|
Preparing to climb into the 360 ring later this year is the third installment of what is arguably the best boxing franchise of all time. You have seen the pics, and you have read the hype, but now you can get your hands on the game for real. Through the greatness of the Xbox Live Marketplace, comes the ability for game companies to give us demos straight to our Xbox 360. Fight Night is now ready for downloading, and Boheim has the preview. 
Anticipation score 90% Introduction I felt that, hands down, Fight Night Round 2 was the best Sports game on the Xbox in 2005. Never had the sport been captured so beautifully, and felt so real, as it did in that particular game. With an incredibly deep career mode, tons of extras to customize your fighter, and quite simply the best fighting mechanics ever, EA took the franchise as far as it could go on the current generation. For the past few months, we have seen the all of the stills and videos, but for fans of the game, nothing is like playing it yourself on the HDTV.
Hands on impressions Fight Night is pure greatness for the simple reason that it makes you feel like you are throwing punches in the ring, and not just button mashing. The Total Control Punching is one of the top innovations in gameplay that we have seen in console gaming. For those of you that have not played this series, TCP is handled with the right analog stick, and with simple “pull back and push forward motions”, you can do a full range of punches, from jabs to uppercuts. Simple use of the left trigger lets you modify between high and low punches, and the right trigger lets you block. It is amazingly simple, and it appears that we are getting the exact same layout with Round 3.
The demo that you can download off Marketplace lets you fight a four round Exhibition match featuring Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins. These two fighters have both been cover boys for the series, and both are two of the greatest fighters ever. Remember all of those screen shots you’ve seen of the fighters? How realistic they looked? Well it looks even more amazing in motion. The demo features an opening montage of actual footage from the game, and it is simply amazing to behold, and shows what you paid for when you shelled out four bills for the white box.
Unfortunately, the game limits you to the side-view of the action, which is a terrific way to see the great visuals, but not so great for the actual fighting. I prefer to be looking over my fighter’s shoulder, and I think for Round 3 that will be the way to play. The main reason? In the demo, at least, there was no type of health meter to let you know how hurt the boxers were. You have to completely rely on the visual appearance and body language of your opponent. From this view, it was hard to see the other fighter’s face, and see if he had been cut or bruised. The body language was a bit easier to read; as I hammered at Roy’s body, he began to really favor covering his ribs, which looked completely awesome.
The knockouts were the highlight of Round 2 as the game featured rag doll physics, and fighters crumpled to the mat in a unique way every time. Again, because of the angle the game provides, the knockdowns were not quite as vicious looking, as it was difficult to get in extra shots as the fighter went down. There is nothing like landing a five-punch combo to the person’s head as he sits there suspended and helpless. I did manage to whack Roy once after putting him down, but his knee was on the mat and with real rules, I would have been disqualified from the fight! However, in the replays you will get some amazing close-ups where you will actually see your opponent’s face “ripple” under your blows, and a realistic stream of blood fly from his mouth. Simply amazing.
One element that was different from Round 2 was when I got in trouble, and was close to going down, the game switched to the first person view. I could not really figure out what to do from this view, as I could not seem to punch very well, and it was difficult to see where the next shot was coming from to block. This only happened once in the four or five times that I went down, so I am not sure what triggers the event. It looks great, but the functionality will remain to be seen.
One more comment on the gameplay was that the pace seemed much slower than past versions. In another EA Game for the 360, NBA Live 06, the pace also felt the same. Kind of like your playing underwater. That’s how Round 3 felt with the demo, and it is hard with the limits of the demo to tell if this is going to be a major issue for me with the game or not. As I fought several bouts I did manage to get in step with the pace and find a rhythm, but it is definitely a change from previous installments. Final Impressions If you are a fan of Fight Night, I cannot imagine that this one will disappoint even with a slower pace. The controls are tight as ever, even with this just being a demo, and veterans will have no problem picking up and playing. The visuals are simply stunning, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the full version of this game.
 Add as favourites (37) |  Quote this article on your site
|
- Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article.
- Personal verbal attacks will be deleted.
- Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed.
- Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button.
- Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
|
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
Modified by Rhyze with MathGuard for Xbox Users Group :) |
Previews
Be first to comment this article
