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By Thomas McKinnon 31 October 2008

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TNA Impact! is a wrestling game. TNA is the contraction for Total Nonstop Action and presumably Impact! stands for the part where you collide with other wrestlers.

As background for those of us who only know the WWE, TNA is an actual wrestling organisation founded in 2002 by former WWE and WCW star Jeff Jarrett. The show makes use of six-sided rings and has ­attracted a number of big name wrestling stars such as Kurt Angle, Sting, and Kevin Nash.

Context provided we can now tell you that it is an incredibly easy game to play. It has a simplified control scheme which means that even first timers can pick up a controller and land some heavy blows. Combinations are easy to pull off and reversals are as simple as hitting a shoulder button. When running smoothly the animations look good and make for some exciting hits.

That said, when the graphics run into glitches the game becomes downright annoying. Missed punches, difficulty in targeting an opponent, ineffective attacks from the turnbuckles at times, and a myriad of other anomalies will have you pulling your hair out. This considered in conjunction with the fact that the game only has a roster of 25 wrestlers and six match modes it’s difficult to say that it will offer as much ­enjoyment as the WWE games.

The disjointed single player camping mode only adds to the confusion. You play Suicide, a wrestler who was unjustly beaten for refusing to throw a fight and has ­resultantly developed amnesia (but still ­remembers his name). ­Basically you start wrestling again to regain your memory and status. Not as clever as they had hoped we’re sure! Despite this the game displays potential; so with any hope the ­developers, Midway, will do some PT for the second ­installment which is more than likely to follow.

PROS
The control scheme is simple and the variety of attacks is great.
CONS
There are a host of graphics and technical issues.
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