The manly art of self defense: hopefully setting the trend for next-gen gaming.

User Rating: 7.5 | Fight Night Round 3 PS2
The third iteration of EA’s popular boxing franchise, Fight Night Round 3, continues its faithful adaptation of the sweet science. Many would chastise EA for resting on its laurels instead of adding new features or otherwise improving the game, but many times those extraneous features detract from the gameplay (see Madden).

Fight Night is the first game where players can realistically manipulate their fighters with the Total Punch Control mechanic, so the developers wisely held onto that element. It not only forces the player to choose a strategy, but unites him or her with their on-screen counterpart in a way that traditional button-mashing cannot. Pull back on the right analog stick and your respective character cocks an arm, waiting for your next input. Push up on the left stick and your boxer avoids that incoming hook. Sure, the character models, textures, and animations all look great, but what really distinguishes the Fight Night series from games like Mike Tyson’s Punch-out or Knockout Kings is the control scheme. Instead of simply learning the correct pattern to beat Tiger Paw and hammering on the face buttons, you are introduced to the finer points of the sport. Strategy replaces brute force; nuance replaces statistics. Possibly the only criticism applicable to last year’s game was the prevalence of haymakers, but they have since been toned down to a more realistic speed. What this translates to is a much slower, harder-to-land punch, but with even more capacity for damage.

There are a few omissions in the game, however. The most notable of these is a simple ranking list. You don’t move up a ladder, progressing to tougher opponents and bigger fights based on rank, but popularity. Once enough popularity is gained, you can be sponsored for the next event by Burger King, Staples, or Under Armor. I understand that the publicity of these corporations is readily apparent in the real world of boxing, but it just seems a little invasive here.

I was not privileged enough to play this on an Xbox360, but from what I’ve personally seen and what is available on the Internet, this is the only game thus far that deserves the label “next-gen.” The PS2 and Xbox versions look pretty similar to the editions of last year, but the visuals employed in the 360 version are astounding. That haymaker you just landed on B-Hop doesn’t just push his face to one side; the momentum of that impact can be seen rippling to the other side of his face, blood and sweat arcing out with almost disturbingly authentic accuracy.

Overall, Fight Night Round 3 is a well-made game. For not having any competition, EA could have done much worse, but they have shrewdly stuck to an excellent formula and churned out another winning title. Hopefully this trend in game design and philosophy, where stunning graphics don’t necessarily exclude meaningful interaction with players, is an accurate representation of the next generation of video games.