Pushing Buttons I am not into pushing buttons at high speeds. I wouldn't so much MIND being into pushing buttons, except I just don't seem to be built for it - wrong thumb structure or something. I can handle the basics, but rapid-fire shooting I can't pull. Just don't have that nervous twitch in my finger, if you know what I mean. Which is why I am typically not into boxing games - my hands tend to start cramping up around round 4 and by round 7 I can usually be seen wriggling on the carpet like some kind of serpentine creature trying to put my shoulder into the X button. Quite pathetic, really.
Of course now that I've finally learned to live with it, they go and come out with something that doesn't require button mashing. They call it Total Punch Control. TM. Damn.
OK, I try it, yes? Yes, I do try it. First things first, of course: I get the floor mopped with my pretty little face. Round 2 is as far as I make it; I do notice the nifty little system for recovering from knockouts - no button mashing, as promised - instead you are aligning 3 fuzzy images of your friendly neighborhood ref. Cute. Barely escaping with my life, I rush out to the main menu; I am crushed, I am submitted, I just want practice mode. But practice mode is nowhere to be found. I stumble door to door only to find myself back in the same place. No practice for you, boy! Get in that ring!
After a few more attempts and considerably more missing teeth, I slowly start making sense of things. All the punching moves are made with the right joystick - the direction and range of the rotation determine the exact move - uppercut, jab, hook. I get a more or less solid feel for the left uppercut and use it mercilessly - with mixed results. I am still hitting the floor a lot, but not quite as often. Pummel on.
Hurray! My first loss on decision! I am bleeding profusely and the children are laughing at me, but at least I am still standing. Blocking is still a very fuzzy concept to me (maybe because I can't see out of my left eye), but, in the words of the great Morpheus, I am beginning to believe.
I am Rocky Balboa!
Not quite, but since after about an hour of playing I've finally managed to loose on split decision, it sure feels that way to my poor little ego. Feeling lucky, I make a few passes along the main menu, and then, making sure no one is looking, quickly duck into that door I've been so carefully avoiding - Career Mode.
Options galore! - you can really customize the appearance of your alter ego here - ranging from the typical height, build and skin color to the not so typical tattoos and individual face features. Nice. Looking like a million bucks I emerge ready for more bruises and bleeding.
Hello Practice Mode! Ah! Practice mode is here after all :) Figures - should have gone straight to Career Mode instead of playing it safe and trying to pick up the basics first. Forshame. But even here practice is doled out in careful installments. In Fight Night, practice mode is the means for your fighter to build up his stats between fights. There are several different modes of practice - punch bag, practice dummy, sparring, and others. Every mode requires you to hone a particular skill, and, depending on how you do, rewards you with points to apply to your attributes - strength, stamina, agility and the like. Unfortunately, each particular practice mode is linked to a particular pair of attributes; e.g. practicing with a punching bag always gives you points to apply to your strength and speed only. That means that if you are not as good in one mode as in the others, you will eventually build up a weakness in the two attributes tied to it. Randomizing the attributes to which the points apply might have been a better solution.
The Dodge at the end of Block It is indeed in Practice mode that I learn how to properly use the other joystick - for evasion and defense. This is the key differentiator of Fight Night from the rest of the boxing games out there - realistic punching control is a great thing, but having a full range of blocks and evades that actually weight in on the fight is arguably an even more important development. If you are good enough, you can tire out your opponent without taking a single punch - and then knock him down with a well-placed combination. Landing a solid left hook on the side of the head at just the right time really feels terrific - and sends your opponent wobbling. Yum.
There are also blocks - similarly applied using joystick control. Mixing blocks and evades with equal efficiency can be a difficult affair (especially during the first few hours of play), so most people will likely rely more heavily on one of the techniques and use the other sparingly. Which is just fine - Fight Night allows for a number of equally successful strategies. In fact, the opponents you face exhibit at least two very distinctive styles - the brawler and the dancer. The latter is particularly tricky, as opponents of this type will defend carefully, move around a lot, and set themselves up for an occasional perfectly timed and well executed combination. Let them get to you, and you will find yourself swinging wildly at empty air, draining your stamina and exposing your weak sides. Which is, like, bad, and stuff.
Hidden and Dangerous Although the effect of character stats in Fight Night can seem simplistic at first, there is some surprising depth there. Some of the less obvious stats, such as "heart" and "cuts", have rather important consequences, and can really influence your success. For instance, cuts has a direct effect on how quickly and how much you will bleed from punches to the face, which will actually impair your vision and decrease your punch accuracy and speed. Heart determines how easily you can get up from a knockdown, which can really matter in a dead even fight. Overall, you should know your (and your opponent's!) stats well, and watch for how they affect your fighter in the ring. Pacing yourself and carefully managing your strengths and weaknesses can pay good dividends, whereas jumping in head first just because "this guy don't look too tough" can cut the fight unpleasantly short.
Throwing Copper As in any semi-realistic boxing simulation, Fight Night rewards you with cash for victories - more and more of it as you advance in the rankings. There are a slew of things you can spend your money on - gloves, shorts, fireworks, opening music, tattoos, girls and more. The trouble is that the value of most of the merchandise is quite subjective. In other words, you might well find the $50 trunks more appealing than their $5000 counterparts - simply because they are more in your taste. Same goes for gloves, shoes, and especially girls and music.
In addition, none of the stuff you buy (with a very uncertain exception of special punches) will really impact your ring performance, which makes the whole shopping affair very secondary to the core of the game.
Hedging for a sequel? After spending some time with Fight Night, it becomes apparent that the game is light on non-core content - additional game modes, mini-games, storylines, things to unlock, etc. The fighting formula itself could also have been explored to a greater degree. Given the fact that what's there is exquisitely produced, I got a distinct impression that EA held back on content almost intentionally, setting us up for a knockdown in a sequel. While that might make good financial and strategic sense for a game company, as a gamer I couldn't help but feeling a little disappointed, especially since so many other things were done right. It feels a bit like stopping 10 feet short of the finish line.
Hit the canvas! Once you get used to the unusual controls and get an appreciation for the strategy and authenticity they offer, you will have some good fun with Fight Night. Playing with your friends can be great fun, especially when you choose to fight with the famous boxers, as many have a distinctive style that needs to be accounted for. The game is well-balanced and allows for a number of effective styles based on tactics, movement and combinations, which is a key achievement for this kind of game. Because it is a little short on content, it is likely to be relegated to exclusively 2-player use sooner rather than later, but that shouldn't stop you for picking it up and giving it the attention it deserves.
...
Vaga
Summary: A quality boxing game, exquisitely produced; innovative punch control system that actually works. A little lacking in richness of content, feels a bit like things were intentionally left out in favor of the sequels, which are sure to come.
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Systems: PS2, Xbox
Genre: Sports/Boxing
Setting: The boxing ring.
Mood: Hip-hop music, bikini-clad hotties, knocking people's teeth out... You get the picture.
Story: No story mode.
Graphics: Excellent - no shortcuts taken here. Moves are motion-captured and look very natural. Knockout animations can be downright hilarious - intentionally so, we choose to believe :)
Music/Sound: Hip-hop and rap, pretty sweet.
Voice Acting: Excellent.
Script/Dialog: Solid, (considering, of course, that we are talking about commentator and corner talk). Some good quality laughs.
Similar Games: Knockout Kings, etc.
Gameplay: Like, jab, jab, uppercut, left hook, duck, dodge, oof!! is that canvas in my teeth?!
Strengths: The analog stick punch control adds real authenticity to the genre, stressing movement and combinations - not just pure power. Clean graphics and excellent production.
Weaknesses: Somewhat short on non-core content, things that you can spend your money on are rather meaningless, if pretty. Practice mode not available at will. Learning curve longer than most games of this type.
Depth: Nothing you haven't seen in your bathtub. Take that as you will :)
Length: Completing career mode the first time around can take quite a while.
Pace: That depends - are you a puncher or a dancer?
Difficulty: Medium
Control: Excellent
Learning Curve: Long
Replayability: Replayability: high. Try it with a friend or online.
Will keep you up until (a.k.a Fun
Factor): 2:30 am. Tack on a half hour for each additional player beyond 2.
Notable Features: Innovative punch control.
Fav. Character: Alexandra in outfit number 3 :)
Instant Classic: Probably not quite. The sequel will likely have better chances.
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Release Date: 2004-04-05
Players: 2
Multiplayer: Yes
ESRB: Truculent Teen
Target Audience: Standard boxing fan club.
Recommended For: Boxing aficionados. Will also work for you if you just need a decent 2-player game. Don't throw out your Tekken, though - nothing beats THAT longevity.
Not Recommended for: If sports aren't generally your fare, keep browsing. Fight Night is a good game, but not amazing enough to warrant ripping you away from your favorite genre just to check it out.
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