It’s fair to say that the first version of Fight Night on the new generation machines really showed what these machines could do graphically.

An elegant mix of blood, sweat, tears and physics blowing off the cobwebs from an under achieving machine and putting the power of current gen machines to the fore. Fight Night Round 4 has now hit the shelves 3 years after Round 3 was released and with a host of new features and completely re-built physics, the game appears to be nothing short of mind blowing.

The game has been developed to understand the art of boxing in its entirety.  Gone are the button mashups and ploughing in for the knockout that sealed so many an easy win before.  The physics engine that has been much publicised just will not allow it when you progress further into the game which for some will be frustrating but for many will allow you to explore each fighter’s skill set and how to approach each bout with more precision and be more accurate than its predecessors.

You should have seen by now the amount of changes that have been made to the look and playability of the game itself.  The graphics and animations are a lot crisper and there is definitely a better colour range through the game now.  Also, the fight mechanics have had a complete rebuild and this is where the game smashes its predecessor and any other boxing style game with a flurry of punches.  First of all, how the punch effects the damage.  Where before when you had any punch land it would register the required damage, now punches can glance off of the body and head for reduced damage or if you find that perfect punch can produce a virtually instant knockout or the boxer getting stunned which slows them down in all areas giving you a chance to go for that convincing win.  This means that you have to be more aware than ever of what your opponent is doing and makes you also look for openings rather than just mashing the controls.  Each boxer also uses their own fighting styles depending on their statistics and it is these little things that can make a big difference in the outcome of the bout.  If a fighter has a long reach then he will use it to his advantage, finding his range and picking you off with precise punches where they can see an opening.  If they have smaller reaches then they will battle to move inside for some close fighting.  Never before has a fighting game had this much precision applied to its coding and engine to bring out such an amazing feel to the gameplay and EA have to seriously be commended for this.

A lot of people will have a moan about the total punch control system that is now in place.  I have to say that since writing the article there are rumours that the old button system will be put back in via a patch but I cannot understand where you will have a use for it now as the control system that is in has been mapped to the controller for a more refined and precise experience.  The whole idea of the game is to now box and not brawl and the way the moves come from the stick, support this kind of gameplay.  If you are going to brawl then you may want to learn this style quick or you will be in serious trouble trying to progress through your career.  I have to say that I used to be a button masher playing Round 3 only because there was no precision with the control.  A few degrees off here and there will totally ruin your fight and was kind of forced to adopt the button system.  I overcame this through the tutorials and a couple of easier matches in FN4 and feel that the control in place is more intuitive to your needs.  The stick is now a little forgiving and the move to produce a hook or a jab are exactly that and even if you are a little off on the control, this will make no difference anymore.

The look of the front end appears to be somewhat the same, you have the traditional Fight Now mode which allows you choose any boxer from the massive selection in a one off fight for glory.  With the addition of boxers like Mike Tyson onto the roster you can re-live those key matches from over the years and try and change the course of history in your own little way.  For the people that want to get right in the mix with their career you now have Legacy Mode which has changed significantly and we will get back to that later on.  Your create a boxer option now has more customisation options than ever before and with the addition of photo gameface you can now scan your face and add this to your boxer’s look.  A little suggestion that was posted before was to get their bosses picture on a boxer and knock ten barrels of hell out of them.  A pretty funny look at this new addition and something that would be a giggle too.  The other beauty of this is that if you do not have a camera attached to your 360 you can upload a photo to the fight night website and import into your character too.

Because this game is more technical now in its gameplay a host of training features and tutorial videos are available from the My Corner option of the front end and gives you the ability through training options in the legacy mode to become more familiar with the stick layouts and how to approach the game to become more confident in its style and flow.  Last but not least you have the multiplayer side of things.  Standard fare from FN 3 here but with some noteable additions that make this more attractive to the community and will definitely get you playing against random people online rather than the private bouts you used to play with your friends.  New additions to this part of the game is the ability to share a user created boxer.  Upload yours with high stats and get people downloading them for use with their game and even rating the boxer too.  The biggest addition here is World Championship mode. Select a class and boxer from your stable and get a ranking.  Challenge other opponents online to climb through the rankings and reach number 1 in the world.  I have seen this sort of thing being done on sites before (ours included) but now it comes out of the box in Fight Night Round 4 which is excellent news.

As I said before as options go, the career called Legacy Mode has been greatly overhauled.  You are now presented with a control centre which gives you e-mail, a calendar and all the office stats and functions to allow you to operate effectively, book your fights and training schedules in your goal to the title slot and further down the line superstardom and a hall of fame spot.  The career itself is the same but the mechannics surrounding it now are much more involved.  A lot of the stuff you will never need or use but to give the game a slightly visceral feel these have been implemented. A very nice touch though are the awards section where depending on what happens each year with regards to your fight, knockdowns etc you will get nominated.  It adds a little something extra to proceedings and I found to be quite excited by the fact that I was nominated for something with the potential to win an award.

Overall, Fight Night Round 4 is an exceptional game created by people that always want to improve on what was considered a near perfect product at the time.  The release of this new version in the franchise has taken all the niggles out, expanded on a more visceral experience in its gameplay and control system with crisp, clean graphics that are more apt for this generations capabilities.  Uber replay ability (you already know that because you still play FN 3) and the dynamics ab
solutely nailed you have to say that if they put the buttons back in for the whingers this will be as near a perfect game for the fighting genre that you will get.

• Title: Fight Night Round 4
• Format: 360, PS3
• Publisher: EA
• Developer: EA Sports
• Genre: Sport/Fighting
• Released: 26th June
• Rating: PEGI 16+