REVIEW: Fire Pro Wrestling World


Title	Fire Pro Wrestling World
Developer	Spike Chunsoft
Publisher	Spike Chunsoft
Release Date	July 10th, 2017
Genre	Arcade Wrestling
Platform	PC
Age Rating	N/A
Official Website

Being the huge wrestling fan that I am, I was beyond excited when I heard about Fire Pro Wrestling World. I had played the previous title, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, for years because the mainstream wrestling games just didn’t have that core element that made the Fire Pro series so fun. So putting my immense amounts of excitement aside, did this game actually deliver?

What would the Fire Pro series be without its intricate levels of customization? This game already has massive amounts of customization, and there’s even more that they’re planning on adding in. Appearance wise you can change every single limb on your character individually, adding an extra level of depth to the customization. Other than that you can customize their moveset with the vast amount of options given to you, and you can also customize their AI. This is what sets the Fire Pro series apart from it’s competitors. The AI will behave exactly the way you want them to, making not only playing against them fun, but also just watching the AI duke it out. I can’t tell you how often I’ve just put two wrestlers against each other and just watched them fight to see what happens. It’s sort of mesmerizing in a way. Apart from customizing the wrestlers, you can also create referee’s, title belts, and wrestling rings. This part could use a little more work in my opinion, but it’s still a nice and welcome addition. I’m very pleased with the amount of customization in this game, and I look forward to whatever they’ll add next!

For the most part, the mechanics in this game are brilliant. The AI works exactly like they’re programmed to, the controls are tight and responsive, and fighting is just fun in general. With the thousands of wrestlers in the community creations, the hundreds of different match combinations, and the many different match types, it’s very hard to get bored with this game. If I had to complain about anything it would be the UI. To me it feels really clunky, and the created wrestlers take forever to load sometimes. It’s very frustrating when you want to hop into a quick match and it takes you almost 5 minutes to select the couple of wrestlers that you want to use. It really takes away from the experience.

Sound design is a big thing in games like this, and I can honestly say that the sound design is superb. The default music that comes with the game is awesome and really gets you hyped up to fight. Plus if you don’t like the default tracks in the game, you also have the option of adding your own. This is an amazing addition that fans have been looking for for a long time. It really draws you in when you can either add a wrestler’s actual theme to them, or just add a song to your own custom character. The punching and vocal sound effects are a little outlandish, but I think it adds to the overall charm of the game. Every part about the sound makes this game feel like the quintessential arcade wrestling game.

To say that this game delivered would be the understatement of the century. This game did everything you’d want from a Fire Pro game and then some, it gives immense amounts of customization and the wrestlers behave exactly like they do on TV. Plus the gameplay is also really fun, and really challenging to master. I can’t recommend this game enough for $20. Whether you’re a current wrestling fan, or a fan of the old wrestling arcade games, then this is the title for you. It’s only in early access, so they’re always adding new and fresh content. Definitely pick this one up, you’ll be glad you did!