Fight Night Round 4 Hands On Page 2

08 May 2009 at 17:15:37 by Andy Alderson

If you played the previous Fight Night games at any length, you will probably have encountered the mysterious phenomenon of the invisible wall. No matter how far you moved towards your opponent there was always a considerable gap between you, preventing proper inside fighting. This was presumably due to the punch scripting and clipping issues, neither of which are concerns in Round 4. Whereas in Round 3 fighting styles were almost purely cosmetic, in Round 4 they have a huge impact on the gameplay. The old boxing cliché “styles make fights” has never rung truer and we put the new inside fighting to the test in our Tyson-Ali match up. Playing as Ali we’re able to keep the fearsome Tyson at arm’s length, using Ali’s jab, reach advantage and ring generalship to take the first round. However, at the start of the second, Tyson sneaks his way inside using his trademarked head bob and opens up a multi-pack of whoop-ass on Ali. Richards explains that, when fighting at this range, Ali’s punches become less effective because they frequently overshoot Tyson’s head. Tyson, however, has strong, shortened punches on the inside which carry much more weight. I try to create some distance between Ali and Iron Mike with the new push feature (which is fantastic) but just as I think I’ve broken free, he catches Ali square on the jaw with a clubbing hook, knocking him instantly to the floor. Unlike in Round 3, what follows is not a scripted knockdown sequence, but rather is entirely physics-based. “It matters where you get hit, how hard you get hit, what direction did you get hit from and the power of the punch,” says Richards.

The way fighters take - and also recover from – damage has also evolved. Richards explains that the way you fight in a round affects how many points you’ll be able to spend on your recovery between rounds. Gone are the tedious iron and swabbing mini-games, to be replaced by a simple points allocation system. “If I’m stunning a guy, cutting a guy, landing most of my punches and I’m not getting hit, eventually I’ll get more and more points. I can use those points in three areas: health, stamina and damage.” Conversely if you have a relatively inactive round, you won’t be able to recover as quickly if you take a pounding. You can also store up your recovery points to give you an advantage later in the fight, but if you take too much damage, the referee will stop the contest.  “Everything that we’ve done is speaking to the authenticity of the sport,” says Richards as he goes on to explain how this is especially true of the game’s new Legacy career mode.

“In the past, it was pretty much just “train, fight, train, fight” and you just keep fighting  until you win the comp,” he says. “Now, you have to schedule your fights, train, there are pound for pound rankings, real rankings, world rankings and you actually see the progression. It’s based solely on the real-life sport.” At every level of the new Legacy mode, the game will let you know what is necessary for advancement. It may be to maintain a healthy win percentage, or you may need to gain popularity by accepting call-outs and becoming a fan favourite. This is no 90 fight affair, however.  Just as you can progress through the rankings, you can also be retired. As a result, fight selection becomes much more important adding a much-needed element of strategy to the single player game. As well as fighting the familiar faces in the Legacy mode, Richards states you can also import your friends’ created fighters too, for an extra level of challenge. The Fight Night fan community’s biggest complaint about Round 3 was the unrealistic and repetitive career mode, so it seems as if the developer has been paying attention. 

Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the Legacy mode in action, but what we did see of Round 4 has certainly whet our appetite. With stunning visuals and a varied roster of fighters, Round 4 is certainly an appealing prospect for boxing fans. But the new physics engine is undoubtedly the star of the show and Richards believes it may set a new benchmark for fighting games. “What we’ve done with the game engine here is really revolutionise the fighting category,” he says. “Our goal was to get to the point where other games will be judged against it.”

Fight Night Round 4 is due for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 on 26 June.

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