10 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW: Fight Forever - REVIEW

2. A Slightly Hodgepodge Roster

Again, only a minor Down, but still a Down nonetheless.

The roster on display in AEW: Fight Forever is indicative of a game which has spent years in development. There are some lesser names included who may have had a mild presence on AEW programming two years ago, and there are also some extremely notable big-name absences.

In terms of the base game, there are 48 wrestlers available upon a first play of Fight Forever. Cody Rhodes and Aubrey Edwards can be unlocked with in-game currency, and Owen Hart, Mr. Brodie Lee and Paul Wight are in there somewhere. Plus, Matt Hardy - well, two of him - is a pre-order bonus.

Having Cody in is a nice touch, especially given how it would've been so easy to have removed the American Nightmare once he departed AEW nearly 18 months ago. Likewise, the AEW audience has a whole lot of love for Aubrey, so that's another fun addition.

To the "hodgepodge" label for the roster, then.

Names such as Abadon and Yuka Sakazaki - who are both admittedly fun to play as - are included, despite barely having been featured on AEW TV for the past year or more. Malakai Black is here, but House of Black cohorts Brody King, Buddy Matthews and Julia Hart are not. Similarly, bar Mr. Brodie Lee being in the game, John Silver is the only Dark Order member on offer. Yes, no Alex Reynolds or even Evil Uno.

Where the other exclusions are concerned, FTR, Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, the Acclaimed, the Gunns, Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, and Samoa Joe are current and former title holders missing. Saraya, Athena, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Konosuke Takeshita, Ethan Page, Top Flight, Hook, Danhausen, Jake Hager, Daddy Magic, Cool Hand Ang, Santana, Ortiz, and Shawn Spears are among other talents who some may have expected to see included here.

Thankfully, AEW has already announced an upcoming DLC will feature FTR, Keith Lee, the Bunny, Danhausen, and Hook. One has to imagine there are plentiful other DLC packs already being lined up to be released in the coming months.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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