Fight Night Round 4

Fight Night Round 4 - (PS3, Xbox 360)
Developer: EA
Format: PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: Boxing


A new king of the ring



To pardon the pun, boxing games have been largely hit and miss in recent years. Punch-Out!! heralded a recent return to form on the Wii; but that was largely down to the game capturing the retro spirit of the 80's arcade classic. And for every Punch-Out!! we had the likes of Don King Boxing or Victorious Boxers Challenge, to remind us how hard it is for developers to get the 'sweet science' just right.

In our mind, the benchmark boxing game is Fight Night Round 3. Nothing has come even close to the quality of the definitive boxing game - released over three years ago. Until now that is. Fight Night Round 4 does everything a good 'sequel' should do - refining what has gone before whilst simultaneously introducing new and improved features.

There are three key areas that have been overhauled in the latest outing of this long running series - the new game modes, the control system and the physics engine. What can be taken for a given is the visual beauty of what is happening on screen. You simply will not see better animated, better detailed, characters in any fighting game on any console. The river of spittle and blood that gushes from the mouth of an unprotected chin, the bullets of sweat that drip from a tiring boxer's brow, the roar of the crowd, the flash of camera bulbs - once in the ring this game doesn't just capture the spirit of boxing; it owns it.

Once your fighter climbs through the ropes the difference between FN R3 and FN R4 is obvious. The control system has been overhauled and now largely relies on using the analogue thumbstick to throw punches - wave bye bye to button bashing and a warm hello to some of the most responsive analogue controls we've ever played with. When coupled with a brand new physics engine that enables the boxers to react differently to the severity of the punch thrown it makes for the single most realistic visual depiction of boxing we've ever seen. There's no more awkward clipping when a punch appears to travel through the opponent - instead every impact is realistically portrayed.

With over 40 fighters to play with - including all the greats from Ali to Hatton and even Tyson, there's a huge degree of strategy involved too. Keeping Tyson at long range will get him picked off mercilessly by powerful Muhammad Ali jabs - but get him on the inside and watch his devastating close work come into play. With comprehensive two player and Xbox live modes the wide variety of match-ups combined with the independent physics of each fighter pretty much ensure no two fights will be the same.

For single player specialists there's a whole new Legacy mode that replaces the previously rather tame Career offering. Now there's a host of new challenges and training mini games to contend with to make sure the aspiring pugilist is never short of attainable goals.

It's hard to find flaws with this title without delving needlessly into nit-picking. So we'll just say this: The best ever boxing game just got a whole lot better. If you want to capture all the brutal excitement of boxing and wrap it under some of the most visually impressive graphics you'll see on the current crop of consoles, then step right up - there's a new king of the ring to contend with.