The boxing game has been a long-time favourite of mine. Ever since playing Real Sports Boxing on the Atari 2600 as a nipper, I’ve had a bit of a thing for getting the gloves on and going into hand-to-hand combat. However, the genre was running stagnant, with very little in the way of new ideas or innovation ‘ until EA released Fight Night 2004. The ‘Total Punch Control’ that was introduced was the breath of fresh air that the genre needed, and although the sequel ‘ Fight Night Round 2 ‘ wasn’t as impressive, EA are back on form with the third iteration.
Fight Night Round 3 does lots more than just carry on from where it left off previously. The removal of any HUD elements from the in-game screen is a good choice, since you need to be able to tell when your boxer is punching slowly and running out of stamina by looking at how he’s moving. If you really can’t get to grips with this, then you can turn the fitness/stamina bars on in the options screen, but the game is so much better without it.
The career mode has been beefed up somewhat too, with rivalries and varying match types coming into the equation this time around. Winning some matches will give your boxer a huge boost in popularity, whereas winning others will give you access to a match against a better fighter ‘ essential for making your way up through the ranks. Also, you earn money, which can be used to upgrade your gloves, gumshield, shorts and the like ‘ although these can’t be used online. And this brings us to our main bone of contention. When I first booted the game, I created a fighter in the ‘Create A Champ’ mode. I was given all the standard options, including the ability to set my fighter’s stats to whatever I wanted. With this done, I headed into career mode, and was asked to create a fighter. I couldn’t select the boxer I had already made, so I started over ‘ this time (obviously) I couldn’t set his abilities. After a few career fights, I tried to go online and could only select the first created boxer ‘ meaning that all of the upgrades I’d earned, new kit and new physical abilities just weren’t available to use over Live.
To me, this is a pain in the backside. I want to be able to use my career fighter online, simple as that. If I make progress in the game, I should be able to use a boxer that reflects that progress, rather than just get thrown into a match against a user who has set all of his custom fighter’s abilities to the 100% mark.
Rant over. Let’s calm down by looking at something pretty. Handily, Fight Night Round 3 is just the thing I need. The Xbox 360 version is nothing short of stunning. Sweat runs down the combatant’s backs, blood and saliva go flying across the ring when you land that perfect punch, and the arenas are very detailed and incredibly atmospheric. Those arenas are just the reward you need to keep you playing in career mode. Seeing your boxer stroll out at Madison Square Garden is a feeling that can’t be matched by any other game. Also, the animations are straight out of the top drawer. Hit an opponent in the stomach with a hard shot, and he’ll instinctively cover up (after being lifted off his feet for a millisecond), hit him in the head, and you can SEE the pain on his face. Stunning. Just stunning.
In between rounds, the ability to play as the cutman is still as nice an option as ever. You can choose to work on facial swelling or cuts, and flicking the right analogue stick to move the iron or swab across the affected area works well. If you don’t want to do this, pressing the ‘Y’ button will auto-fix your battered face ‘ although not as well as you could do if you perfected the cutman’s moves.
I would have liked to have seen a referee in the ring at all times, but maybe that’s an addition for next time. When you’re hammering an opponent and the match just stops (because the referee has stepped in) ‘ some of the atmosphere is lost. If the referee actually stepped in and broke it up, or the trainer threw in the towel, that would be just another innovation that would raise the bar. We can but wait and see what Fight Night Round 4 brings us.
Even though the initial career mode matches are incredibly easy to beat ‘ the majority being stoppages within two rounds ‘ when you match up against a decent opponent (generally one of the ‘named’ fighters), Fight Night Round 3 really comes into its own. You’ll be trying to beat Ali by covering up and dodging his insanely fast flurries, and suddenly find a small opening where you can ‘ BANG! ‘ and Ali is hurt. He’s wobbling. BANG! And again, there’s the shot, but he stays up. He makes some distance and avoids any further damage until the end of the round’and then comes out of his corner. But this time, he’s angry and you’re back on the defensive’and so it goes. The real ebb and flow of a professional boxing match between two well-matched fighters, provided by EA for you in your own living room.
