Since its launch, the PlayStation 3 is home to the only licensed wrestling title that can be found and under the WWE and Raw banner, it excelled in bringing a true professional wrestling game to pro wresting fans. Midway, no stranger to fighting games thanks to its Mortal Kombat series, brings grappling fans a game featuring the TNA brand that looks to compete with the WWE giant. TNA Impact! brings all of its licensed stars and wrestling action to the PlayStation 3 but a few technical flaws simply hold it back from being a great wrestling title.

“No! Take it back! Snuggles isn’t an evil corporate mascot!”

Wrestling fans new to the TNA brand will find some familiar faces seeing as wrestlers such as Kurt Angle and Booker T have jumped off the WWE/Raw ship to join the successful organization that’s filled with all the same scripted drama and DDT-filled wrestling action. TNA Impact brings a number of its stars in the lineup including Booker T, Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Sting, Shark Boy and Brother Devon to name a few. Sadly, the ladies of the TNA Knockout division are not present … although Christy Hemme is present during the load screens.

TNA Impact! includes Exhibition, Online multiplayer and Story Mode. Story Mode is the main single-player mode that tells a somewhat interesting story that’s actually good. As Suicide, you were at the top of your game and future TNA star. Then you’re attacked by a tag team duo that has it in for you and left disfigured and nearly dead. Waking up in a rundown hospital in Mexico, plastic surgeons prepare to reconstruct your face so it is here that you actually create your character. From there you must wrestle your way back to the top to join the TNA franchise just as you had once planned. This, of course, means you must go up against the hopefuls and finally the big names like Christian Cage and the likes of AJ Styles. Story Mode is surprisingly deep and you’re able to earn points to purchase new clothes as well as unlock new moves for your grappler such as new body slams as well as hard-hitting chops.

Exhibition mode brings a number of matches that include Handicap, Tag Team, Free for All, Submission, FCA (Falls Count Anywhere) Match and FCA Match Tag. Fans of Ultimate X and Ultimate X FFA matches will be pleased to find the match type that has grapplers attempting to unlock an X while climbing cables overhead. The good news is that you can play these Exhibition matches with a friend and more than makes up for the limited fun that is the online multiplayer.

“Mommy! Look! I can count to three now!”

The good news is that controls are simple to get into so gamers new to wrestling games can easily pick up this game and perform a DDT or an Irish Whip without any trouble. Like to pull off Sting’s famous finishing move the Scorpion Drop then chances are you’ll find out how to do it on accident. This is good seeing as you can concentrate on pulling off these cool moves and the match at hand rather than worrying about how to pull off the more complicated moves. What doesn’t work is the fact that you need to rapidly move the analog sticks to get out of a pin.

Unfortunately, great controls don’t mean a thing when the AI isn’t very smart and that your opponent thinks that the virtual fans would love to see the same moves performed repetitively. How many times must we suffer through Booker T’s Bookend move? Yeah, it gets very annoying. Yet the worst part is that opponent’s can be so dumb that sometimes they wait for you to smack them over the head with a chair rather than pull off a reversal. Pairing up with a tag team partner also becomes annoying since your partner is also prone to making some boneheaded decisions in the ring. Then again, most TNA stars do provide a real challenge so don’t expect to always breeze through this game.

Graphically speaking, TNA Impact! is a mixed bag. For one thing, the TNA stars and other unfamiliar wrestlers look good and are nicely detailed. You’ll immediately recognize a star’s signature move or familiar gesture and it’s impressive to see how natural they move during matches. Then again, certain backgrounds look rather dull and the washed out textures feel out of place when the characters look good. The virtual fans look good in some arenas while in others not so good.

Tourist: “I know they’re proud of the tango here in Argentina but do they have to do it in wrestling too?”

I would like to say that the sound fairs a lot better but it doesn’t. The various songs are hard rock tunes that are hit or miss depending on your taste but by the fourth match it just starts sounding the same. There’s commentary to be found here from the likes of TNA announcers Don West, Jeremy Borash and Mike Tenay. For the most part, they sound good but much of what they say during matches is recycled repeatedly. Your character’s voice work during Story Mode is actually good and there are some decent performances from other key characters as well.

TNA Impact! for the PS3 packs quite a punch but just doesn’t connect well enough to make this a perfect wrestling game worthy of rivaling the WWE franchise. This game has all the right players, moves and match types but it lacks finesse and better AI opponents to make the single-player mode more enjoyable than what is presented here. Sorry, Midway, it’s a good attempt that just isn’t as good as it could have been. Here’s hoping the next TNA Impact! game will be better. 

Gameplay: 6.5
All the recognizable TNA stars are here and they each have their own unique signature move that looks cool in action. Unfortunately, you’ll be seeing a lot of the same moves in the same match. The Exhibition match types are plentiful and Story Mode isn’t too shabby. Still, we wish the AI opponent’s weren’t so dumb.

Graphics: 7.5
Visually, the grapplers look good during cut scenes and in the ring pulling off flying suplexes and body slams. The backgrounds and crowds could have used some more attention but what is here isn’t entirely bad. At least the characters move realistically.

Sound: 6.0
Sadly, the sound doesn’t make much of an impact either (no pun intended) and that goes for the rocking soundtrack or the two-man commentary team that repeats the same phrases over and over again. Story Mode has some solid voice acting, though.

Difficulty: Medium
You can expect the likes of Sting and Samoa Joe put up quite a fight but then again the inconsistent AI makes even Kurt Angle seem like a newcomer with very little to offer. In some matches, the AI shows some improvement but not by very much.

Concept: 6.5
The TNA brand is represented well enough in Impact and it’s great to see that they included the nifty Ultimate X matches in the game. Story Mode tells a rather interesting and fun story that lacks championship belts but is not short on enjoyable matches. What happened to the TNA Knockouts division?

Multiplayer: 6.5
While it’s a bit simplified and doesn’t offer a multitude of matches, the game runs smoothly online and there are enough TNA superstars to pick. Where’s the four-player action, though? Come on, Midway, let’s see four-player multiplayer for the next game.

Overall: 6.5
Unlike the WWE wrestling titles already available for the PS3, TNA Impact! fails to deliver a true grappling experience TNA or wrestling fans will thoroughly enjoy. While there are a few match types that really shine through, the grappling action just isn’t fun or diverse enough to do the brand justice.