| Fight Night: Round 3 review |
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“I say, old bean, I challenge you to a fight. Best of twelve rounds, Marquis of Queensbury's rules. Ding Ding! Seconds out and Round One, you cad!”
Ahhh... the noble gentleman’s art. Two members of the English gentry in top hats and cummerbunds pitted in a duel of steely wits and finely honed skill... well, maybe once upon a time in a land far, far away but certainly not today. Let’s be honest, there’s never been anything gentlemanly about smashing someone’s face to a pulp. Today boxing is one of the last remaining legal forms of sport where it’s expected that brutality will be par for the course.
The newest episode of EA’s Fight Night series certainly captures this feeling, in no small part due to its visuals. As with some of EA’s other recent 360 games (such as NBA 2K6) the character models are an excellent example of the type of visuals that the 360 can produce, with a realism that never loses its impact over the course of the game. Aside from superficial details like skin blemishes and wrinkles, fighters visibly sweat as the rounds progress and will look physically exhausted from taking a beating or swinging too many mistimed punches. In fact this is represented so accurately that it is possible to play Fight Night 3 without the traditional HUD and energy bar indicators.
Blood trickles from cuts and broken noses, eyes swell shut and gobs of blood and sweat fly through the air when on the receiving end of powerful punch (complete with slow motion effect, rippling flesh and bone-crunching sound effects to help convey the painful impact). While the game looks stunning in those respects, there are other aspects that are more Barry McGuigan than Clubber Lang.
Most of the fighters in the game (apart from established real-world characters) have their facial features randomly generated and while the vast majority of real-life boxers are never going to win any beauty contests, some of the combinations in-game look very odd indeed (something that is certainly more noticeable with the lighter-skinned models).
Next to the detailed fighters some of the other characters also look decidedly poor. One or two of the trainers look bug-eyed and have a soulless, vacant gaze about them, while the crowd have a noticeably lower level of detail, variation and animation (not that you’ll have too much time to concentrate on them in a middle of a fight). But worst of all are the (count them) three Round Card Girls who are the product of the games face-modelling engine being crowbarred into creating slimline feminine features; something it clearly wasn’t designed to do. The end result is it makes them look like Hoodrats or rejects from an Aphex Twin video (made all the more alluring/disturbing due to them parading around in bikinis or dancing in a badly animated fashion).
There is also the occasional glitch where during replays a boxer's gloves will pass straight through the head or body of an opponent, or where a knocked-down fighter will spasm against the ropes or canvas as if the blow that put them there has turned their brain to mush. Parts such as this that let the side down are made all the more noticeable by the photorealistic areas that impress. While hardly game-breaking, it’s these moments that will make you realise just how much harder developers will have to work to maintain any illusion of reality when graphics have reached the sort on display here.
Just like other sport games, the player can also expect advertising to be rammed down their throat with all the force of a horseshoe-laden glove. As well as equipment brands such as Under Armour and Everlast, the player can expect to be bombarded with blatant plugs for Dodge cars and even Burger King - complete with an appearance from the freakish and grotesque Burger King himself. Sadly EA have neglected to include the monstrous Royal as an unlockable fighter, denying everyone the satisfaction of going to town on his persistently grinning face. While this sort of advertising is becoming more and more commonplace in games, here it does often feel OTT and in your face, coming at you from every direction. It’s arguable however that this is no different to watching the real thing on TV.
Control wise, very little has changed since the previous Fight Night game. The left analogue stick still controls movement while the right is used to throw punches. By using the left trigger the player can decide if the blow is directed at the head or body. The powerful Haymaker punch makes a return, a blistering attack which takes a while to charge up (thus giving an observant opponent the opportunity to block) but can do a severe amount of damage if it connects. New to Round 3 are the Flash K.O. and Stun Punches which can be used to instantly daze or knock down an adversary, but again at the expense of taking longer to execute and leaving the player open to a full-on assault.
While it is possible to play through some parts of the game in a button-mashing style, later on this will usually get you nowhere fast. The opponent A.I. is clever enough to allow those who do little more than throw a flurry of mistimed punches to wear themselves out, before putting them on the floor. Tactics and making full use of the rounds to wear down opponents can be a necessary part of the game and make for some epic matches as both fighters vie for glory in the closing minutes of a 12-round slugathon. The complexity of the A.I. is deceptive though and it isn’t as advanced as it first appears. More patient fighters can still win a fight through sheer brute force, slamming an opponent with little other than well-timed Haymakers until they keel over.
In terms of game modes there are a variety on offer. 'Play Now' is almost self-explanatory, allowing players to jump in as one of a range of predetermined and real-life fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. Similarly the 'EPSN Classic' mode allows you to replay some of the greatest match ups in boxing history such as Mohammed Ali Vs Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard Vs Marvin Haggler, reaffirming or distorting history as you see fit (or your skills allow).
Also present is the Career mode that allows players to create a fighter and slowly rise through the ranks. Almost everything about your boxer can be altered, ranging from skin tone and chin size through to fighting stance and tattoos. Winning matches earns cash rewards which, amongst other things, can be used to purchase new gloves, mouth guards, shoes, and signature moves as well as being spent on fight trainers to increase your stats.
After accepting a contract to take on an opponent, the player is then given the choice of three different types of training mini games. These include training with a Combo Dummy, Heavyweight Bag and Weightlifting with each different activity adding or reducing certain stats. Optionally the player can skip the minigames and let the Auto Training take the strain (although this forfeits being able to obtain the maximum percentage from each session).
The impressive thing about Career mode is that it actually generates rivalries between the player and opponents. Throughout the course of your boxer's career he will be rematched against certain opponents who are just as eager to get a shot at the title. This leads to some interesting and exciting matches as you try and pummel and humiliate your arch rival before he does the same to you. Rivalries are amplified by the occasional scuffle that breaks out during weigh-ins but it’s just one of the game's aspects that feels like a missed opportunity to expand the experience. During these pre-bout outpourings of testosterone the player can only block and not attack their opponent (despite them acting in self-defence) and rendering the sequence pretty much pointless.
Other similar niggles include not being able to customise your entrance into the ring or your theme song. While these may seem small points, it does give the impression that most of the time was put into the graphics than the little touches.
Ultimately Career mode is let down by the A.I. which can make it an exercise in repetition. Dependant on this and how much the player is feeling the game's fighting vibe, the mode will either prove to be too short or too long.
Also making a return is the online mode that allows players to pick from the roster of established fighters and, providing he’s retired from the Career mode, custom-created pugilists can also be brought into the ring (however custom fighters are exempted from Ranked Matches due the potential for huge imbalances). Online offers an excellent distraction from the various single-player modes and the constraints of the A.I., as well as allowing the more disciplined fighter to teach a lesson to those that think the Haymaker is the only move in the game.
Other than the graphics, Fight Night Round 3 does very little to progress the boxing game series over its predecessors. It isn’t a total K.O. but does show that the series will have to work a little bit harder on newer features and glitches the next time around if it’s to avoid becoming stale.
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System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Genre: Sport
Developer: EA
Publisher: EA
Players: 1-2
Version: United States
Reviewed: Apr 2006
Writer: Jamie Davies
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Pros:
- Fighter models scale new heights of realism
- Rivalries give Career mode an extra edge
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Cons:
- Visual realism shattered by some glitches and the poorer models
- Brute force can be used to plough through the game
- The presence of the sinister Burger King
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Fight Night: Round 3 Video: 7.1MB
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