AEW Fight Forever: 5 Things It Does Better Than WWE 2K23 (And 5 It Doesn’t!)
Yes, AEW's brand new Fight Forever game does beat WWE 2K23 in some areas!
THQ Nordic and Yuke's should be extremely proud of what they've accomplished with AEW's very first video game.
Fight Forever is an arcade-style brawler that flirts with classics like No Mercy on N64 and even has splashes of SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth or Here Comes The Pain. Unfortunately for the devs, they were always going to be compared to a series that has really got things together in recent years: WWE's market-conquering 2K franchise.
2K's street cred bottomed out with the dire launch of 2K20 back in 2019, but both 2K22 and the more recent 2K23 have managed to restore faith that they're capable of creating the best wrestling games available. AEW's product is the first true, non-Fire Pro alternative fans have had since TNA's old iMPACT game in 2008 though, which is insane.
So, how does it measure up to WWE's experience? Is there enough to AEW's game that'll make those already ploughing hundreds of hours into 2K23 cough up a bit more cash? You might be surprised by some of the things Fight Forever actually does better than 2K23.
WWE vs. AEW. Let the battle commence!
10. DOES: Tag Team Wrestling
It's a pity there aren't many tag teams available in AEW's title at launch, because the doubles action THQ and Yuke's produced is sparkling. Everything shifts at just the right tempo - tag bouts aren't anywhere near as sluggish as they are over on WWE's side, put it that way.
Pulling off double team moves is also easier to do in Fight Forever, and there appears to be more emphasis on buddying up to inflict maximum damage before Aubrey Edwards or Rick Knox throws the illegal man/woman out. On that, it's pretty funny that AEW's refs are more on the ball in-game than they are in real life!
Interesting.
Seriously though, tag matches just feel...right in All Elite's new game. WWE 2K23 suffers from the age-old problem of that aforementioned sluggishness, and they're all a bit too formulaic. In Fight Forever, workers are on their toes and ready to help struggling partners. It's great.