Fight Night Round 4 Review

Written by Guy Thursday, 09 July 2009 14:31

Fight Night Round 4 is the fourth instalment of EA’s critically acclaimed boxing sim. With life-like graphics, a realistic physics engine, remodelled control system and more genuine boxers this title sounds great on paper. Will Fight Night Round 4 live up to the hype and allow gamers to rumble with true next-gen gameplay?

First of all graphics are incredible, from the trickles of sweat running down a boxer’s body to the lighting of the arena it feels like you’re watching two real boxers duke it out. The game runs at a full 60fps using a complete physics engine allowing the player to enjoy every punch, and the damage inflicted to the opponent. This is particularly brutal the moment before a knockdown. A slow motion sequence begins focused on the point of impact, the shockwave caused by the punch and the bone shattering sound. Its particularly cringe worthy when playing on the same couch.

FNR4-1 In the short period of time I spent with FNR3 (thanks to Jules) before this FNR4 was released, I found the punching system to be very sluggish and slow to respond. In this title, the reaction time has been sped up, leading to “stick mashing”. I’ll let you decide whether this is an improvement or not, but I’ll say this; it is an incredible feeling, when you finally break through an opponent’s defence, to lay down a quick succession of punches to get that knock-down. Similar to FNR3, when an opponent’s health becomes low he enters a highly vulnerable state. To come out of this your boxer must either block all incoming punches, or clinch (hug) the opponent. As you progress through the rounds, wearing down your rivals stamina and health, it slowly becomes easier knock them down. However, counterpunching is a highly effective way to do huge amounts of damage. By dodging or blocking at the correct moment, you can deliver a counterpunch allowing the fight to be turned around. I enjoy the counterpunch system when against a human player, but it seems cheap when it is used by the CPU. At harder difficulty levels, they seem to always create CP opportunities and then perform a devastating attack taking 4/5ths of your health. Parrying punches has been removed from the game and the only blocking options are high or low.

Fight Night Round 3 did not have a HUD, forcing you to look for visual of aural cue’s to determine your enemies health and stamina. For example heavy breathing signified the player’s stamina was running low. The HUD has been reinvented for this version of the game, giving the player the opportunity to monitor their health, stamina and block capabilities. These allow the player greater situational awareness. The corner game between rounds has also been modified. During the round the boxer earns points for punches landed, punches blocked, stunning and knocking down the opponents to be spent replenishing these bars and getting your boxer back into the fight.

FNR4 - 2 Legacy mode is the single player “campaign” of the game. Gamers create a boxer with direct control over scheduling fights, training, and appearance. Fights are scheduled using a calendar system, the further away a fight is booked entitles the player to more training sessions. As your boxer wins fights, increases his popularity and win’s titles their legacy rating improves from “Prospect” to “The Greatest of All Time” thus increasing the games longevity. There is one part of the campaign that is a bone of contention for me: the training mini-games. The training is tedious and difficult to score high in. Thankfully, EA have included an option to simulate training which I chose almost 99% of the time. Player created characters can also be imported into Legacy mode, making for a fresh, unique experience as you rise through the ranks.

Overall, the gaming experience is an enjoyable one and I’m sure this title will remain in gamers collections for a long time to come. The ability to play the game as a brawler, or strategically as a sim the title is always an awesome experience. Beating the bejesus out of your friends in the living room or over Xbox Live will never get old, and bragging rights are always on the line.