESTLER A.I BAR NONE…

Wrestlers actually behave like their real-life counterparts! Okay, let me explain, When a wrestler is created in the game, there are a ton of customisable statistics that dictate how the wrestler handles him/herself in the ring.  Making a 400lb wrestler who has never seen the top rope let alone stood on it? You can lower the likelihood of him using the top rope. Made an MMA guy? you can up the impact of his strikes and submissions and change statistics within the creation screens to ensure that the wrestlers in-game act exactly as they would in real life, which brings me on to the 4th reason I’m looking forward to FPW…..

4. REALISTIC YET UNPREDICTABLE MATCH FLOW…..

When I play wrestling games, generally they work to a tried and tested formula. Gain momentum, Earn finisher, Hit finisher, take it home. Fire Pro is a different kettle of fish in this respect as you can potentially hit any move at any time. 2-minute squash matches are even possible with this engine if you catch your opponent off guard. The general premise is that of using the small moves and building up but timing is everything in this game and there are plenty of opportunities to catch your opponents off guard. In fact, the flow of matches can be so unpredictable that a growing trend on the PC is actually to sit back and watch the computer act out your dream matches. Yes the AI is that good that even watching this game is wholly enjoyable.

5. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING!!!

Fire Pro wrestling’s core rosters have often in the past been original characters that are loosely based on a real-life inspiration. In January of this year, the PS4 announcement of Fire Pro Wrestling world also carried with it the information that made wrestling fans (especially of the independent circuit) nearly pop with excitement. There is going to be an NJPW licenced roster, titles, rings, referees and even an NJPW original story mode for the game! Fancy yourself a member of the Bullet Club? Fancy going an hour toe to toe with Okada at Wrestle Kingdom? You can with Fire Pro Wrestling. Even without any licensed content, the game looked brilliant. I hope the WWE will ignore the cease and desist when I say without any hesitation…

This game really is “Too Sweet!”