Few boxing titles have come and dealt a knockout blow in recent times, but EA’s Fight Night series has continually prevailed as the champ, leaving little room for error. Fight Night Round 4 has hit our store shelves, but can it deliver punch strong enough to make an impact?
Fight Night Round 4 has some impressive boxing shoes to fill – Fight Night Round 3 left a lasting impression on fans of the series as being the best boxing sim around, thankfully EA has only improved on the winning formula that has made the series such a success.
Round 4 boasts an incredible roster with a wide variety of great boxers from past and present from 8 different weight classes, including all time greats such as Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard who are a welcomed addition as they bring a sense of flair and excitement where dream match ups can be created between boxing legends and current champions.
A new feature included is the Legacy Mode, whereby players can take on their favourite current or former boxing legend, or create their own boxer with a diverse create-a-player option. From there, players compete in local gyms against amateur fighters, and eventually work their way up to the World Title. Between scheduled fights, players must train their boxers in a number of exercises in order to increase their stamina, health and block, while also increasing fighting attributes, such as punch speed and strength.
During fights players have a simple HUD, resembling a bar for stamina, health and blocking. These bars are very accurate and relative to your boxer’s performance in the ring; throwing an onslaught of punches will quickly drain your stamina, and continuous blocking will eventually drop your defenses, so a good balance of offensive and defensive tactics need to be grasped in order to excel in fights. This is one of Round 4’s strengths as it becomes more than an all out brawler, as a degree of strategy becomes involved.
The controls for Round 4 have been improved to provide a more free-flowing boxing simulation. The new Total Punch Control incorporates the dual analog sticks for more balanced and controlled punches and movements. The left analog is used for player movement around the ring, while the right controls your punches. Normal strikes to the left or right result in high and low jabs, while rotating the stick in clockwise or counter-clockwise motions executes left or right hooks depending on your players stance.
Modifications to the punches and stances are controlled by shoulder buttons and triggers. The left trigger causes your player to stoop down for low punches as well as provide a dodging mechanism, which when timed right, can result in some great counter-attacks. The same goes for blocking as punches can be effectively blocked with precision timing to allow for a quick counter punch. Special and more powerful hooks and uppercuts, known as haymakers, can result in powerful strikes and (on occasion) quick knockouts, although these punches drain a significant amount of your stamina. Special moves are added to each boxer which builds a bit of individualistic flair for each player.
Fight Night Round 4 is hands-down one of the best looking games to date. The boxer models are ridiculously well detailed, with every attribute down to their reach and muscle mass incredibly captured. The animations are super-slick with punches ricocheting and altering in accordance to the stances of player and your opponent. Every intricacy down to the sweat dripping and flying, to the corner sessions with the trainers are beautifully presented. Awesome slow-mo knockouts where even the players face or body wobbles and waves with the punch impact are used to highlight finishing punches. Everything about Round 4 is excellently polished to please any enthusiast.
Fight Night Round 4 could possibly be the best boxing game on the planet. There is no doubt about that, although that said, it may not appeal to everyone. If you’re looking for an all out no-holds-barred brawler, maybe try before you buy. For everyone else, Round 4 is the definitive boxing title that leave fans in awe with a new innovative control system, combat depth and gorgeous visuals to bring the full package with yes, a knockout punch.
[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]
