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Fight Night Champion Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Fight Night Champion Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

The Champ Has Returned

The Fight Night series is arguably one of the best sports franchises seen this generation. It leapt onto the scene with the visually stunning Fight Night Round 3 back in 2006 and polished the gameplay with 2009’s Fight Night Round 4. Now EA Canada has decided that they want to further improve the formula of the series with its latest entry, Fight Night Champion. Champion offers a darker view of boxing, possibly one that’s even more realistic; you’re given the chance to play through the story of a boxer’s journey from amateur ranks to a possible championship bout, feel the violence of a match first hand, and have more control of where your punches land. On the surface, there’s a lot of good to be found in Champion, but it’s what was found underneath that hurts.

Let’s waste no time and address one of the elephants in the room: Champion is the first ever EA Sports game published with a Mature rating, and it’s quite clear from the get go. There’s an obvious sense of brutality within Champion, whether it’s the detail of the cuts and bruises boxers are given (blood routinely seems to find a home on your shorts) or the darkness the game’s story has to offer.

Fight Night Champion Screenshot

Speaking of the story, I was anticipating it with hopeful enthusiasm. Champion’s story mode follows the tale of Andre Bishop, weaving between cutscenes and fights. The story mode is non-stop; you’ll watch a cutscene, be thrown into a fight without motive, and then be treated with a new cutscene and new fight all but five minutes later. The speed of the transitions caused me to lose interest; I didn’t care about each fight. From time to time, I was interested in a match. In one memorable bout, I had to KO my opponent because the judges were bought off. After a rather blunt speech from my trainer, the next round began. The music was kicking in and I was in the zone, only to be further impressed to hear Brian Kenny talk about my match and the impact it had on the boxing world. This doesn’t happen nearly enough, sadly.

While the game’s story isn’t a total loss (it’s at least mildly entertaining), legacy mode is a disaster. Similar to past Fight Night games, legacy allows you to create your own boxer and rise through the ranks of the boxing world. However, there are two issues. First and foremost, there’s neither urge of discovery nor any motive to push forward. For all of the shortcomings I found with the story of Andre Bishop, it was able to at least keep me playing longer than I anticipated; I wanted to see what happened next. To make matters worse, legacy mode features various training “mini games” to help boost your boxer’s stats, which are pretty poor at the start. But these are not only more work than fun, they’re also seemingly pointless. One that stands out is a combo trainer. A timer was running, and although the timer ran out before I completed the combo run, I wasn’t punished and pushed on to the next fight.

Fight Night Champion Screenshot

It’s a shame that legacy mode is a waste, since Champion’s gameplay is completely top-notch. The sense of realism in the game really shines through; if you want to tire out a boxer, you need to work on his body. Well-timed and well-placed hits to the head knock someone out for good. You’re able to punch around a block to land a fight-changing punch. There’s a lot of little things that add up to deliver an entertaining boxing experience.

Fight Night Champion Screenshot

In addition, the controls have been redone, particularly the fight stick. In previous Fight Night games, if you wanted to use the analog stick to control your punches, you had to perform intricate and precise movements and quarter circles. Now, you just flick it a specific direction. It’s a greatly-needed improvement, and now I find myself using a combination of both the analog stick (primarily for uppercuts, as this is the more responsive way to pull them off) and face buttons to queue up my combos. Yes, I said queue; you’re able to, say, quickly hit “Y” “Y” “B” on your controller and sit back as your boxer pulls off two quick jabs and a hook.

Now, these great gameplay enhancements would be nothing without the visuals to back them up, and rest assured, Champion delivers. This is the first time I can ever recall where a game’s graphics help the game. Collision detection has been greatly improved, though there’s still the occasional wonkiness. Still, it’s a blip on the radar; you see each brutal hit land and end up feeling the intensity it brings. You hear your trainer shout out advice in the heat of the moment and more often than not, it pays off. You dodge and dance around your opponent’s flurry and land that vicious jab-hook combo and down he goes. It’s moment’s like these that give Champion some serious staying power, especially in the online realm. Die-hards will undoubtedly eat this game up, spending countless hours boxing online or in the same room, and this is where the game is at its best.

Fight Night Champion Screenshot

There’s one last thing about the game’s realism that needs to be said: each boxer has his own distinct fighting personality that matches his real life personality. Tyson comes at you like a freight train, Ali intimidates you and is at his best when he abuses his long arms, and Pacquiao is nimble and precise. Naturally, when you play as these fighters in the arcade mode, you perform best when matching these styles. It’s yet another little thing that adds up to deliver a really great package.

The game’s commentating, however, really hurt said package. In a game that put so much time and effort to be an authentic boxing package, the repeated dialogue and sometimes erroneous play calling both hurt the game and comes off as really annoying. Specifically, during career mode, I was called a power boxer and a speed boxer in two separate matches. Did I magically change my style? Am I a boxing god? Don’t get me wrong, there are some great things done: they add to the story by specifically talking about Bishop’s accomplishments and goals, but other than that, they’re useless.

Fight Night Champion has a lot of style. The presentation is excellent, the story is manageable at worst and engaging at best, the gameplay is rock solid, and the graphics are outstanding. That being said, legacy mode is a complete waste, newcomers will be frustrated at fighting seasoned veterans of the series, and the commentating is awful. There’s some potential staying power here and if you really work hard at it, you can find yourself playing and enjoying Champion for quite some time. Easily the best in the series, Fight Night Champion is an excellent game that is sadly hampered by its shortcomings.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
Great attention to detail and impressive visuals, the graphics are some of the best this generation. 4.8 Control
Controls are sharp and precise, just as they should be; they help contribute to excellent gameplay. 3.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
While the subtle musical score can help put emotional stake in a fight during the game’s story mode, the commentating is just awful. 4.3 Play Value
Fight Night fans will be coming back again and again for a while. While frustrating at first, the game is ultimately fun. 4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Full Spectrum Punch Control – Control your boxer’s punches with precision and accuracy like never before with a new synergy of gameplay controls. From overhand punches to strategic counter jabs and one-punch knockouts, overwhelm your opponents with your refined skill set.
  • Physics-Based Gameplay – Time your attacks with precision. Building off the best-in-class gameplay engine featured in Fight Night Round 4, you now have an even wider range of abilities when it comes to counterattacks, setting up combos, and attacking your opponent.
  • Legacy Mode – Create your alter ego and put him in the ring against past champions. Work your way up the ranks through training and scheduled bouts, and establish your name as the fighter to beat. Take your boxer online and see how you size up against the best in the world competing for local or worldwide belts in the all-new Fight Night Nation.
  • Authentic Content – Fight Night Champion showcases the truest graphical representation of the sport, lifestyle, and culture of boxing with authentic and dynamic blood, realistic body damage and deformation, and mature content throughout. Experience the violence and brutality that is true to the trade.

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