TNA impact is a video game released for a lot of systems, and it's inspired off of the Infamous TNA IMPACT(Now known as IMPACT Wrestling!) It was made in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and the PS2 for the home consoles. The Handheld versions were released 2 years later, but Ultimately they lost to the SmackDown vs Raw wrestling games, lets see why.
Graphics: 4/10 Pros: Sprites looks good comparable to their console counterparts, and have unlock able variant attires. The details from stings face paint, to AJ styles' logos are all present. Unfortunately that's where the rest of the game tends to suffer.. Cons: 1) The entrances on the console versions of TNA IMPACT were already cut down(What is this WWF Wrestle mania for the N64?) On here it's even worse as they tried implementing the full CGI intro's but they're completely an eyesore as they're blurred out. 2) Speaking of blurred out. The arena details have also been blurred out as well, and don't look that great. 3)Due to handheld limitations or Midway slacking off, the face and texture details for the characters have been either been blurred to the lowest of quality or completely removed. 4) Again due to more limitations, some options were removed. You can't even customize a move set, or even make a Created Wrestler for Story Mode, instead you're given a variant suit of suicide. This was the feature that made me probably the most upset from this game, as I love making CAWS in any wrestling game period. It's not the game TNA IMPACT, as it was known for having incredible eye candy. It's the fact that Midway was simply taking a port of this game too far on Sony's handheld system.
Sound8/10 Pros: The commentary is here and is perfectly fine for the most part, you have every single track that was present in the Home-Console versions of TNA IMPACT, and they sound great here on the PSP. You can recognize every ones theme from AJ styles to James storm. Cons:In some matches, again some limitations have been reached as during some matches the announcers commentary has been replaced with the background music. The Music is also lacking lyrics in all versions which is noticeable when listening to Beer Money/James Storms theme and AJ Styles theme.
Addictiveness: 4/10 TNA IMPACT is famous for having terrible game play, this port is no different and it's even worse for removing some moves due to limitations. The game plays like a button masher much to my dismay.1)I hate the kick out/pinning system as it forces you to mash the Circle Button. 2)The Reversal button is weird, you use your taunt button instead of a simple L or R bumper/trigger. This really annoyed me when fighting harder opponents like Chris Sabin and Alex Shelly.3) The AI is a reversal spammer, and the reversals are overpowered, Just a Couple of Low blows reversals and your gut will be yellow.
Story: 4/10 You're a famous wrestler named Suicide and your at the top of the world, until you get attacked and left for dead by two masked thugs. You don't remember whom you are so your job is to body slam, dive, and pin your opponents until you jog your memory back and become world champion again.The thing that made me mad is the story mode is really just a career mode used for unlockables, nothing of the story involves with what you do in the actual game.
Depth 3/10 This game lacks a lot of good main event type matches like a Steel Cage, Ladder, etc, and there's no 6 man tag matches or fatal 4 ways. The Roster is also quite small and lacking too, which means you can't really use that many wrestlers.
Difficulty: 9/10 Due to game breaking bugs and spammy AI mentioned earlier, this game is hard to beat. I literally had found a random exploit combination and if you used it correctly, the AI will not counter you. It's only a matter of time before the computer stays down for the 3 count. I couldn't beat the game without using that exploit, because its mechanics just suck that bad.
Overall: 4.1 When compared to something like WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2006 on PSP. This game almost feels like a Rip-Off, in conclusion to that statement; there are much better wrestling games out there, with much better game play mechanics, rosters, and oh yeah those have character creations in them. TNA impact is a video game released for a lot of systems, and it's inspired off of the Infamous TNA IMPACT(Now known as IMPACT Wrestling!) It was made in 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and the PS2 for the home consoles. The Handheld versions were released 2 years later, but Ultimately they lost to the SmackDown vs Raw wrestling games, lets see why.
Graphics: 4/10 Pros: Sprites looks good comparable to their console counterparts, and have unlock able variant attires. The details from stings face paint, to AJ styles' logos are all present. Unfortunately that's where the rest of the game tends to suffer.. Cons: 1) The entrances on the console versions of TNA IMPACT were already cut down(What is this WWF Wrestle mania for the N64?) On here it's even worse as they tried implementing the full CGI intro's but they're completely an eyesore as they're blurred out. 2) Speaking of blurred out. The arena details have also been blurred out as well, and don't look that great. 3)Due to handheld limitations or Midway slacking off, the face and texture details for the characters have been either been blurred to the lowest of quality or completely removed. 4) Again due to more limitations, some options were removed. You can't even customize a move set, or even make a Created Wrestler for Story Mode, instead you're given a variant suit of suicide. This was the feature that made me probably the most upset from this game, as I love making CAWS in any wrestling game period. It's not the game TNA IMPACT, as it was known for having incredible eye candy. It's the fact that Midway was simply taking a port of this game too far on Sony's handheld system.
Sound8/10 Pros: The commentary is here and is perfectly fine for the most part, you have every single track that was present in the Home-Console versions of TNA IMPACT, and they sound great here on the PSP. You can recognize every ones theme from AJ styles to James storm. Cons:In some matches, again some limitations have been reached as during some matches the announcers commentary has been replaced with the background music. The Music is also lacking lyrics in all versions which is noticeable when listening to Beer Money/James Storms theme and AJ Styles theme.
Addictiveness: 4/10 TNA IMPACT is famous for having terrible game play, this port is no different and it's even worse for removing some moves due to limitations. The game plays like a button masher much to my dismay.1)I hate the kick out/pinning system as it forces you to mash the Circle Button. 2)The Reversal button is weird, you use your taunt button instead of a simple L or R bumper/trigger. This really annoyed me when fighting harder opponents like Chris Sabin and Alex Shelly.3) The AI is a reversal spammer, and the reversals are overpowered, Just a Couple of Low blows reversals and your gut will be yellow.
Story: 4/10 You're a famous wrestler named Suicide and your at the top of the world, until you get attacked and left for dead by two masked thugs. You don't remember whom you are so your job is to body slam, dive, and pin your opponents until you jog your memory back and become world champion again.The thing that made me mad is the story mode is really just a career mode used for unlockables, nothing of the story involves with what you do in the actual game.
Depth 3/10 This game lacks a lot of good main event type matches like a Steel Cage, Ladder, etc, and there's no 6 man tag matches or fatal 4 ways. The Roster is also quite small and lacking too, which means you can't really use that many wrestlers.
Difficulty: 9/10 Due to game breaking bugs and spammy AI mentioned earlier, this game is hard to beat. I literally had found a random exploit combination and if you used it correctly, the AI will not counter you. It's only a matter of time before the computer stays down for the 3 count. I couldn't beat the game without using that exploit, because its mechanics just suck that bad.
Overall: 4.1 When compared to something like WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2006 on PSP. This game almost feels like a Rip-Off, in conclusion to that statement; there are much better wrestling games out there, with much better game play mechanics, rosters, and oh yeah those have character creations in them. |