FIGHT NIGHT CHAMPION

 

PLATFORMS: PS3 , XBOX 360 AND iPHONE

GENRE: SPORTS

Fight Night Champion shows the brutal price boxers pay for stepping into the ring.

You can practically see the imprint of the glove on someone's face when you tag them enough. You can tell the severity of a cut – from mere scrapes to deep gashes – on the cheek just by looking. And once the blood starts flowing, you'll know it. It's all over the ring -- and Roberto Duran's trunks. 

Fight Night Champion, the fifth entry in the series, does an excellent job of enhancing the experience in the ring. Not only can you see the impact of punches, but some gameplay tweaks give you better control over their delivery. 

Gone is the old punching system that required complex analogue stick moves, such as half-circle moves for uppercuts. Now, every punch is thrown by flicking the stick quickly in a specific direction. The altered punching system not only speeds up the flow of a bout, but also puts the emphasis of your fighting skills on your strategy. It's nice to know you are definitely throwing an uppercut rather than hoping you made the right movements with the thumbstick to pull one off. You can still attempt a ridiculous rapid-punch session, but the penalty of exhausting your fighter quickly is severe. No one can really play like a fool and have long-term success with Fight Night. 

The AI is smart. In fact, it's smart enough that boxers feel like individuals when you face them. Ali and Tyson don't fight the same way. Ali plays with you; Tyson tries to destroy you. Fighters react well to situations. If you're in the seventh round and they know they're losing on points, they might become more aggressive. If cut, they are often overly protective of that side of their face. Sometimes fighters make dumb moves. Like if Jake LaMotta, the Raging Bull, is pounding them inside, they don't move around and play at a distance. Sometimes they just keep coming. 

The real drag is Legacy Mode. This is the career mode for your own created boxer. It's very much like Fight Night Round 4, but with the addition of an economy. You can pay to train at better facilities and fund your career with the sponsorships you earn. Otherwise, this feels like it did before -- a slow, plodding, uninspired drag. I can't say strongly enough how much I dislike Legacy Mode. It's off the mark in almost every way. The training modes are too hard and become tedious. And why do boxers start off fighting so pathetically? No stamina, no power. The matches are slow and boring. I want to be a rising star. Legacy Mode acts like Mike Tyson's first professional fight had him swinging like a kid on the playground. 

Fight Night Champion gets the boxing right and adds a flawed but enjoyable story mode. I've always put a lot of stock in career modes, but Legacy mode here is just downright bad. The mini-games are too tough and get boring fast. The entire concept just seems off. What should greatly extend Fight Night Champion's playtime, made me like the game a lot less. Avoid the career mode, enjoy the story mode, and spend a few hours creating some dream boxing matches. That will make any boxing fan happy.