Cover featuring Cody
Ring of Honor: Unchained 2018 is a 3D professional wrestling game developed by Headrush Games and published by ACS. It is based on the American wrestling promotion Ring of Honor, and is the sequel to Ring of Honor: Unchained 2017. Released for PlayStation 4, Xbox ONE, PC and the Samsung Zeo.
Just like its predecessor, Ring of Honor: Unchained 2018 runs on the Unreal Engine 4, allowing for highly detailed in-game graphics and realistic character models.
Gameplay[]
The game retains the gameplay of the previous Ring of Honor: Unchained titles, while also including brand new gameplay elements.
A new feature included in the game is “Face/Heel Tactics”, which dictate how a wrestler gains Heat, depending on their alignment. Faces could gain more Heat by playing to the crowd by way of taunting, reversing attacks or performing successful chains of moves while Heels may gain more Heat by doing illegal actions during the match like sneaking in weapon strikes or attacking the referee. Faces and Heels are also given a different set of ready moves, which reflect their current alignment. Face/Heel Tactics can be set up using the new My Roster mode.
Compared to the previous game, which only allowed the player to choose one finisher that they could use for the match, this time around, players can now use both of their finishers at once. Wrestlers with a pair of finishers which are done on the same position can perform their second finisher by pressing a direction plus the finisher button.
The game includes certain match types as seen in ROH television such as single and tag modes, as well as support for up to eight wrestlers on-screen. This time around, the game now supports six human players at once. In-game commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana, the latter of which is also a selectable wrestler.
Wrestling Styles[]
- Power: Specializes on strong grapples.
- Shoot: Specialzes on striking moves like punches and kicks
- Catch: Specializes on countering and quick grapples
- Hold: Specializes on submission holds.
- Lucha: Specializes on high-flying maneuvers.
Modes[]
The available game modes are as follows: Quick Match, Main Event (Exhibition), Career, Create, My Roster and Options.
Quick Match[]
Quick Match mode, as its name suggests, allows players to start a single match against a random opponent, without the need for setting up the rules or choosing an opponent.
Main Event[]
In Main Event mode, players can create a single match of their choice against the CPU or other players. Available match types are as follows.
New match types are denoted with a (*)
- Single
- 3-Way
- 4-Way (Normal, 4-Corner Survival)
- Battle Royal (6-Man, 8-Man)
- Tag Team (Normal, Tornado)
- 6-Man Tag Team* (Normal, Tornado)
- Cage (Single, Tag Team)
- Scramble Cage (Single, Tag Team)
- First Blood*
- Tap-Out
- Tables*
- Ladder
- Iron Man*
- Gauntlet*
Just like in the previous game, several match types, players are able to choose between several rulesets that change up the rules of the game, making them much stricter or more loose.
- Normal
- Hardcore
- Pure Wrestling
Career[]
The game’s Career Mode remains mostly the same as the previous game, with various additions.
The Career Mode’s calendar system now spans the entire calendar year instead of simply being a mere way to skip through shows. Off-show days allow the player to either Train to gain various stats for their wrestler, or Rest, and heal any damage they may have sustained throughout their career.
The player starts with six Training courses, each pertaining to a certain in-game stat (Power, Speed, Technical, Charisma and Toughness). Over the course of time, the player could unlock various double courses, which allows players to train two courses at once, further boosting their stat gain. However, Training also causes Fatigue, which might cause Injuries (see below).
Fatigue, health risks and injuries have also been integrated into the Career Mode, where the player must keep track of their wrestler’s health. Players have a Fatigue level, which denotes how healthy their wrestler is. Wrestling matches contributes to a player’s Fatigue level, as does Training.
Whenever the player sustains a considerable amount of body damage during a career match or they reach a high level of Fatigue, they would gain a Health Warning, telling them about the damaged body part and that they should Rest in order to avoid further damage.
Neglecting this Health Warning would cause an Injury, which would cause the player to miss a considerable amount of shows, and as a result, would end up losing a fraction of their status. Sustaining too much Injuries throughout one’s career would result in an early retirement, tantamount to a Game Over. Because of this, the player must balance Training and Resting in order to become a top wrestler in ROH.
Create[]
The Create Mode has been revamped, with a bevy of brand new customization options and moves to use. The game’s CAW slots have also been expanded, now including 75 CAW slots available.
My Roster[]
My Roster is an entirely new mode for the game, which allows players to manage their roster by changing their alignment from Face to Heel or vice versa, as well as setting up champions or vacating titles for Main Event mode. Changes done in My Roster do not affect the game’s career Mode, which uses the roster’s default vaiues.
Roster[]
Roster accurate as of September 12, 2017.
Wrestlers[]
DLC[]
In early 2018, ACS released a 5-wrestler DLC pack for Ring of Honor: Unchaned 2018.
Default Champions[]
- ROH World Championship - Cody
- ROH World Television Championship - Adam Page
- ROH World Tag Team Championship - The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
- ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship - The Hung Bucks (Adam Page, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
Sequel[]
A sequel to the game, Ring of Honor: Unchained 2019, was released in 2018 for the PlayStation 4, PC and the Zeo.
Trivia[]
- The game's cover features then-current ROH World Champion Cody.
- This is the first game in the series to feature DLC characters.
- Like in the previous game, the game's playable roster doesn't feature any female wrestlers, but some of them can be seen during storyline cutscenes in Career Mode.