TNA iMPACT! Story Mode Hands-on

We try to go from a dark match to the main event.

Believe it or not, there's a part of everyone that wants to don spandex and leap from the top rope, but it's a sad fact of life that not every human being has the athletic talent and mental fortitude to take a chair shot, bleed from the head, and know the difference between a snap suplex and a German suplex.

Luckily, the create-a-wrestler feature in most wrestling videogames let us put our work-a-day world on hold and live as a God for at least a moment or two.

TNA iMPACT! is, of course, no different. When you're done playing as legendary grapplers such as Christian Cage, Kurt Angle, and Shark Boy, you'll be able to hop in and create a wrestler you can play as in exhibition matches or the game's original story mode that takes you from the top of he industry to the gutters of Mexico to the top again.

After entering the name of your would-be champion, you're treated to an extended movie featuring a brawler named Suicide -- if you choose to create the guy in Story Mode and not in the straight-up character creator from the main menu. Apparently, Suicide was the greatest thing since sliced bread in TNA and was tearing the federation apart. After it was announced Suicide would get a title shot, LAX popped up and demanded he throw the match. Suicide says "Screw that," wins the title, and LAX pounds the crap out of him. The chosen one wakes up completely bandaged in Mexico and without his memory. Thankfully, Mexico has so many pro bono plastic surgeons that the hospital offers to reconstruct the injured man in any way he sees fit.

So begins TNA's character creation. Now, A majority of IGN readers would quickly lose consciousness if I was to sit here and list each and every option for a creation tool, but you're not the majority of IGNers. You're the dedicated wrestling videogame fanbase that I'm proud to call myself a member of -- so, let's get to it, but keep in mind that this is a preview build of the game. Any of the specifics mentioned in this article could change by the time you get your hands on it.

From the first creation screen, you should feel pretty much at home. Your wrestler pops up on the right side of the screen (rotate him with the shoulder buttons and zoom in or out with the right stick) and a list of three things you can modify hangs on the left -- Body Type, Flesh Tone, and Wrestling Style. There are three body types (heavy, athletic, strong) with three types of muscle tone to choose from. With a body built, you'll have 12 flesh tones to choose from along with a light or dark modifier for each. Now, choosing a wrestling style might sound like a big deal, but it's pretty much just a title that comes with an ability. Midway says that a High Flyer can pull off an aerial move others can't, Grapplers perform more technical-like moves, and the attack of a Brawler hurts a bit more; however, in my experience today, changing the wrestling style did not add or subtract moves.

With the first screen done, you've got your final five categories in front of you -- Clothing, Head, Tattoo, Introduction, and Wrestling Moves. Inside each of these are the breakout categories we're all familiar with. In Clothing, there are 30 shirt options (singlets to dress shirts) that pack preset colors as well as decals; 23 pant options such as chaps and a kilt; 20 pairs of shoes and boots; seven elbow options; 14 knee accessories; and 13 hand wraps and gloves. All of those knee, hand, and elbow options can be set to just one limb if you like.

When it comes to your noggin, the game breaks creation into the standard parts of a face. There are 24 mouths, 24 noses, 23 sets of eyes, 11 eyebrows, 24 brow types, 14 pairs of ears, 42 hair styles that range from simple parts to cornrows, 18 types of facial hair, 28 jawlines, 21 pairs of sunglasses, and 11 necklaces. From there, you can tattoo your arms, torso, and paint your face. I had ten introductions to choose from, but there's no way to preview them in the creation mode. You have to select one and head into a match to see if you like it. Same deal with the moves.