FaceBreaker Hands-On

The first thing you're likely to notice about FaceBreaker is the eccentric stable of boxers shown pummeling each other in any number of prerelease videos and screenshots. We certainly can't fault you for that--each character is dripping with style, from the Jack Black-inspired faux kung fu artist Steve to the suave lady killer Romeo. It's not until you get your hands on a controller that you discover FaceBreaker's hidden depth. Lurking behind two simple attack buttons is a stacking tier of increasingly effective special moves, a ping pong-like parry system, and the ability to simply fight with one arm behind your back when you've mastered it all. We recently took part in our first hands-on session with FaceBreaker, getting a feel for these control mechanics while taking a look at the interesting boxer factory character-creation system.

Our time was spent playing the PlayStation 3 version, though the game will also be released on the Xbox 360. Your two basic attacks go like this: X to land a low punch on the opponent's torso and square to throw a high punch at his head. You can hold R1 to block, and if you time it right with a punch, you can parry the attack to respond with your own counterpunch. The fun part about this system is that each boxer can keep parrying as long as he continues to time the punches correctly, so theoretically, you could see a dozen failed punches exchanged until someone finally flinches and takes a jab to the face.

Landing a series of uncountered punches will build your FaceBreaker meter, which is the game's system of special attacks. These are triggered by hitting the triangle button. The first level is the GroundBreaker, which is a slightly more devastating punch than the basic high and low attacks. The next level is the SkyBreaker. This one derives its name from the savage uppercut you give your opponent, lifting him high into the air, and if you time a second triangle press correctly on his way down, you'll land another punch to add insult to injury. After the third level, the BoneBreaker, is the final step in the meter, which is the titular FaceBreaker. This is basically your finishing move. Each character will do away with his opponent in his own unique way, like Molotov the Ivan Drago-esque Russian doing push-ups on someone's face or Voodoo the overweight shaman jumping from the turnbuckle to land posterior first on another person's face. Notice a theme? They're called "FaceBreakers" for a reason.

If you find yourself underwhelmed by the quality of your opponent, you can hold the L1 button to keep one arm behind your back and fight with a bit of condescending panache. There's no tangible reward for fighting like this-- only the look on your buddy's face when you continue to beat him despite your showboating. With an arm behind your back, your move set will be changed to mock your opponent. One of your moves is the ability to simply shove your opponent down to the ground, while another will see you landing a solid kick to the nether regions. It may not be the most practical of attacks, but it helps reinforce the game's focus on multiplayer zaniness.

Overall, we had a lot of fun with FaceBreaker. The controls are simple and easy to pick up, with each character's personality adding extra appeal to the simplified style of boxing presented in the game. But while it may be simple, we picked up on certain areas where strategy is a must. The most notable area is with FaceBreakers. When you use the first or second tier, you'll drop your FaceBreaker meter back to zero. What that does is knock away a substantial portion of your opponent's health, but you'll, then, need to build it back up all over again for the next special move. This adds a fun risk-reward element to the fighting. You're constantly at odds with your instinct to pummel your opponent as savagely as you can right at that moment, but in the back of your head, you know you can guarantee yourself a victory if you patiently build that FaceBreaker gauge all the way up to the top.

When not abusing the ability to fight with our hands behind our back, lead designer Todd Batty was kind enough to walk us through a few of the game modes. FaceBreaker is, without a doubt, a multiplayer game. The ease of controls and eccentricity of character movement lends itself very well to having fun with others. One of the ways the developers are looking to encourage you to play this way is with the Couch Party mode, which essentially allows you to create a pool of players and have them swap controllers between each round. The winner stays on while the loser has to hand over the controller, but it becomes increasingly difficult for the winner to stay on with each passing round because he only gets three knockouts to carry over through each match.

The other interesting feature we saw is the boxer factory. Here, you can design your own Frankenstein's monster and throw him into the ring. You can either download photos from your hard drive or a USB camera to create the face and then choose body-shape templates based on the actual cast of boxers. You, then, adjust more than 60 sliders to tweak the look of your boxer to change his hair, shorts, and other visual characteristics. To cap it all off, you can upload your design to a content-sharing service that houses 30 boxers per user. Boxers will be promoted through a YouTube-style system that ranks and features various designs to help you sift through the muck to find the real gems.

We also had the chance to take a look at the Wii version, known as FaceBreaker: K.O. Party. It plays very similarly to its PS3 and 360 brethren, but with a few notable differences outside the obvious inclusion of motion controls. As a way of mixing up the way you throw punches, characters will have their own handedness to take into account. That means characters, not players, will be either left- or right-handed, and you need to focus on their dominant hand while boxing. The actual fighting has been slowed down a tick to reduce any chaotic flailing. There won't be a Boxer Factory, but there will be a few unique multiplayer modes. And finally, the Wii version has the leg up on other versions in character selection; you can choose from the same cast of characters, plus a few extras unique to K.O. Party.

FaceBreaker is looking like a fine introduction from EA's new Freestyle brand. The appearance is slick and comical while the controls offer accessibility and enough light strategy to keep you involved. We'll be sure to bring you more on FaceBreaker as its release draws closer.