Fight Night Champion

Developer: EA Swiss

Publisher: EASports

Early on in the Xbox 360, and PS3’s life cycle, Fight Night Round 3 set message boards ablaze with excitement over the impressive visuals on offer, quickly establishing itself as a benchmark that gamers would measure other games up against. Even after Fight Night Round 4, people would still admire the achievements of its older brother. The fifth game in the series Fight Night: Champion takes the lessons learned by its predecessors, and adds a twist of its own, in an attempt to keep the game fresh and appealing to fans of the series.

The graphics, although not overhauled, have been visually touched up. In addition to this, the developers have made the body movements and reactions more like their real life counter parts. By introducing glancing blows, as well as the danger of being able to floor your opponent with a lucky punch, the way players will have to approach fights has changed much more than you would think.

At the heart of things, Fight Night: Champion is still very much like older iterations. Looks wise, it can often be difficult to tell the games apart and the boxers feel and respond in very similar ways to their last outing. Thankfully, the ability to conduct fights using the buttons instead of the right analogue stick is back in place, but the option to use the stick still remains if that is your preference.

The plethora of boxers available to players has been built upon, as you would expect, and all the familiar game modes still remain. Players can still rise to the top of the boxing tree in legacy mode, give their friends a haymaker as they sit beside them on the couch, and take their game online to try and prove their worth against the online community.

Thankfully the online mode has been improved, with the introduction of online gyms making things easier to find match ups, but the big addition to Fight Night: Champion (FNC) is the introduction of champion mode.

For the first time, EA have introduced a cinematic story mode to the Fight Night series and it is for the most part a real joy and completely refreshing. Although very cliché, the story mode has players working their way up through the ranks of professional boxing whilst waging a fight outside the ring against a corrupt promoter, out to take you down for refusing to work for him. Although slightly predictable, the story still remains enjoyable. The story mode definitely has the potential to recapture the interest of Fight Night fans that have become bored of the same monotonous formula, but it’s not without its problems.

Players getting to grips with FNC will encounter the same problems that those new to the game have encountered over the lifecycle of the series. Although being relatively easy to pick up and play, as the players progress through the ranks of legacy mode, and are matched up against more difficult opponents, there is a difficulty spike that can become frustrating. Players will find that their methods of approaching fighters will suddenly become unusable and they will be forced to learn a different way of fighting. For many, this will not be a major issue, but it is definitely something that should be considered.

Whilst being one of the most refreshing things about the game, the new story mode can also be the source of the most frustration. Littered throughout the mode are a series of boss fights that will force the player to achieve specific goals before they can progress. An example of this has the players running away from their opponent for two rounds in an attempt to tire him out before being forced to throw body shots at him for a further 3 rounds. Effectively this makes players avoid punching for half of the fight. Admittedly, there are times that these restrictions will add an element of drama to a fight, but for the most part these are just plain annoying.

Overall this game is a must buy for boxing fans. Anyone bored of the series is likely to find some enjoyment from champion mode. FNC is unlikely to bring new fans to the series, however, and the champion mode is likely to annoy as many people as it pleases.

Good

• Champion mode is refreshing.
• Looks brilliant.
• You can punch using the buttons again.

Bad

• Boss fights in a boxing game.
• Boss fights in a boxing game.
• Boss fights in a boxing game.