Fire Pro Wrestling World

‘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.

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"Fire Pro Wrestling World" is a professional wrestling game that allows for full customization of wrestlers, matches, and even the ring itself in your quest for the championship. Play online with others around the world, and mix up the rules with deathmatch, no-holds barred, and SWA homebrew modes. With realistic simulation mechanics, give your created wrestlers personalities and see them come to life in the ring.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

91%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,289 reviews

gameplay117 positive mentions

stability18 negative mentions

Incredible depth of customization options for creating wrestlers, moves, and arenas.
Engaging gameplay that emphasizes timing and strategy over button mashing.
Active community support with a vast array of user-generated content available through the Steam Workshop.

Steep learning curve that may frustrate newcomers unfamiliar with timing-based mechanics.
High cost of DLC, which is often necessary to access a wider range of content and features.
Limited built-in match types and modes compared to other wrestling games, lacking a comprehensive career or story mode.

gameplay
334 mentions
35 % positive mentions
60 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Fire Pro Wrestling World is characterized by its deep, timing-based mechanics that require skill and practice to master, offering a unique experience compared to traditional wrestling games. While the learning curve can be steep, players appreciate the extensive customization options and the ability to create a wide variety of wrestlers and match types, making it a rewarding experience for those willing to invest time. However, some users note that the gameplay can feel clunky at times, and the lack of certain features may leave single-player experiences feeling thin.
- “Once you get used to the play mechanics, the variety of play modes and endless amount of player-made fighters and assets make this game well worth the money!”
- “The gameplay itself is solid, and just jumping into 8-man battle royale matches is a blast.”
- “The gameplay captures the feeling of wrestling very well, it mainly focuses on grappling and locking up with other opponents and instead of being able to do your strong grapples/attacks right out the gate you have to work your way up from light to medium to finally strong attacks, just like you would see in most wrestling matches.”
- “The gameplay is confusing at first; the button scheme is a bit awkward and the mechanics are hard to understand, but after 1 or 2 hours, it makes sense.”
- “There is a pretty steep learning curve, and quite frankly, a lot of the controls do not make a whole lot of sense. The game itself really doesn't do you any favors in explaining how to perform a lot of the important mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is pretty clunky and awkward, but the real appeal of this game is the simulation.”
graphics
198 mentions
20 % positive mentions
74 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a retro 2D style that some players find charming, while others see it as dated compared to modern wrestling titles like WWE 2K. Despite the simplistic visuals, many reviewers appreciate the game's depth of customization and engaging gameplay, arguing that the graphics do not detract from the overall experience. While not visually stunning, the graphics are considered sufficient for the gameplay and creative possibilities they offer, appealing primarily to long-time wrestling fans rather than those seeking high-end graphics.
- “I love the retro look and, at first being skeptical of the graphics, they really are nice and you can make out emotions on the faces of the wrestlers as they take blows, taunt their opponent or play up to the crowd.”
- “The graphics may not be as good as the modern high-budget games, but games like this are 100% perfect for 2D graphics.”
- “Despite the 2D graphics, it feels way more realistic than the WWE 2K series could ever hope to be.”
- “The graphics are awful, the animation is spazzy, your hits never seem to connect, there's no meters to tell how you are doing, hated this game.”
- “If you are looking for graphics comparable to real life, like the WWE 2K series if it wasn't a buggy mess, then this probably isn't the game for you.”
- “What planet are we on that you pay over $150 for a wrestling game (includes all DLC) with controls that just suck featuring 16-bit Super Nintendo graphics in 2020?”
story
169 mentions
11 % positive mentions
79 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is a mixed bag, with many players expressing disappointment over the lack of a comprehensive story or career mode in the base game, which they feel should have been included. While some enjoy the simple narrative provided by the "Fighting Road" mode and the NJPW DLC, others criticize the reliance on paid DLC for story content and the absence of meaningful storytelling features. Overall, players appreciate the potential for creativity in crafting their own narratives but desire more structured story elements within the game itself.
- “The NJPW story mode is top-notch, adding depth and excitement to the gameplay.”
- “Fighting Road gives matches a purpose with a story, which is told using old-school Nintendo 64 style text conversations highlighted with occasional pictures.”
- “The added story mode has a lot of thought put into it, and the NJPW roster, with their voices, moves, and parts, are excellent.”
- “The lack of a story mode or career mode means that there's not much to do outside of creating your own matches or tournaments.”
- “What a shame, bought it when it was early access, turned out it's an incomplete game and does not even have a season/story mode.”
- “My main gripe is that the story mode should come standard with the game and should not have to be purchased.”
music
86 mentions
10 % positive mentions
85 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The music aspect of the game is highly customizable, allowing players to import their own tracks for wrestler entrances and background music, which many users appreciate as a significant feature. While the default soundtrack is described as decent but lacking variety, the ability to add custom music enhances the overall experience and enjoyment. Some players find the in-game music repetitive, but the extensive customization options compensate for this shortcoming.
- “The ability to create moves, taunts, and entrances (complete with wrestler theme music) is just hours of fun alone.”
- “You can import your own music, which is a huge bonus for those who produce their own tracks.”
- “Custom soundtrack support alleviates this somewhat, as any music you put in the game's install folder works as both match background music and 30-second clips for wrestler entrances.”
- “Music isn't really a big feature of this game.”
- “Sadly, there isn't much variety in background music currently, with a theme song for the game's menu, for the select screen and results screen, and a small handful of both in-game match music and default entrance themes.”
- “The menu and in-game music get annoying.”
stability
19 mentions
0 % positive mentions
5 % neutral mentions
95 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, crashes, and glitches that detract from the overall experience. While some acknowledge that minor issues are typical for early access titles, many express frustration over the game's lack of polish, especially given its full price and the presence of significant stability problems. Overall, players recommend caution for those sensitive to technical issues, as the game can be a "buggy mess" at times.
- “They charge full price for it and their DLCs without properly fixing some of the many bugs that can lead to crashing, data loss, freezes, and other issues.”
- “The shell of a phenomenal game is there, but hidden behind an absurd paywall that they made PC owners wait far too long to see and even then it is a buggy, broken mess that heavily discourages fan mods that used to work.”
- “I have no clue, but after purchasing this game back in January, it stopped working and hasn't since March, no matter how much troubleshooting I go through.”
replayability
18 mentions
44 % positive mentions
39 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The game boasts exceptional replayability, largely due to its deep customization options and robust Steam Workshop integration, allowing players to access an endless array of user-generated content. Modes like Fighting Road and Fire Promoter enhance the experience, offering varied gameplay and challenges, although some players feel certain story paths may feel incomplete. Overall, the combination of addictive gameplay, community contributions, and customization ensures that players can enjoy countless hours of replay value.
- “The steam workshop integration makes it easy to find and download user-created content, and adds a lot of replayability to the game.”
- “The creation suite is insanely deep, the ability to import textures for custom rings is amazing, belt and ref creators are great touches, and the game itself falls beautifully into that easy to learn hard to master zone that makes it endlessly replayable and fun.”
- “Customizable options for rosters, ringside areas, and title belts that will only get better with further steam workshop contributions and game updates leave there to be amazing replay value in the future.”
- “This is the same as every other Fire Pro Wrestling game ever made and doesn't have much in the way of replayability given the lack of meaningful game modes.”
- “I wish they had better graphics like in the King of Colosseum games, but the replay value of this game makes that easy to overlook.”
- “Imho you can get away with poor presentation and graphics if you have replayability/depth and vice versa.”
humor
11 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from its extensive customization options, allowing players to create and use a wide variety of both serious and absurd characters, such as Earthworm Jim, in wrestling matches. Players report that the unpredictable and often hilarious interactions between these characters lead to memorable and entertaining moments in the ring. Overall, the game's humor is enhanced by the creativity of the community and the limitless potential for funny matchups.
- “The game is very enjoyable and with a plethora of creation options, almost only limited by your sense of humor or imagination.”
- “I've had some hilarious events unfold within the ring such as Jay White shooting on Shingo Takagi and others in a battle royal after Takagi no-sold the Blade Runner.”
- “With all of the created wrestlers in the workshop, there are limitless possibilities of dream match-ups and hilarious sights alike.”
optimization
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is generally well-received, with players noting solid performance and continuous updates that enhance gameplay. While some users experienced minor menu lag on older PCs and found the UI lacking in aesthetics and user-friendliness, many reported no significant performance issues on various systems, including older hardware. The game is praised for avoiding the pitfalls of microtransactions commonly found in similar titles.
- “Surprisingly optimized.”
- “So far, Spike has been delivering continuous updates and performance tweaks.”
- “The foundation of the game engine is solid and performance is great, even using Boot Camp on a 2011 MacBook.”
- “The UI is functional but neither pretty nor user-friendly, and there are still optimization issues that cause some menu lag on older PCs.”
- “I am hoping for more match types, tag-team moves, and network optimization.”
- “While this is similar to how the current generation of WWE games handle rating a match, this game is seemingly much more strict in evaluating your performance.”
grinding
7 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, particularly when it comes to organizing and managing created content, such as deleting workshop downloads and editing wrestlers. The manual processes involved are often described as frustrating and time-consuming, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game. Despite these issues, some users still recommend the game, albeit with caution regarding its cumbersome features.
- “After adding a bunch of created content, organizing everything can be tedious.”
- “The way you have to tediously, manually put in or take out edited wrestlers from stables is not only ridiculously tedious; it's annoying as hell.”
- “The import feature from the Steam Workshop is very tedious and prone to error when importing multiple wrestlers.”
monetization
5 mentions
20 % positive mentions
20 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the reliance on paid DLC for mod downloads and labeling it a cash grab, while others appreciate the absence of intrusive microtransactions and advertisements during gameplay. Overall, the sentiment reflects frustration over additional costs versus a more streamlined experience.
- “No microtransactions”
- “So it turns out you can't download parts as mods for this game unless you pay for the DLC. How this game has good reviews with such awful microtransactions is beyond me...”
- “Nothing but a cash grab now.”
- “It's also not a WWE game, so you're not being blasted with advertisements and terrible pop music the whole time you're playing.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users express mixed feelings about the emotional investment in the game, with some feeling that additional content is overpriced and lacks depth, while others appreciate the game's ability to provide a wholesome and realistic wrestling experience for fans. Overall, the emotional engagement varies, with some players seeking more complexity and others finding satisfaction in the game's offerings.
- “No other wrestling game comes close to what this game offers.”
- “For curious new players - if you're a wrestling fan and you want a wholesome, realistic experience in the squared circle, then look no further.”
character development
3 mentions
33 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is criticized for lacking depth and progression, with users noting a limited customization system compared to previous titles. While players may invest time in creating unique characters, the absence of meaningful narrative or growth diminishes the overall experience.
- “I then proceeded to recreate my old high school backyard wrestling persona and spent an hour and a half in the character designer before I even realized it. Then I watched him get murdered in a CPU match and went back to work on him for another hour.”
- “It doesn't have as much customization, especially in the character design, compared to the old one.”
- “There is, in no way, shape, or form, build-up, character development, or any semblance of what watching a wrestling program is like.”
atmosphere
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is effectively conveyed through visuals that, while not photorealistic, successfully enhance the narrative of intense in-ring confrontations.
- “The visuals may not be photorealistic, but they perfectly build the story and atmosphere of a heated in-ring confrontation.”