Introduction

When people mention a fighting game on the Xbox 360, two specific titles should instantly jump into your head: Dead or Alive 4 and Fight Night Round 3. While everyone knows Dead or Alive for being a fast paced arcade style fighter and the Fight Night series for delivering a realistic boxing experience, it’s easy to see how these titles are both similar and yet different. Fight Night Round 3 should really appeal to gamers who don’t like their matches ending in a matter of seconds. Instead of sporadically flailing your arms in order to avoid being killed by a combo, here you’ll find that a different type of strategy is involved. In order to succeed here, you need to find the perfect balance between power, speed, and control to leave your opponents unconscious on the canvas.

Knockout Visuals

Any Xbox 360 owner should expect a certain standard for the graphics in a next generation game, and even though EA owns exclusive gaming rights it hasn’t prevented them from presenting us with an amazing looking game. The most impressive aspect hands down is the character detail. The models are intricately detailed down to every last muscle. As a match progresses, you can clearly see their faces looked fatigue, cuts begin to open, and their punches begin to slow down. Removing the HUD helps you notice the little details in your fighter’s behavior, adding a realistic touch that couldn’t be achieved otherwise.

Another nice feature is that camera mode that goes along with the impact punch. Just as somebody is ready to hit the floor, the game will slow down, making every single movement seem increasingly important. If you manage to land a powerful blow, you’ll see your opponent’s face ripple with the bone crushing shockwave you sent through their body. As blood and sweat flies from their face, it’s gruesomely satisfying to watch the look of pain and horror in your rival’s eyes. A lot of meticulous work went into every aspect of this game. Every last wrinkle in your trunks to the laces on your clown shoes have been created to perfection and it’s easy to believe that you’re watching a real boxing fight at times.

Unfortunately, Fight Night Round 3 has its share of graphical bugs as well. A fair amount of clipping can be seen, so don’t be surprised if it looks like your shorts are going through your legs. The animations still need to be worked on due to their jerkiness, and the lack of fluid motions is clear when you quickly switch up blocks and jabs. Furthermore, the camera can be a little dizzying because it’s constantly rotating and zooming, but if you’ve never had a problem with anything like motion sickness then you should be alright. Overall FNR3 is one of the best looking games to hit the 360, which is amazing considering there is still much room for improvement.

Bloodcurdling Sound

To help build on the overall realism here, the sound is also nothing short of incredible. During a fight, you can hear the crowd chanting, members from each corner offering advice, and of course the announcer will be giving his input. Above everything else, the fighter’s sound effects are by far the most memorable. You can hear grunting as they throw a punch followed by the sweet noise of leather crashing into a face. If you manage to land a power punch, you can literally cringe after hearing the noise on impact. A clap as loud as thunder should make you wrench your teeth, but if that isn’t enough then the moaning and the groaning of the fighter struggling for breath will.

Just like with the visuals, FNR3 also has its fair share of problems in the audio department. The announcers and coaches seem to run out of catch phrases very early on the game, making it likely that you’ll be bored to death with the commentary quickly. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard about the Golden Boy winning the ’92 Olympics or about my opponent’s Philly style defense, but quite frankly I’ve stopped caring. The soundtrack is also limited to a few hip hop tracks which are overplayed, so be prepared to listen to your own tracks instead. While these are merely minor inconveniences, it should be known that the sound effects as a whole are outstanding.

Let’s get it on!

New features to Fight Night Round 3 include new punches, customizable fighting styles, and a redesigned career mode. The aforementioned impact punches are simply variations of the ever-popular haymaker. The original haymaker is just a heavy punch intended to deal a lot of damage as opposed to quick jabs. The flash KO punch is an even stronger punch that will drain your opponent of nearly all of his health, almost ensuring a knockdown. If you're lucky, sometimes you'll be able to KO your opponent without even entering the slow motion mode. The stun punch is an interesting rendition of the haymaker which will invoke a first person camera. Viewing through the eyes of your fighter, you either need to pull off a series of quick punches or try to fend off an incoming barrage of fists. Stun punches are very uncommon, and even when they do occur it's hard to tell what's going on. All of these power punches require a bit of a windup, which makes them difficult to land so they can't be overused.

When you're creating a custom character, not only can you edit their appearance and stats, but the new fighting styles feature is also available. Here, you can select base, punch, and block styles in order to create a truly unique character. You could choose to have a power based fighter who is lumpy and lethargic, a boxer built on speed who dances around and is hard to hit, or a highly defensive character who seems to have a little bit of everything. There are enough possibilities to choose from that will have a great impact on your fighter's abilities, so it's best to use a trial and error method to find which one is best for you.

Aside from being able to edit your character's fighting styles in-between matches, there are plenty of other reasons as to why the career mode is different. Instead of having a numbered ranking system where you can see who the champion boxer is, the objective in your career is to become popular. As a result, the career feels more like a series of fights instead of an actual quest to become the world’s best fighter. Whether you decide to create your own boxer based on hundreds of different characteristics or if you want to rebuild the career of a legend, you just won't see your guy rise through the ranks like in previous versions. Now, as your popularity increases you can participate in special contract fights and earn new sponsors. This blatantly allows EA to incorporate a proliferation of advertisements throughout the game's entirety, so prepare to be bombarded with messages from Dodge, Burger King, Under Armor, and plenty more.

You'll have three minigames to choose from that can build speed, accuracy, and strength and are all fairly easy to learn. You can also purchase various items to earn stat boosts from the Fight Store, and you'll need to unlock items along the way through defeating your toughest rivals. There is still some progression though, as you will notice the venues getting larger and your opponents having much more health, but overall it feels too much like a series of single player matches than a boxer’s quest for glory as a fighter.

Due to a contract made with ESPN, EA was able to incorporate the ESPN Classic mode. In it, you can relive some of the biggest bouts in fighting history. While this is definitely a great idea, too many important details were left out. First of all, they should've included retro style venues to fit the proper era. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for Ali and Frazier to be fighting in an arena covered in flashing Dodge spotlights. Aside from a brief history of the boxers before the match, there's really nothing historical about these fights at all. Essentially, all this mode does is predetermine the fighters and then leave you to do the rest. A scenario situation where you would have to change history would've been nice to have, but sadly there's no real incentive to play ESPN Classic Mode aside from being able to unlock special gear.

Veterans of the Fight Night series should be familiar with the total control fighting scheme, but your newcomers needn’t worry either. Basically, the left analog stick is used to move while the right analog stick is used to throw punches. Pushing the stick diagonal up left or up right will throw a quick jab, while doing quarter or half circle motions can throw hooks and uppercuts. If you rotate the stick a little bit in one direction and then quickly move a half circle in the other direction, you create a winding up motion that will throw a haymaker. Holding the left trigger can be used to lean away from punches or throw body shots, while the right trigger can be used to block high or low. This seems like a lot to learn at first, but a sparring tutorial with built in lessons should help the most clueless gamers learn how to throw a punch.

This setup allows FNR3 to deliver an unparalleled fighting experience that is based solely around instincts. If you see your foe let his guard down on the left side, you can throw a quick jab to his face without having to think twice. Instead of having to memorize button combinations and sequences, all you have to do is trust yourself and attack based on what feels right. While you still have your buttons for signature punches, illegal blows, and even for clinching if you get tired, the total control system has been and always will be a great tool for fighting.

The Future of Fight Night Round 3 – Multiplayer

As one should expect, Round 3 comes with all of the tradition online gaming functions. Online matches come packed with stat-tracking, leaderboards, and match customization options. The experience is virtually lag free, which is crucial in a game that requires so much precision. You also have the option to fight against a friend at home, and the look on their face can be so rewarding when their fighter is seeing stars. Overall, fighting human opponents is a nice change because they are much less predictable then the computer AI at times, so there's never a dull moment. Eight achievements can be earned by winning certain fights in the career mode too, and as long as you make it to the end you can claim an easy 1,000 gamerpoints without even breaking a sweat. This title will never grow old online, especially if you just love to talk trash.

Conclusion

Living up to its fabled name, Fight Night Round 3 undoubtedly lives up to its reputation. The bouts are as heated as ever, and new features like the boxing styles and impact punches add a nice touch to help balance the gameplay. Although various glitches in the presentation and a few bland game modes stick out as sore spots, it’s still easy to warrant spending $60 USD on this game.