WWE Immortals

WWE Immortals is silly. Its plot revolves around alternate dimension version of wrestlers who all have magic powers, fantasy uniforms, and names like The Demon and Lunar Guardian.

By all rights it should be awful. But as simple, free to play brawlers, it's right up there with Marvel Contest of Champions.

Sure it's just screen-mashing, but it's polished to an almost ridiculous sheen. And while the energy system might irk some, it's generous enough that you're unlikely to get too upset by it.

This is a big, garish smash-and-grab brawler with some neat twists, and enough content that you can lose a good chunk of time in it.

You start off with a team of three wrestlers, and kick and punch your way through a series of encounters with other, superhero-ified pugilists.

Tapping the screen performs a light attack, and swiping left or right performs a heavy attack. Pushing on the left and right sides of the screen at the same time lets you block.

As you fight you build up adrenaline, which is shown in a meter at the bottom of the screen. When you've accrued enough you can release a special move that does huge amounts of damage.

These special moves are combined with QTE-style screen hammering. You might need to tap a button repeatedly, or swipe in a specific direction as many times as you can.

There are other swipey QTEs dropped into the action as well. Complete a combo and you'll get a chance to extend it with a well-timed drag across the screen.

The fights are fast and simple. There's not much in the way of tactics, but the characters in your roster work better when they're paired up with certain other wrestlers.

There are cards to buy that can boost your stats, and you'll learn extra powerful moves as you go. Everything is paid for in coins, which you earn through victories and completing quests in the online section of the game.

There's no straight-up one on one scraps between friends here though. Instead you pit your scrappers against AI-controlled versions of other people's. There are big rewards to be won, and the XP you earn transfers to the single player mode.

Each fight requires stamina, and the deeper into the game you get, the more stamina you need to pay. It's fighter specific though. So if you've got extra fighters in your deck you can swap them out for worn-out battlers.

WWE Immortals might make about as much sense as a jelly spanner, but it's remarkably fun. The scraps are reasonably tight, and landing a special move when you're in a tight spot will leave you with a grin on your face.

There are better fighters out there, but I'm hard pressed to think of one that looks quite this good. If you hate free to play, then you're better off leaving it alone, but if you don't mind the odd wait then there's a lot here to like.