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Fight Night Round 3 Review for Xbox 360 |
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| Monday, February 27, 2006 |
| | Title:
Fight Night Round 3
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
Sports
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Publisher:
Electronic Arts
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Developer:
Electronic Arts
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Release:
2/22/2006
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Teen (T)
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In recent years, EA’s Fight Night series has become the choice for fans of boxing games. Fight Night 1 and 2 both were big steps forward for boxing video games, and from early gameplay footage and tests, Fight Night Round 3 looked to continue taking the franchise in the right direction. One thing no one could anticipate, though, was just how good it was going to be. Not only is it by far the best Fight Night game yet, but the Xbox 360 version is also the first truly next-gen sports title.
Punch-Drunk Love
One major issue fans of the previous Fight Night installment hoped EA would remedy was the cheapness of the haymaker punch. In Fight Night 2, even the most experienced of players could fall victim to an opponent throwing haymaker after haymaker, and most fights ended up evolving into two opponents throwing haymakers until the other hit the mat. Thankfully, in Round 3 this is no longer a problem.
While EA left the haymakers in the game, they now take much longer to throw and if properly parried, an opponent can get several good shots in after your miss. This makes players throw big punches less often, and causes the gameplay to be more akin to real boxing, where a boxer will need to use a couple of jabs to set up his opponent for the big hit—or Impact Punch.
New to Round 3, Impact Punches have the ability to change a fight instantly. They include stun punches and flash KO punches. While both can drastically alter a fight if they connect, they also have extremely long windup times leaving you very vulnerable. If countered, they also allow your opponents a chance at throwing their own impact punch, causing your boxer a great deal of pain, or even knocking you down.
If you manage to connect with a flash KO, your opponent’s health will be drained, putting them in a dazed state. One solid shot, and you send him collapsing to the canvas. Stun punches cause a minigame to occur, where the person hit switches to a first person viewpoint, and has to block the incoming punches from the attacker to remain on his feet.
Impact punches are hard to pull off frequently, and because of that smart gamers will hold off on using them unless they have an opening. Because of this, fights in Round 3 last longer than they did in Round 2, and are much more strategic. Of course, that doesn’t stop the rare occasion where a dazed opponent will flash KO you in return rather than try to avoid your punches, which has been the cause of several profanities yelled at both my television and my (once) good friend playing against me.
Career Mode
Like any good sports game, Fight Night Round 3 sports a single player career mode. After the paltry offering in Round 2, this was a godsend. (Although, there are some strange omissions, like the ability to view rankings.) While it doesn’t compare to some of the career/franchise modes from other sports games, for a boxing game it’s nearly perfect.
In the beginning, you have the option of either selecting a boxing legend and rebuilding their career, or creating your own boxer. (My first creation was a wannabe-Irishman named Sheamus Leonard. One of my few gripes with the create-a-boxer was the short limit on last names. This makes it impossible to remake a lot of famous boxers and even a lot of famous people in general.)
Each time you win your bout, you get to choose your next opponent and then train for that match. The same training minigames are present which were in Round 2, so it won’t take any getting used to. Stats include power, speed, agility, stamina, chin, body, cuts and heart. Power determines the strength of your punch. Speed determines how quickly you punch and block. Agility determines your movement speed around the ring. Stamina determines how quickly your boxer tires. Chin determines how hard it is to damage your boxer with blows to your head. Body determines how hard it is to damage your boxer with body shots. Cuts determine the extent of damage bleeding causes your boxer, and how quickly your cutman can close wounds. Heart determines your ability to reduce swelling, and get up after being knocked down.
You also get a cash prize for every victory, and can use your winnings to buy gear to equip your boxer with which increases some of your stats. Of course, this also leads to my biggest gripe about career mode: ultimately, that’s all money is good for. While it may help your boxer, it’s repetitive only buying new shorts or shoes. To make matters worse, all equipment comes in a set color or design. So if you see a pair of shorts which you can use, it may end up completely conflicting with the colors you’re already wearing.
Other than equipment, all your money can be used for is hiring the rare specialist trainer. Most of the time, the free trainer (especially after you get the King) is good enough, and you don’t need to waste your money. While pointless, it would have been nice to have little prizes to buy, or even a virtual house (like the ESPN NFL series had before its untimely demise).
The new feature in Round 3’s career mode is the rival. Early in your career, you’ll develop a rival. This boxer will pop up periodically and demand a fight. Sadly, EA didn’t do much with this feature—and it had a lot of potential. Aside from the rare cutscene—or the announcers stating he is, in fact, your rival—you would have no idea you had a rival at all. There’s no real reason someone becomes your rival, and there’s no real benefit to beating him. Hopefully, in the next installment rivals will play a bigger role.
Other Gameplay
First, the new feature a lot of people have been talking about: the Classics mode. In this mode, you relive classic fights from boxing lore. In some cases, the game is even in black and white to reflect it. While a novel idea, EA could have worked more intensively with ESPN to make these fights as realistic as possible. As it is, you’ll have product placement for products which didn’t exist yet in the case of some of the older fights, and the announcers constantly refer to career stats for boxers. Even adding some new commentary would go a long way.
Another minor gripe I have with the gameplay is the sporadic AI of the computer opponents. In some cases, a boxer is insanely hard to beat. In other matches (on the same difficulty), the same boxer does things no sane player would do, or rarely throws punches at all. While the game is by no means an extremely easy one, it would have been nice to get some decent consistency in regards to the AI on different difficulties.
Lastly, online play has already begun to become cheap. At launch, online play on Xbox Live was very fun. There was slight latency, but nothing major. However, it’s possible to use the Create-a-Champ mode to make a boxer with maxed out stats, and then take him online. And no matter how good you are, it’s nearly impossible to beat a maxed out CAB. Not only does this force you to make your own super-boxer to compete, but it also makes the online rankings less meaningful.
Punches you can feel
Perhaps the most talked about aspect of Fight Night Round 3 on the Xbox 360 are the amazing graphics it displays. On an HDTV, I can honestly say this may be the most realistic looking video game I’ve ever seen. Even on a standard television, the difference between the 360 version and the Xbox/PS2 version is incredible. Not only is there a level of realism never before seen, but on the 360 the graphics actually enhance the gameplay.
How, you may ask? Simple. You can see details of each boxer so clearly (swollen eyes, cuts, bruises, etc.) that the HUD display is completely removed. No health bar. No miniature boxer with red body parts; just you and the opponent. Not only does this make the game look like an actual boxing match, but it completely changes your style of gameplay. Because you can’t see a health bar, Round 3 becomes a highly intuitive game. You have to guess when your opponent is hurting, and go for the kill. Guess right? You may knock them out. Guess wrong? You just wasted a lot of stamina.
You’ll be able to tell if an opponent is hurting in several ways. For example, their eyes may swell or bleed. You may also see cuts on their face. Hit him with a solid straight shot? Better try to look closely to see if his nose is broken. Even body damage is easy to spot with the way boxers slump their shoulders, or gasp for breath after a kidney shot.
Because of the amazing graphics, Round 3 is not something the faint of heart will enjoy. When you land a good punch to your opponent—or knock them out—the game has a zoomed in cinematic mode, showing the blow in extreme detail. We’re talking “ripples-in-the-skin-and-bloody-spittle-from-the-mouth” detail. If you play on a standard television, damage may not be as obvious during the fight, but when you go to your respective corners you can usually get an idea of where to aim.
The boxers themselves also look and play like their real-life counterparts. Muhammad Ali looks and fights like Ali. Oscar De La Hoya looks and fights like Oscar. For the real boxers, EA modeled their faces and bodies in extreme detail, capturing their appearance almost perfectly. They even created punching and blocking styles unique to the boxers. So no longer will smaller guys like De La Hoya punch like Joe Frazier. Each boxer has their own essence (including combos and special punches), allowing you to truly play like your favorites.
Audio
For a sports game, the audio is nothing drastically new. However, I do have two major gripes. First, you can’t change your entrance music for your created boxer. Don’t like your theme? Too bad. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to utilize the harddrive and pick a song for your created boxer to come out to.
Secondly, the announcer is the worst announcer in any game in recent years (that I can recall, at least). The same lines are constantly used, and sometimes he says things not even related to the action. The announcer also has a tendency to refer to boxers by pronouns, making it hard to know just who the guy in trouble is.
One audio aspect I do like is the sound the actual punches make. Of course, this is a video game so the impacts’ sounds are over the top. However, it is a video game, and with the increased visuals the shiver-inducing sounds of your uppercut hitting your opponent only add to the appeal, however morbid it may make you feel.
And the winner, by decision…
Fight Night Round 3 is by far the best boxing game I’ve played since I bought Super PunchOut on the SNES. The new Impact Punching system creates a much more strategy-oriented game, and the visuals are jaw-dropping. While the single player aspect has its ups and downs, against a friend it may be the most satisfying non-traditional sports game yet. There’s no feeling like countering a punch and knocking out your opponent, then looking over at your friend and talking trash.
Even for those not playing, watching two friends fight each other turns into an experience almost like a real boxing match. They cringe. They cheer. They heckle. In short, it’s a great experience. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of boxing, fighting games, or sports games in general owes it to themselves to pick up Fight Night Round 3 and give it a try; it’s a real knockout.
| The Core Score |
Overall
9 |
| Fun |
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9.3 |
| Gameplay |
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8.8 |
| Graphics |
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10 |
| Audio |
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7 |
| Replay |
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9 |
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