It’s been a crazy year, this year; we actually saw more than one boxing game come out, posing what could be conceived as a rival for EA Canada’s Fight Night Round 4. Seeing the likes of Punch Out!! On the Wii, Facebreaker and Don King’s Prize Fighter last year, Fight Night’s developers had some competition and had to pull it out of the bag, and how they did. Fight Night Round 3 was known for its great graphics and easy achievement points. A sequel in any franchise is always surrounded by hype and expectation; the Fight Night franchise is no different to that. Making improvements without losing what the prequel had going for it is always a tricky task, overall EA Canada have managed to please its audience with the sequel, and put out a very impressive Boxing simulation.

Fight Night Round 3 was one of the first games to be released this generation and indeed for many, their first look at HD gaming. Because of this, Fight Night seems to have some sort of connection and relation to great looking visuals. The pressure was on EA Canada this time around after the now defunct EA Chicago handed over the reins. Many of us watched in awe when some of the first screenshots and videos of FN Round 4 were released, playing the game is no different. The slow motion replays following knockdowns are something special. The crisp graphics and facial animation after landing the punch are something to admire, it really makes you feel as though you have accomplished something special by landing the deadly blow.



Changes have been made to the career mode or Legacy mode as it’s called. Firstly, it does seem to be a lot harder than FN Round 3, even on the lowest difficulty setting. The main change, though, is the new control mechanics. Not only have EA Canada changed to all new analogue stick controls but they have also re-modelled all of the shots, speeding up those shots and adding a brand new physics system. The final obvious change is something EA seem to have been progressively working on throughout their sports titles, the ability to take an image of your face and create a boxer that looks just like you. Following this, there is also the ability to trade your boxers with friends.

The whole experience within the ring defeats all other fighting games this generation. The speed and rate of punches that fly both towards and from your body are staggering. Perfecting your defensive skills in order to divert these punches and hit your opponent on the counter is just as much fun as spamming the right hook manoeuvre on your thumb stick to create that swelling across the boxers cheek. Landing counters, perfectly placed shots and haymakers feel great with added effects such as controller rumble and the opponent taking a step back, regaining his balance after taking the hits — all adding that realistic experience. Although 9 times out of 10 this works perfectly, you will come across the odd time your shot doesn’t register or the full effect is not issued.

As with most games, at the beginning of the Legacy mode you complete a tutorial stage, this time it’s administered by your trainer – who does become quite annoying after hearing his voice for more than 30 minutes. Due to the new control scheme, completing this tutorial is pretty much essential to become acquainted with the whole scheme of gameplay, including offence, defence and getting up from the canvas. If you do skip over this level, you will find your boxer on the mat quite a few times within your first fight, completing the tutorial gives you some experience at the least. When you enter your first fight, you realise just how useless your fighter is even if, like me, you chose Muhammad Ali. This is all part of the game mode, progressing up the rankings, gaining experience and developing your boxer through a set of fun training drills.



In terms of the moves, as mentioned above, the whole control scheme has changed quite a bit. Apart from this, favourite moves like the haymaker are no longer performed by pulling back the right thumb stick and then pushing it forward as it was in FNR3, now all you have to do is hold down RB and throw a hook or upper cut. This move isn’t as emphasised as much as it was in FNR3 which does leave you wanting more, it’s replaced with the animation of the opponent wincing and taking a step back in anguish. Not too much of a loss then after all. Hooks, Jabs and upper cuts are still performed in the same manner; body shots though, are simply performed by flicking the right stick, left or right.

A new feature added to the Fight Night series is the ‘Photo Game Face’, this allows you to upload an image of yourself on EA’s website or take an image in-game using your Xbox Live Vision cam (or any USB web cam on the PS3). Not only does this add a further immersive nature to the game, it also allows you to trade yourself with a friend (if you’d like to beat me up following this review, PM me on the forums). The ‘create a boxer’ mode is extremely customizable. With adjustments such as hairstyles, facial hair, height, weight, muscle definition, entrance music, entrance effects such as dry ice and strobe light the list is endless.

Taking Fight Night online offers a whole new experience. FNR4 builds on the great online experience FNR3 began, with the new ‘Online World Championship’ mode that allows you to take your created boxer to the world stage and show of your talents poses a great challenge and experience. As with most online games, there are ranked and unranked matches to choose from with an extensive list of customizable features. As you’re only playing against one opponent, most games remain lag free – I say most because there was the odd occasion the shots appeared to slow down.

Overall, Fight Night Round 4 has taken leaps and bounds from its predecessor. Additional modes, new control schemes, great new physics engine and stunning graphics makes for a great experience, online and offline.