The wrestling business is a very fickle business, and one you can now take part in with Grey Dog Software’s latest release Total Extreme Wrestling 2010. For those of you who aren’t in tune with the business or the TEW/EWR series of games, imagine Championship Manager but in the wrestling business.

You are given complete control over a vast roster of wrestlers that comprise the CornellVerse, but can be expanded to feature real life wrestling leagues through the mod creation community, who have helped create real life scenarios for previous games. I won’t bullshit you, I find the games dull for 95% of the time, but for the other 5% I enjoy dicking around with my favourite promotions, and executing weird and wacky happenings that have no chance of occuring in real life. Where else can you give The Undertaker a singing cowboy gimmick and job him for eternity to the likes of Funaki, The Brooklyn Brawler and Josh Mathews?

Okay, you may not be able to see or hear the gimmick in action, but that’s where the fun comes in for many people who have invested their money in the game. Budding bookers everywhere choose a promotion and see if they can take it to the top, or even take a high level promotion and continue their reign of dominance over the wrestling world.

The newest in the franchise brings a few new additions to the game, including “Dirty Tricks” you can play against promotions you’re at war with, the ability to create your own venues, buy rival promotion’s championships and creating a developmental territory which has been a feature in the EWR game, but has made it’s TEW debut.

During my short play time, I’ve found the game to be extremely in depth, with the inclusion of a backstage rating, which tells you how the atmosphere is which can lead to good or bad matches/segments which has an overall effect on the shows. Plus, on the shows front, a welcome addition of post-show dark matches, so you can have a main event quality match to send the fans home happy, without it being aired on your TV show.

As much as I find the game dull, I can’t deny it’s a very very good game, and I tip my hat to Adam Ryland, but I think the game can be very overwhelming for new people who haven’t dipped their toes into the waters of the wrestling simulation. There are a lot of things to take into account, and it can confuse newer players, which may turn them off from the game, so maybe in TEW 2011/2012, they could implement a promotion system, so the newer players can start off on the basic end, without the full game unlocked aiming to confuse, but as they progress, more and more gets unlcoked so the user can get used to the new features.

For me, I’ll wait for that system before putting down my money for the game.