Photographs: Electronic Arts Sameer Desai, Editor, GamingIndians.com
Boxing is one of those sports that pretty much everyone has a passing interest in, but most people wouldn't want to watch more than a highlights package of it on SportsCenter. Everyone can relate to the systematic bludgeoning of an individual using fists as the weapon of choice, but treat them to round after three-minute round of ear muffs, strategic jabs and ducking and weaving, and they start to lose interest.
That, however, is the reality of boxing. It isn't all knockouts and chomping on earlobes, but often a tactical and strategic wearing down of the opponent. And if you're able to embrace this reality, you're in for quite a ride in Fight Night Round 4. FNR3 was in many ways the first true next-generation console title. Released in 2006, it can still hold its own among the best-looking games around, and the visuals were backed up by solid, innovative gameplay.
Gameplay has received a complete overhaul in Fight Night Round 4. FNR3 let you simply uppercut and haymaker your way to an early knockout win, thanks to the block and parry defensive system. This time around, the parry has been done away with, giving you fewer opportunities to have an open shot at your opponent. And now, simply landing a punch isn't enough; you'll need to time it right to make sure it lands flush, because while in FNR3 punches would either miss or land as intended, here, punches being deflected, dodged, or mistimed will often lead to glancing blows that only inflict a fraction of the intended damage. The hit detection is pretty spot-on and the physics model really shines, delivering punches of varying strength based on momentum, balance and posture.
With so many punches either missing or being deflected, you're now forced to rely more on low-risk shots like the jab and hook to soften the opponent up, and use the jaw-crushing haymakers and signature punches only once he's on the back foot with his guard down. There is also a lot of emphasis on stamina this time around. The more risky shots deplete your stamina more, and punches missing or being blocked will reduce it faster, and once your stamina is low, you'll move slower and your punches will be weaker. Reducing the opponent's stamina is also a tactic you will need to adopt, and this is done best by landing body blows. So while headshots will let you earn that crowd-pleasing knockdown, getting your head down and landing those body blows will get you there faster.
Gameplay speed is visibly increased
To make up for the removal of the parry, there's now renewed importance placed on counter-punching. Hitting your opponent immediately after blocking or weaving away from a punch will inflict increased damage, and once again, the key here is timing. So in essence, FNR4 wants you to play a more well-rounded fight, throwing a mix of jabs, hooks, uppercuts and haymakers, while ducking, weaving and blocking every now and then to thwart your opponent's onslaught. The punches-in-bunches approach of FNR3 will leave you exposed here.
Those who played FNR3 with the face button layout will also be in for a surprise; this time around you're forced to play using the total punch control system that lets you dish out all punches using rotations on the right analog stick. While it would have been nice to keep the face button layout as an option (the option will soon be added via a free downloadable update), the total punch control system was easily the more responsive and immersive way to play even in FNR3 and here it's been further fine-tuned. And once you get the hang of it, you won't want to play any other way.
Gameplay speed is visibly increased this time around, aided by 60-frames-per-second visuals. But while the punches fly around thick and fast, the responsiveness seems to have taken a hit. Each punch carries a fixed animation so even if you throw three quick jabs on the right stick, the animations take a lot longer to play out on screen. By the time you're done with the third jab, the first one is still playing out on screen, and your fighter will only respond to further commands once the third jab animation plays out. So it almost feels like the game is always a step or two behind you. But the animations are a sight to behold, with smooth transitions from one to the next complete with realistic muscle-flexing. So you will soon learn that the most effective way to play is to throw punches one after another, rather than just madly pushing the stick around and hoping for the best.
A calendar system lets you schedule fights
The corner and knockdown mini-games have both been changed in FNR4, and for the worse. While you had to play the cutman in between rounds and heal your boxer in FNR3, here you're just given a bunch of points to distribute between three attributes -- health, stamina, and damage. It's not nearly as much fun or as engaging. The get up mini-game during knockdowns too was perfectly implemented in FNR3, while here it feels like a game of chance. But overall, FNR4 plays much better than its predecessor, with improvements in almost every department, although the added emphasis on low-risk punches and tactical boxing means that it has lost a lot of the pick-up-and-play appeal that FNR3 possessed in abundance.
The career mode, known as Legacy Mode, is also a lot deeper in FNR4 and is strikingly similar in structure to the recently released, critically and commercially successful UFC 2009: Undisputed. You start out as a rookie low on stats; he can either be your own created boxer or an existing pro from one of eight weight divisions. You can even import your own photograph and apply it to your boxer if you'd like to see it rearranged in super slow motion by a thundering Tyson uppercut.
A calendar system lets you schedule fights and training sessions; winning fights moves you up through the ranks, while training sessions are the only way to increase your stats. Training was one of the weak points of FNR3, and though here the training routines are different, the result is the same. You have 5-6 routines, with each increasing certain stats. But some are too difficult to earn enough points from and they all are too boring to want to play through. You'd much rather just simulate training and move on to the next fight, but the stats earned through simulating training sessions aren't enough, meaning you're just going to have to take the bit between the teeth (like in Tyson vs Holyfield) and suffer through them. And it's strange that sparring only helps increase certain stats, when in fact, being a simulation of the real thing, it should affect all.
Playing online isn't a lot of fun
Like in UFC 2009, your career lasts a fixed amount of time, and you're given various objectives to achieve before it's time to hang up the gloves. As you progress and perform well, you are given titles such as 'Bum' and 'Prospect' all the way up to 'Greatest of All Time' -- your end objective. It's certainly deeper than the event list career style from FNR3, but in real life, a major motivator for boxers is money, and that has been left out entirely. The ability to buy a more able coaching staff, better training equipment, and a more competent manager and promoter would have certainly added to the experience; maybe even remove some of the importance from the tiresome training sessions.
Legacy Mode matches last an exhausting 10 rounds and they can get even more competitive and tense when your boxer's stats are low. You start to lose steam in the second half of the bout and you're always made aware that one hard counter-punch from the opponent can knock you out and lose you the match even if you won all the rounds leading up to it through strategic boxing. The Legacy Mode format isn't the most original, and yes, the training sessions could be more fun, but you spend most of your time through the career in the squared circle, where there isn't too much to find fault with. While a lot of fun and a marked improvement over FNR3, there is lots of room for improvement in Legacy Mode, but EA is moving in the right direction.
Online, there is the new World Championship mode, which is essentially a giant leaderboard where people from all over the world compete with one another using only their created boxers. Strangely, in order to ensure a level playing field, the skill level of all boxers is evened out to 85 points, which makes using created boxers pretty much pointless. Lag is also a factor, and while you won't see stuttering and slowdown on account of it, responsiveness takes a major hit, with punches registering long after you throw them. In a game where timing is everything, the lag can be crippling, and playing online isn't a lot of fun.
Visually, FNR4 has raised the bar
As I mentioned before, FNR3 set the visual benchmark for games in this console generation, and FNR4 has raised the bar. Boxers grimace in pain when hit and their muscles flex with each punch thrown. Sweat trickles down their bodies and light bounces of it impressively. If there is one complaint here, it's that you don't quite feel the impact of a knockout punch. In FNR3, you knew when a punch had earned you a knockdown by the sound it made and the way your opponent reacted to it. In FNR4, the exaggerated impact and crunching sounds are restricted to the super slow motion replays, which never cease to impress.
One of the most notable additions to FNR4, however, is the inclusion of two of the most recognisable boxers of all time to the game's already impressive roster. Cover stars Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson make for a dream face off and bolster a line-up of 60-plus boxers, including greats like Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Frasier alongside Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton and others from the current crop.
Blow-by-blow accounts from
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas are quite dull, especially Atlas' weird analogies, where he compares boxing with everything from a rainy evening to pie-eating contests. It's slightly better when there are two well-known boxers in the ring and the duo chimes in with some anecdotes about them, but it's at its worst during Legacy Mode, where you're playing with a created boxer. Like with FNR3, the soundtrack is mostly Hip-Hop-inspired and is pretty solid. In-ring sound effects are pretty spot-on too and the occasional piece of advice from your corner is quite welcome.FNR4 is more tactical, strategic
FNR4 is pound-for-pound the most realistic representation of boxing ever seen in a video game, and it's an improvement over its predecessor in almost every way. But while FNR3 created a fine balance between accessible and challenging gameplay, this time around, they've gone all out to mimic the real thing, which means that this is a more tactical and strategic game, without much of the pick-up-and-play appeal of FNR3. It's a little harsh to fault EA for that, but the fact remains that many people who enjoyed FNR3, may feel differently about this one. The trade-off is certainly worth it though, because once you scratch the surface and take a few on the chin, Fight Night Round 4 reveals itself as the most rewarding boxing game you've ever played.
(+) More well-rounded gameplay; inside and outside approaches
(+) Spot-on physics and hit detection; glancing blows add a new dimension
(+) Unsurpassed visuals, realistic body animations and expressions
(+) Impressive boxers' roster
(-) Not as accessible as FNR3
(-) Legacy Mode format and training routines need work
(-) Lag renders online play useless
Rating: 8/10
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