Lord of the ring

If you've grown up watching wrestling on TV and wishing you were The Undertaker, Midway's TNA Impact is a must-add to your gaming collection

If you've grown up watching wrestling on TV and wishing you were The Undertaker, Midway's TNA Impact is a must-add to your gaming collection

Sultan of Slam? A grab from Midway's TNA Impact

For a very long time, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has been the undisputed king of the wrestling world, even on the gaming scene. But with the kind of thrill that this kickass game provides, Midway's TNA Impact will rise as a rock-solid competitor to WWE games.

As real as it gets

The game starts with prolific introduction of TNA wrestlers. There are several gaming modes, including an exhibition mode, where you can create your own character and challenge gamers online. The roster is lengthy, featuring some 20 to 25 actual TNA wrestlers alongside a few that are just the creators' flight of imagination. All the featured players in the game are part of the real world ring, so you won't see boxers who have retired.

The X factor

The game features your standard fare of matchesu00a0Tag, Falls Count Anywhere, Submission and Fatal Four Ways.
The only new thing is the Ultimate X match, a staple of TNA, featuring two ropes crossing the ring with an 'X' hanging from the middle, that you must retrieve. In that sense, it's similar to a ladder match, but without the ladder. To untie the X from the ropes, you have to enter a timing mini game where you press a button to stop a bar at the right point. The game speeds up and becomes harder, adding more challenge.u00a0

The big mistake

The bad news is that there isn't much diversity within the matches. You would miss the Ladder and Table matches. In fact, there are no ladders or tables in the gameu00a0just chairs outside the ring that you can use up to four times before they break.

The number of movements that characters can make are also limited, which is disappointing. The move list was supposed to be bigger, but it has been sizably cut down. Only in the advanced levels, the moves become deadlier.

The character creation mode gives enough scope to play up the new characters.u00a0 You can customise outfits, body type, face type, moves and choose masks. The game's controls, which seem confusing at the outset, turn out to be pretty easy as you spend more time with it. There are submission moves in the games, which are held or broken by pressing a series of buttons.

The Grapple and Power Move system is well implemented, making it easy to learn and use.