PSP World

Fight Night Round 3

It's always interesting to discover some background of sports when writing a review so, other than what I'd watched on TV, it struck me just how little I knew about boxing other the fact that it’s two opponents hitting one another. I now know that it has its modern roots way back in the 18th Century and is often called 'the manly art of self-defense'. It can actually be traced much further back though and unbelievably it became part of the Olympics around 688 BC. Clearly we've had something of a fascination in this most basic of combat for some time now and that’s where Fight Night comes in. OK, so it's no longer swords and sandals, or even 'Queensbury rules', as one gentleman to another would often utter at the beginning of a fist fueled duel, but it is still two opponents hitting one another and that has to be fun, doesn't it?

A boxing title should be fairly self-explanatory but, as with all sports titles, everyone is interested in the range of modes available. Anyone wanting an instant fix can opt for the 'Play Now' option but gamers more interested in classic fights can select 'Rival Challenges' where you can replay classic fights with the first being Ali vs. Frazier. Who knows, you may even change the outcome. Those wishing for a longer challenge can try the Career and Hard Hits with the latter rewarding gamers for the amount of knockouts. There are also Multiplayer and on-line, thanks to the PSP's Infrastructure Mode although this is far from perfect and it took us some time to get a single game.

It's the Career Mode which most boxing fans will head for though and the chance to shape your own champ taking them from the most basic fights to the top of their game is hard for anyone to resist. This takes in just about everything from different classes of fights to the money earned but it all really starts by selecting an opponent to actually fight. Once you've done this it's back to training. There are different types of workout available here and though the harder you train the greater your chance of success, you also run the risk of injury if you don't pace yourself. It's then onto the fight with opponents you've previously defeated vowing for revenge (remember they've been training too). Keeping a cool head whilst drawing on everything practiced in training is key. Success is not only about rising through the ranks but also prize money and this is divided into different percentages depending on which class you've entered. Obviously a matched ranking will mean a split purse but entering other classes will drastically alter the amount of money you'll receive, Don't forget there are also promoters, your trainer, equipment and a whole host of others who'll want their cut too.

Visually the whole thing is very impressive and the developers have done a fine job of making the venues incredibly atmospheric. In addition to this you can alter the way the boxers look and I'm not talking just hair and eye color here but their whole physical appearance. This includes everything from the amount of muscle and fat a body has, to actually changing every aspect on his face meaning you can, with a little time and effort, make your boxer look like anyone. Even yourself. All this is tied together with an excellent user interface meaning it not only looks nice but also is a joy to get around.

One thing sports games have always suffered from is repetitious audio. This is because, unlike other game genres, you'll play the same type of level repeatedly and, as a result, some audio aspects will begin to repeat themselves... a lot. Take the commentator, for example, if you indulged in only a few bouts I'm sure he would sound competent enough with his observations of the fight in progress as good as anyone else’s. Do the same thing a dozen or so times and you'll suddenly discover that he's actually saying the same thing over and over again and while most pundits have their favorite lines, this becomes almost robotic. The sound effects thankfully fare far better as do the various music tracks. Incidentally one nice extra here is the ability to listen to any of the tracks from a central menu system complete with visual synthesizer.

Due to the lack of the second analogue stick the control system is possibly the weakest (and most frustrating) aspect of the game and while actually throwing punches is incredibly simplistic, selecting the correct one for the job isn't. This is down to the sheer number of buttons you'll have to master for some of the more powerful punches with an uppercut, for example, requiring three separate buttons to be pressed before it's unleashed. It’s far from intuitive. This would be problem enough but there's also the added challenge of defense and as you'd expect this is activated by the shoulder buttons with the remaining signature punches controlled by the d-pad. This makes for some very mechanical feeling bouts initially but a little practice should bring you some success. It really shouldn't be this difficult to begin with though and some would argue is, a step back, from previous versions.

Having spent some time with this game I have to say that overall it was certainly a great deal better than I expected although a close friend, who beat me in every multiplayer bout, was far less impressed mainly due to the fact that he'd been playing console games for some time and saw Round 3 as something of a backwards step. In the end Fight Night Round 3 is far from a perfect boxing game but if you're prepared to stick with the rather cumbersome control system then there is a great deal of gameplay to be enjoyed here and who knows, maybe Round 4 will have the type of user interface the series requires.

By Andrew Blanchard

Review Round-Up

IGN: 6.7
"It's disappointing to see that EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 had plenty of cool things going for it, especially with its career mode and optional feature sets, only to be brought down by a poorly translated fighting mechanic."

GameSpot: 6.9
"If you can manage to get a handle on the controls, you may find a likeable boxing game in Round 3 for the PSP."

GameSpy: 5.0
"Fight Night Round 3 is essentially a clone of Fight Night Round 2, but rather dumbed-down for the PSP. EA tried to port a console game that's completely dependent on a second analog stick to the PSP, which is an admirable endeavor, but unfortunately, they mostly failed."

GamePro: 7.0
"In short spurts, playing Fight Night is an exceptional portable fighting game. Release that angst and go a few rounds with your favorite boxer--you won't be disappointed. But if you decide to make it a career in the hard-knock life, just remember that your fingers will be aching more than your fists."

Aggregate Rating: 7.6