Fire Pro Wrestling World Review

Once you overcome Fire Pro’s steep incline, it opens up as a hugely rewarding and expansive title. Much like its forebears, World is as committed to the art of showmanship and spectacle as it is bludgeoning your opponent into a state of unconsciousness. It’s a strategy game moreso than a traditional sports sim – and it sings thanks to that commitment. It offers unparalleled customization, and plenty of content for its diehard fans. Even MMA styled fighting is represented here, though I doubt it’s going to win over any UFC fans as the ultimate experience of that genre. It doesn’t feel tacked on per say, but it isn’t as unrivalled in scope as Fire Pro feels in the wrestling sphere.

Presentation:

The look of Fire Pro has always been divisive. Its simple aesthetic that looks like a strange crossbreed of 3D-looking-2D-sprites won me over years ago on the Dreamcast, and I got a strange kick out of seeing it on modern hardware, but it’s almost certainly going to put a lot of people off – especially when the competition looks so much more high-fi. If you can get over – and into – its strange visual appeal, you’ll come to realize this deceptive aesthetic is used to great effect going forwards. Not only does it cleanly show every move in painful-looking detail but it enables the ridiculous customization I mentioned before to shine.

Get ready to spend a long time in the character editor making your perfect wrestlers – no matter who you want to make, you’re going to have a riot recreating them here (before clotheslining them into a stupor).

I’m not nearly as up to date with wrestling as I used to be when I was much, much younger – so I’ll just sell this next point as if it were a back-of-the-box bulletpoint: Fire Pro Wrestling World on consoles carries the official license for the New Japan league of wrestlers, meaning if you’re up to date on that scene – which again, I’m not, at all – this might mean something. You’re going to see your faves represented here in pixelated glory, and I can dig if that addition causes you to flip out in the best possible way. For me, it just meant a bigger suite of wrestlers to pick from (but I had much more fun making Donald Trump in the creation suite anyway)

Conclusion:

‘Fire Pro Wrestling World‘ knows its audience, and expects them to know it in return. If you’re a Fire Pro fan then you’ll clearly have already picked this up when it originally launched on Steam to rave reviews, but I’m really glad to see it make its way to a Western console release – and a physical one at that. No series is more deserving of exposure than Fire Pro – it’s a special breed of game with so much love and care poured into it – in a genre that often forgets about these things – that I’m thrilled to see it given a chance to thrive in the West. As long as you’re patient, Fire Pro has so much to offer any wrestling fan out there.

So, in the spirit of Michael Buffer: “LET’S GET READY TO RUUUUMMMBLLLEEEEEEE!!!!!!”