FIGHT NIGHT, ROUND 4
Reviewed by Rick Tittle, host of the Video Game Review
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Lovers of the Sweet Science have longed for a real boxing game for many years. Yes, Mike Tyson PunchOut on the NES was 8-bits of good fun, but nothing has ever really encapsulated boxing like it should have done. The previous Fight Night titles and a few from Don King himself sated fans’ thirst for a while, but finally we can rejoice that a video game has finally been released which actually looks like boxing. That game is FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4, by Electronic Arts. You can pick it up for the PS3 and the XBOX 360.
Normally, a game which promises to deliver the same content from previous editions and merely given the moniker “Part 4” would drawn a yawn from me. But do not judge a game by it’s name. Round 4 is the Shangri-La for which we have yearned all these long days. It is really amazing to have improved on Round 3 - that game was a breakthrough for all video games because it featured full 1080p HD graphics, and we were all wowed. This time those high-def pixels run at 60 frames per second. 60fps, kids! Also, the graphics are now completely physics-based. This means that every muscle and sinew is in motion and bodies react with true-to-life vibrations. I applaud this improvement loudly. Can you hear me clapping? These graphics rock!
The “Legacy Mode” makes an encore and you can move up the ranks with a full calendar of training sessions and fights. The stats tracking is a tedious and sometimes boring way to accumulate experience in the gym, but I guess that’s the way it really is. I’ll let the computer train me, thank you. One little annoyance is that you aren’t allowed to hire a trainer or a promoter, which is not like real life. A minor blip, but worth mentioning.
You can create your own fighter and use your own face, if you so desire. Although seeing Mike Tyson bloody it up might be a tad unsettling. You can also go online to share your boxers or even download boxers other gamers have created.
The gameplay is relatively the same from last year, except you can only block high or low now. The main strategy in Round 4 is the counter attack. This I find to be quite useful when playing human opponents, but when playing against the console, the AI is a little too wise.
All in all, this is the best boxing game out there. I give it a 9 because it is the buried treasure boxing fans have searched for since the Atari 2600 came out. Answer the bell.
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