When tiny European studio Serious Parody said it wanted to show me its upcoming PSN-exclusive title 5 Star Wrestling , I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would this be a realistic wrestling game, or would it be one that prides itself on over-the-top, WWE-like antics? Well, the answer is certainly the latter, because the 15-man team at Serious Parody has put together a game very much designed to catch the attention of wrestling fans that are into the show of it all, just as much as they’re into the technical aspects of the sport.

5 Star Wrestling isn’t a retail game, so there’s obviously going to be a smaller budget behind it. That’s very much obvious when you take a look at some of the game’s screenshots; it’s most assuredly not up to snuff on a graphical level with what Yuke’s has traditionally put out. But it’s what’s underneath 5 Star Wrestling’s hood that’s supposed to be its most appealing aspect. It stresses a more realistic approach, which is interesting considering the wrestling it’s emulating is... well... fake.But fakeness aside, Serious Parody wants to play-up the idea of Ring Psychology in their game – the notion that gamers will become invested in the stories being told beyond mere combat – and there may be a method to the studio’s madness. It intends to release a constant slew of DLC once the game is released that will keep its fictional storylines moving. The hope is that players may become enamored by not only the gameplay, but the ever-moving plot. Some of the DLC will be free, to boot.But there are also core mechanics the studio hopes to stress. Wrestlers are designed to react realistically. There will be limb damage and differing arrays of moves depending on if the wrestler in question is fresh or tired. Each of the game’s initial eight characters will have totally unique movesets – including a host of finishers – and because of the fact that Serious Parody can’t take advantage of real league or individual wrestler licenses, you may see some similarities between your favorite wrestlers and 5 Star Wrestling’s roster.In terms of how you may move your way through the game, and moreover how it aims to keep you occupied, Serious Parody is trying to shove as much into its maiden PSN game as possible. There will be exhibition matches, of course, but there will also be a Challenge Mode catered towards each character, as well as Match Breakdowns that tear apart previous matches and let you know how you played. There will even be some in-game currency that will allow for unlockables and other items to be purchased. However, while 5 Star Wrestling supports local multiplayer, it won’t support online multiplayer. This is something that may be difficult to do on the technical side, but still something that should be considered for a game like this, especially if it aims to build a community.Serious Parody tells me that its game will launch later in 2013, and that they’re aiming to charge between £15-£20 (or $22-$30). That’s going to be a big ask on a downloadable service that has put a more recent emphasis on making things as cheap as possible. Then again, 5 Star Wrestling does seem to straddle the line – at least in feature-sets – between downloadable and retail. What’s clear is that Serious Parody, the studio behind iOS’ Wrestling Manager, loves the sport, and we’ll be interested to see what the final product looks like later this year.

Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.