THE GRAPHICS HOLY FUCK KURT ANGLE'S NIPPLE SWEAT IS GORGEOUS

This game's an incredible FOUNDATION, loads of great ideas that even the WWE games would end up copying. Reversing reversals, deeper interaction with the ring like standing on the apron and choosing dive direction, light and heavy move modifiers; the core mechanics have weight and feel immensely satisfying... if only there was more of it.

There's like FIVE moves in this game that EVERYONE does. WHY IS KEVIN NASH DOING ARM DRAGS, HE CAN'T EVEN WALK. WHY IS ANYONE BUT AJ "ALLEN JONES" STYLES DOING THE STYLIN' DDT, THAT'S HIS ONE THING FUCK OUTTA HERE SENSHI. Such samey, limited movesets SLAUGHTER the replay value.

The story mode is equally hit and miss. It 100% was written on meth, a batshit insane story where you travel from the Mexican indies to military encampments all the way up the TNA X Division, tag and world title divisions, it has a HUGE scope with stories directly crafted around TNA's most unique personalities, you WILL leave this game an Eric Young fan it's incredible.

But every time the story gains momentum, you suddenly have to do three random matches against the fuck ugliest created wrestlers you've ever seen. The designer MUST HAVE been blind since a young boy, it's the only explanation that adds up. To be fair the Create a Wrestler IS absolute ASS. Do I want Generic Trunks 1 or Generic Trunks 1 But With The American Flag On? I'll just play as Alex Shelley thanks. The constant padding ruins what would have been an awesome story, I just wanna get revenge on Hernandez who the fuck is Afro Thunder.

Awesome game that could've been amazing

TNA Impact released around the time where TNA was probably at their peak with one of the greatest rosters in pro wrestling, shows being viewed by millions of people with people even hoping and thinking that TNA would at one point become an actual competitor to the WWE which why TNA's first video game was highly anticipated since it's not only TNA's first game but it was also the first major non WWE game in quite a while. TNA Impact released in 2008 and received luke warm reactions at best and is nowadays even viewed by some as a "bad" wrestling game. the game's roster selction while offering a lot of TNA's strongest draws at the time is a bit too slim and there are no female wrestlers found the matchtypes are also very bare bones with only 9 matchtypes that also don't offer a whole lot since every match in theory is a hardcore match so no DQ's though the only weapons at your disposal are a couple of chairs that lay on the ground. no tables and no chairs. the abscence of content is only a little understandable since it was TNA's first game and the first major non WWE in years so both TNA and Midway couldn't be quite sure how successful the game could become which is why I get that Midway tried to play things safe since every dollar you'd spend on feauteres could be a dollar you'd potentially lose. still a ladder match and having the ability to also use tables wouldn't have hurt. plus there aren't nearly enough moves in the game. a lot of wrestlers share at least 2 or 3 moves which does make them all play very similar to play. even though TNA Impact is very lacking in content and was very much begging for more variaty I still think it gets way too much hate since it's far from being bad. visually the game is simply stunning even today, the core gameplay is despite the lack of movesets, matchtypes and things of possibility still very smooth since it runs on 60fps and fun even. it's very arcady and I love it for that you can even catch people mid air with a dropkick when they try to pull off a top rope move which is awesome and it surprises me that no game prior gave you that ability. the moves also all feel so impactful, chairshots are straight up nasty with the way the wrestlers sell them, the ultimate x matchtype is also a lot of fun and probably one of more unique ones since no other wrestling game feautered it (probably bc it's a TNA original made for their X division so it wouldn't make sense to feauture it in a non TNA match or game), the story mode while feeling like it was written by Vince Russo while he was on a heavy drinking binge is also actually enjoyable. despite the difficulty spikes and the lack of arenas (which why TNA? like c'mon you got PPVs like No Surrender and Victory Road yet none of them are featured in the game) it still offeres an entertaining story that doesen't take itself seriously and the reversal system while unrefined is really cool with the player being able to reverse reversals there are moments where you will see a chain of reversals happening which is awesome shame though that timing on a lot of these is weird. TNA Impact had a lot of potential there are many puzzle pieces of a fantastic wrestling hidden throughout. puzzle pieces which could have been put together as one in a sequel which at one point was planned but unfortunately Midway declared for bankruptcy not long after however some of that potential was realized since the same development team then went to work on WWE All Stars which has TNA Impacts DNA all over it. TNA Impact is a flawed but earnest attempt which in my eyes didn't fail. is it as good as the WWE games that came out during the same console generations or even as great as the WWE games that came out the generation before that? no. but it remains a very unique game of it's kind that can deliver the Smackdown or rather the Impact!