Fight Night: Round 4
Not just a great looking beat ‘em up, but the single best depiction of the human form in a video game I have ever seen – FN4 is graphically staggering. The measure of the visual prowess of this graceful bruiser is the fact that you can recognise each and every one of the boxing legends lined up for your delectation. And what a roster? George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Marvin Hagler – Brits like Ricky Hatton and Lennox Lewis – and the two greats, Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson.
Legacy Mode had sorted out many of the problems that dogged FN3’s Career Mode and includes new training modes, divisional rankings and multiple titles in each division. And the gameplay and A.I has been refined since FN3 too, to include a wider range of styles and strategies. And there’s more training with precise fighter styles, so us mature gamers, who have actually seen the featured fighters do their thing in the real ring (on Sky at least!) can practice the signature moves we love (except perhaps the infamous Tyson ear-chew manoeuvre!)
Boxing clever. A first look at the beat ‘em up at it best!
The FN4 gameplay experience is engineered to perfection. Simple quirks like the recovery from K.O are brilliant as you try to balance your prize-fighter while the commentators predict your certain demise. And I just love the corner game – it’s another shining example of E.As bottom-up approach to this game’s architecture; your decisions, as your virtual brawler is sponged and cut by your team, could mean the critical difference to your stamina and hitting power during the next round.
Online hasn’t been forgotten. A comprehensive Online World Championship offers the chance to move up the rankings and claim the much-coveted Online World Championship Belt.
But it’s the visual styling of this game that deserves commendation. The mottled skin, the sweat and spit, the ripples of your fighter’s fully customisable shorts are just so gorgeous – you might get clobbered while you gaze at them.
This kind of visceral, high-definition gaming is what the Xbox360 and PS3 were designed to deliver and pound for pound, Fight Night 4 is one of the best games available for either platform.
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