Fire Pro Wrestling World Reviews
Fire Pro Wrestling World is the best entry in the longest-running wrestling game franchise.
Fire Pro Wrestling World is the best wrestling game on the market, better than any WWE 2K released to date. It reminds me of classics like Wrestlemania 2000 and Smackdown Just Bring It, back in a time when wrestling games were fun to play without the constant need to turn them into a sports sim.
Just as deep as its creation tools is its gameplay, allowing you to create a moveset that fits your playstyle. It is unfortunate that Fighting Road isn't as great as it could have been but it does give you the option to play a narrative-driven experience that, at the very least, will provide you with a few laughs. For anyone who has the patience, Fire Pro Wrestling World is a game that will appease any pro wrestling fan.
There's a very simple reason why so many modern pro-wrestling games are bad. Pro-wrestling is not a legitimate competitive fight, it's two or more people working together to put on an incredible, breath-taking performance. Wrestlers work within slight nuances of pace, timing and storytelling. The psychological skill of knowing when to kick it in and when to cool it down is just as important as the memorable characters and jaw-dropping moves.But in a video game, you're working against each other, because you're both trying to win. That's all well and good for FIFA, or Madden, or even Street Fighter. But you can't accurately translate the speed and intensity of modern pro-wrestling to a complex, realistic sim. That's why when Adam Cole (Bay Bay) and Ricochet have a ladder match in NXT, it's a breathless thing of beauty, but if you have the same match in a WWE 2K title, it's a boring clusterfuck. The more "realistic" the genre gets, the worse it gets.Fire Pro Wrestling is a long-running series that strips wrestling sims back to basics, while featuring deep gameplay mechanics and so many customisation options that it becomes less a competitive wrestling title, and more of a sandbox wrestling title. Fire Pro isn't attempting to perfectly recreate Sports Entertainment "like on TV", it's instead trying to encourage players to create their own memorable moments within the confines of the squared circle.
Ultimately, Fire Pro Wrestling World is just the best wrestling game I've played in years. It's also a perfect fit for the PS4, with its arcade-style input commands right at home on the DualShock 4. If you want to play a wrestling game on the PS4, there's only one option, and Fire Pro Wrestling World might be set to have art imitate life and experience the same kind of global renaissance that NJPW is experiencing.
This is a game of pure wrestling which aims to replicate the most technical and psychological aspects of the discipline by offering a rigorous, but very rewarding gameplay. You need an investment in terms of hours and effort to get satisfaction from Fire Pro Wrestling World, but you'll get a game that can last, literally, decades.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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With longevity that goes into the high hundreds of hours and boasting superb timing based grappling gameplay, Fire Pro Wrestling World now offers a real, highly recommended alternative to the current WWE dominated gaming landscape. Welcome back Fire Pro Wrestling - it's great to have you, barbed wire, exploding landmines and all.
Fire Pro Wrestling world has so much to offer that I cannot recommend it enough.
Though it's not very accessible and lacks a bit of polish, the amount of pure heart that has gone into Fire Pro Wrestling World means that it's a fun retro wrestling game once you get used to it. The endless customisation options and deep story mode provide great value, while the game's oddball nature is pretty charming. Like The Rock, Fire Pro Wrestling World is somehow still going after all these years. Unlike The Rock, its legacy hasn't been tarnished by an appearance in the Baywatch reboot.
Fire Pro Wrestling World brings back everything that was great about Fire Pro R and expands upon it to give fans the definitive Fire Pro experience. Don't let the graphics scare you away, this is one of the most fun and most in depth professional wrestling games around today that any fans of professional wrestling, no matter what promotion you enjoy watching, can enjoy.
Featuring a ridiculous number of moves, rich gameplay, and incredible character customization, Fire Pro Wrestling World lets you book dream matches on PC.
Fire Pro Wrestling World offers a truly great alternative to the WWE 2K games. With its deep gameplay mechanics, its Visual Novel-like story mode and the addition of the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster, Spike Chunsoft's wrestling game is a must play for hardcore wrestling fans.
Review in French | Read full review
If you are a fan of wrestling, even a casual one, you will surely end hooked up to the challenge that Fire Pro Wrestling World represents. Even having a game in the West with the license of the NJPW will be, for many, a reason of purchase. It is far from being a perfect game, but it is really enjoyable and justifies the cult around it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fire Pro Wrestling World provides players with some of the best pro wrestling gameplay since WWF: No Mercy. The inclusion of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling license is just the cream on top of this yummy cake.
‘Sports entertainment' doesn't come into this: Fire Pro Wrestling World scores a pinfall victory as the most authentic wrestling title on the market. Not for the casual fan.
Fire Pro Wrestling World is a love letter to professional wrestling, but only to the most hardcore of hardcore fans. If you enjoy the deep customization suite – despite the lack of efficiency that has plagued the series, something that WWE 2K aims to fix in WWE 2K19 – and the opportunity to have nearly one-thousand created wrestlers in your game, you'll find hours of enjoyment baked into the action. However, if you're looking for something accessible, quick to get into for a quick match or two, search elsewhere.
In an era when so many other wrestling games continue to focus on style over substance, a legendary Japanese franchise returns to remind its rivals of how things should be done. While Fire Pro Wrestling World isn't without room for fixes or improvements, it's still by far the best video game wrestling experience to arrive in recent memory. It's been 12 years since the last proper Fire Pro game, but it was absolutely worth the wait.
Lacking the budget and visibility of the more mainstream WWE titles, there's a risk that Fire Pro Wrestling World will get overlooked, at least here in the west. But give it a chance and you'll discover an addictive, accomplished wrestle-fest that will have you grappling for hours at a time.
Fire Pro Wrestling World is a game for anybody that wants a good time. Though best enjoyed with friends, the progression and cast of characters seen in the single player mode kept me gripped throughout, and will likely grip me again should I come back to it in future.