As someone already pointed out, it appears IGN.com already has a review on Impact! out, and it according to that site, it turned out a bit average.
However, if you don't want to hear any of that (and also not my opinion on it even though I haven't played it yet lol), don't read on (to avoid possible spoilers)!
I'm not too sure if I'm getting the game right from the start, instead of waiting till it's a bit cheaper... because from the sound of it, the game might turn out a disappointment in exactly those areas it should've been on top.
Of course, one could never expect an over-the-top presentation with huge arenas and a gigantic roster from the start, as WWE can provide; also, I wouldn't expect the ton of match variety the SvsR series has today (agreed, some of the match types are still ill-balanced) - but iMPACT appears to have some key issues that I really don't want to see in a wrestling game of the year 2008. So please note my source for complaints is only the IGN review, so I am based on that.. I have yet to try the game myself.
First off - there's apparently only a max number of 4 guys in the ring simultaneously. I mean - WTF??? Agreed, the character models looks great on the screenshots, but four guys? COME ON! Especially on a program like TNA, where multi-tag-team-matches with 6-12 guys and Battle Royal-type of matches are not that uncommon, to only be able to have 4 guys displayed at the same time surely is not a good way to start things off. Not at all.
Then you have your match types. Again, considering the gimmick-loving programming of TNA wrestling, to basically limit match types to very basic one-on-one, tag team and handicap matches with the sole exception of the (thankful!) inclusion of the Ultimate X (which also can only be played in one on one or triple threat constellations) - and apparently no Cage matches, let alone Lethal Lockdown, King of the Mountain or any other of TNA's more extravagant regulars; only one weapon (steel chair) available, and also only one-on-one matches in online mode - those are all issues so damn typical of a "first installment" of a game... I mean, of course every great series had these issues at first... the SmackDown series used to be a very "arcade" feeling counterpart to the great, more simulation-type WCW/WWE games on the N64 and Acclaim's "WarZone/Attitude/ECW" series had similar problems and unfortunately only got worse as time moved on... but honestly, those games were released in a time when consoles had just made the jump from 2D to 3D, and developers yet had to get used to this new type of environment, and needed some time to make full use of the new possibilities, which they quite successfully exploited in later Smackdown games. But seriously, this is the year 2008, Midway had about 10-15 3D wrestling games of different generations (not even counting Japan-only-releases) to evaluate and consider, and they could not come up with more than those basic match types, and no more than 4 guys in the ring? I mean, Smackdown Just Bring It and DC's Royal Rumble had freakin' 9 guys at once in the ring if I remember correctly, and nowadays I would believe that 6 wrestlers at once should be a decent minimum number, to make multi-participant matches possible & more interesting. These limitations are really really bad in my opinion.
But well - even that could be acceptable, if they delivered a great gameplay. Now as far as the review is concerned, the basic principles are rather simple (compared to SvsR), and you still can chain together nice moves... however apparently there is a really really limited number of moves in the game (as, according to the article, Midway admitted that out of the alleged 2000+ moves they motion captured, they just couldn't include a majority of in the actual game). Now this is a really bad situation for a game that can do little in terms of presentation and match variety, but which should technically live from its "pure wrestling" - if such a game fails to deliver just that, that doesn't sound good to me. I mean, I still remember Powermove Pro Wrestling for the PSOne, which was one of the first wrestling games ever in 3D - and it had like 10 wrestlers, only two match types (one on one and tag team), and all of those had basically the same 10 moves with about 3 or 4 exceptions for some of the "hidden" characters. To have a game reminiscent of THAT in 2008, a game that only features a handful of basic moves and does not even supply signature taunts for specific wrestlers feels seriously outdated right from the start. And the facts that grapples from behind aren't possible, or on an opponent that is lying face down on the mat (instead of face up - though agreed, SvsR has similar issues), and there are only finishers available from standing grapple positions seem pretty ridiculous.
Additionally, the not exactly stellar CAW mode seems to deliver the coup de grace here. Apparently you only have 5(!) slots for CAW, and the mode itself seems also very limited in terms of variety... and once again, there appears to be the issue of the movesets (or later, lack thereof) which apparently seems to stand out even more in the story mode, should definitely make playing the game only enjoyable for a very short while.
Now while I had known that iMPACT also wouldn't feature any backstage environments whatsoever, I was at least expecting them to deliver big time on the basic in-ring elements. But apparently, despite the long development process, they didn't manage to get everything they wanted into the game by a large margin, and this - plain and simple - sucks.
If the game indeed plays as halfheartedly as the review sounds, then I daresay WWE's Smackdown vs Raw will beat TNA in the battle of video games this year as well. Kind of a shame really - I was really looking forward to a game that could probably bring the fast-paced in ring action of TNA to consoles, but even if it is "only their first game", they really should and could have done better.
I guess I'll nonetheless eventually get the game... but it will most likely be only once the price goes down a little.
