Fight Night Round 4 – Demo Hands-On

On June 23rd, Electronic Arts will release the newest entry into their acclaimed Fight Night series with what is possibly the most heavily anticipated version yet, Fight Night Round 4.  With only a few weeks left before its release, we’ve had the opportunity to test the game out, and here are our thoughts – – –

The demo we’ve played gives us a short tutorial on the game’s new Total Punch Control system (more on this later) and then allows us to take part in a three round fight between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao.  The game looks and feels like it has made many improvements over the previous installments of the game.

Graphically, the boxer models look considerably more realistic than in Round 3, and boxer animations are much more fluid and life-like.  We’ll wait to delve into the intricacies of the controls till after the official release, but suffice it to say that the game plays much more realistically and steers clear of the “parry, haymaker, repeat”  fighting that really hampered the online play of Round 3.

Many issues complained about by fans of the series appear to have been addressed.  A few of these include the ability to fight on the inside, a better balance between punch types, and a new corner man system. Although for the most part issues have been fixed and improved, there is one new issue that has caused a stir among the Fight Night community.  EA has done away with the ability of players to use the face buttons to control punches. Players will now all be forced to use the Total Punch Control system of using the right analog stick to control punching.  For those who enjoy the TPC system, this is no problem.  However, those who prefer using face buttons will be faced with a steep learning curve with the TPC.

Joe Tessitore has returned as the ringside play-by-play announcer in Fight Night Round 4, but this time he’s not alone.  He will be joined by the boxing coach and analyst, Teddy Atlas, who is well received in the boxing world for his work on Friday Night Fights as well as with advising young, up-and-coming boxers.

Another complaint about the previous Fight Night games was that the roster didn’t have the boxers people wanted to use.  Mike Tyson is a prime example.  In Round 4, EA pulled out all the stops and made the most comprehensive roster of boxers in a Fight Night game to date.  Below is the full 50 fighter roster –

Amin Asikainen                                      Anthony Mundine

Arementa                                              Arthur Abraham

Arturo Gatti                                           Billy Dib

Carlos Monzon                                       Corey Spinks

Diego Corrales                                       Eddie Chambers

Edwim Valero                                        Emanuel Agustus

Erik Morales                                          Fernando Montiel

George Foreman                                    Jake Lamotta

James Toney                                         Jermaine Taylor

Joe Calzaghe                                         Joe Frazier

Jorge Armando Arce                              Julio Caesar Chavez

Kelly Pavlik                                           Kermit Cinteron

Lennox Lewis                                        Manny Pacquiao

Marco Antonio Barrera                           Marvin Hagler

Miguel Cotto                                         Mike Tyson

Muhammad Ali                                     Nate Campbell

Nonito Donair                                       Paulie Malignaggi

Pernell Whittaker                                  Ray Leonard

Ray Robinson                                       Ricky Hatton

Roberto Duran                                     Roberto Guerrero

Ronald “Winky” Wright                           Roy Jones Jr.

Sergio Mora                                         Shane Mosely

Thomas Hearns                                   Tommy Morrison

Victor Ortiz                                          Vinny Paz

Vivian Harris                                        Yuriorkis Gamboa

That is quite a list.

With better graphics, better animations, more realistic gameplay, and a huge roster of boxers; Fight Night Round 4 looks to be the best boxing game to date.  Check back after June 23rd to see if Round 4 lives up to these lofty expectations.

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