Platform: Xbox 360
Published by: Electronic Arts
Price: $59.99
I’ll admit, it’s been quite some time since I’ve sat down and actually played through a console boxing game. Actually, the last time was probably way back on Super Punch Out. That game was fantastic, and thankfully Fight Night Round 3 is right up there with it.
Granted, the two games don’t have much in common, with Super Punch Out being a more arcade style experience, and Fight Night being much more technical based, but they both manage to pull off compelling gameplay that keeps you interested in a sport you might not know much about.
In preparation for Fight Night Round 3, I rented FN2 on the Xbox to familiarize myself with the unique control set up. By this time, I had seen a lot of the video and screenshots that made me decide that Fight Night Round 3 was a must buy for the 360, simply based on the massive graphics system that nearly brought the boxers to life inside my living room. FN2 was a solid enough game in and of itself, but it didn’t quite keep my interest peaked, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with the latest installment.
Let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint.
I actually sat and played through the main game in about 3 days time. Now maybe that’s a red flag to some of you right there, that the main mode of the game took a mere three days to complete. I can understand that too, but seriously, I didn’t just put the controller down when I was done with the Career mode. In fact, you can carry your fighter onward for a bit if you so choose, it all depends on his age and how well he’s holding up. At a certain point it becomes difficult to keep his stats up and on par with your opponents, so it’ll become a wise decision to preserve a bit of his dignity and retire him. Up until that point though, you’ve got one hell of a journey to go through.
You’ll take your created boxer from lowly small time fights at the local gym all the way to a main event, Friday Night PPV showcase against boxers from around the world (and different time periods. Time-Boxer-Cop?) that sees you competing for a series of belts and trophies, and increasingly large amounts of cash. In between fights you’re given the option to train with three different trainers, two specializing in specific areas (Power, Speed) and one trainer that doesn’t give a boost to anything in particular, but won’t cost you a cent to use him. The mini-games involved with training are all pretty simple, and by the time you’re getting ready for the last few matches of your career, you’ll be pretty burned out on the process. It’d be nice to see a few more options thrown in for the next iteration of the game, just to keep things a bit fresher.
Along with trainers, you’ll also be able to spend your hard earned money on clothing packages, new gloves, mouth guards, tattoo’s, and a few other items. Clothing upgrades serve a purpose, as many will give you stat boosts to specific areas, going from 5 points up to 20. When it comes to the later matches, you’ll definitely want and need the best gear attached to your fighter, and you’ll want to customize that gear to your specific strengths.
Fight Night Round 3 looks incredibly beautiful, and is easily the best looking next-gen game to date (outside of Ghost Recon perhaps). The amount of detail devoted to the fighter models is amazing, and when it comes to fights against Holyfield and Ali, not a single detail has been missed. Each punch lands with bone crushing clarity, and when you land a particularly devastating hit, you can find yourself wincing a bit during the replay as a small stream of blood escapes the other fighters lips and his face inverts just a bit from the impact. The characters don’t seem to suffer from the same plasticity toy look of games like Perfect Dark Zero either. Say what you will about EA, but they did a pretty damn good job on the presentation here.
The controls are carried over exactly from Fight Night Round 2. You have the option to use both control sticks to manage your punching, blocking and movement. If you can’t quite get the hang of it, you can switch to a button-mashing scheme, however, you won’t be able to control the intensity of your punches in this manner. The only problem with offering these two control schemes comes from the online play. If you (like myself) enjoy using the control stick set up, you stand a good chance at getting pummeled by a button masher, simply because they’re able to pull off punches faster and more consistently than you are. It’d be nice to include a filter in the options to place you against a similar control scheme set up, so lets hope EA includes something like this next time.
FN3 boosts the infamous EA Trax music system, but the music here compared to say, Burnout Revenge, is fairly limited. You’ll grow tired of the small track selection quickly, but you’ll only encounter the majority of this music during the menu screens. When the fights begin, its all sound effects and crowd, and both are handled very well. When you land a punch, it actually sounds like canvas smacking skin, and the bone crunching effects are particularly brutal. The voiceover announcing is a bit poor however, mostly because it becomes incredibly repetitive match after match, and it doesn’t always follow the action on an accurate basis.
Overall, Fight Night Round 3 is a solid purchase for 360 owners. Even if you’re not a fan of the sport, it’s worth checking out, due to the unique control set up, the not so steep learning curve, and the fantastic online matches. I definitely suggest giving this title a try.
- Dustin Chadwell currently resides in Ohio, USA. He's been playing video games since the Atari 2600, and believes he can whoop anyone's ass in Joust, and Galaga. Probably not Halo 2 though. New technology tends to confuse him.