Fight Night Champion

When Fight Night Round 3 came to the 360, it really showed exactly what the 360 was capable of, and built a further step on an already established series. Then Round 4 came out, and was generally well received, once again building on the legacy that EA was starting when it comes to making a great boxing title.

You could argue that a lot of the other sporting games merely have an updated roster and a new slap of paint on it, so it's easy to fall into the assumption that the same can be said for the Fight Night series. You'll be glad to hear that this is definitely not the case with Fight Night Champion. This is a clear step up with a number of improvements that make it a worthy purchase, even for those of you that may have missed the last few titles.

The first major addition is the Champion mode. Rather than just the previously yawn-inducing career mode, now has a fully fleshed out storyline mode, written by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Will Rokos (for Monster's Ball). The story follows the rise, and fall, then rise again of fictional boxer Andre Bishop. The story ticks just about every cliche box in the sporting movie genre, but does it so well that you're still glued to the very end. The fights along the way are still interesting and varied and throw in some great scenarios. Some fights are simple "knock our your opponent" tasks, some of are bare-knuckle against fight supremacist prison inmates, while some have you letting you only play certain punch types.

The control scheme has been improved too. Gone are the haymakers, thank christ, and the analog stick movements have been simplified to make combos easier to do and if you want to make the combos even easier again, you can use the buttons. This does make it easier to throw effective combos, but relying on the buttons just takes away that extra sense of immersion that you get when using the right stick to throw that final filler blow, so I'd suggest avoid taking the easy way out where you can.

This guy is going to light you up like Christmas tree

Perfecting your combos is as important as ever, because the AI really does seem to have stepped up this time around. It's a pretty big understatement, but Fight Night Champion, when set to the higher difficulties, is punishing to controller-snapping ends. Racing into a match with fists blazing in every direction will see you hit the canvas pretty quickly, and each boxer truly does feel different to play as, and play against. Sure, you may work out how to take down Mike Tyson in under 3 rounds, but that same technique and style doesn't match up against Anthony Mundine. That's right, Anthony Mundine. I won't deny it, the man is a brilliant athlete, but personally, I loved the opportunity to smack his face in. Also, the character of Anthony Mundine looks NOTHING like the real man. Not even a little bit.

Even after you've completed the Champion mode, the roster has over 50 professional boxers at your disposal, with many more available to download through the online community. So there's plenty for you here if you want to keep playing offline. You can quickly match up boxers to set up your perfect dream fight, or you can use the Legacy mode, which will allow you to create your own boxer and build them up to the top - much like the career mode of old.

If searching online for a game is your thing, then Fight Night have you covered too. There's a rich online community here, with an almost clan-esque setting. Instead of "clans" you have "gyms". You can set up your gym, fight other people who join your gym, or even set up grudge matches to take on rival gyms, elevating your position on the leaderboards. If you're good enough to be a world-wide title holder, everyone else online will get a notification that you've appeared online, so if you want to stay at the top, expect to put in the work.

That'll wipe the smile off his face!

Graphics wise, Fight Night Champion really steps up to the mark. The graphics are nice and clean, and the presentation is outstanding. The actual in-game animations are smooth as silk and are quite frankly some of the most fluid and realistic as you'll find in any game out today. The cut-scenes, which were created with the actors in motion-caption suits (the female lead character is played by Eliza Dushku - any chance we can get a video of her in a mo-cap suit?) to give it that extra realistic movement and even the most subtle facial expressions are executed with brilliance. The ripple effects of the slow-motion knock-out punches still look terrific and are as real as you could hope for.

Extra effort has also been put into the sound design too. Fight Night have always been known for their stomach turning sound effects as you see that final blow as the boxer hits the ground, and Fight Night Champion is no exception. If you play enough matches, then you'll start to hear the same commentary over and over again, which can get annoying, but there does seem to be a lot of modifiers, so just when you think you recognise the rant one of the commentators is starting, it will change tact and launch into something totally new, so hopefully this shouldn't prove too much of a distraction.

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