Fight Night Round 3

THE BAD:

• Maybe there could be more popular boxers included. When saying this, I mean boxers like Mayweather, Tyson etc.
• Repetitive.

SUMMARY:
Fight Night Round 3 is without a doubt the best boxing game on the market. Albeit, there is a lack of competition in the boxing game genre, but that doesn't make this game any less worthy of its high regard if there was more competition. What makes this game so good are the precise and realistic boxing, detailed facial damage, create a fighter mode, and arguably one of the better career modes that comes with a boxing game.

We'll start off by talking about one of the most vital parts of any fighting sim, the fighting. The boxing in Fight Night is helped by a great addition called the Total Punch Control; this allows you to hit your opponent with the right punch, with the right force behind it, and the accuracy to allow you maximum damage. The Total Punch Control is done via the analogue stick. For newcomers, this can be tricky to get used to, but no worries at all, you can go straight back to using the old school triangle, square, x and o for your punches. The reason why you will want to get used with the Total Punch Control is simple, you have more of a chance to stun your opponent to allow you to kick ass, and a better chance of that great 1 punch knockout every fighter craves. There are of course the illegal blows, where would a boxing game be without the odd dirty head butt now and again?

We have to talk more about this Total Punch Control, unique to the Fight Night games for several years. This feature is one of the features that make the game what it is, mainly because it builds on the realistic fighting on the game. You can connect several impact punches during a bout with this feature, they are; The legendary Frazier Haymaker, an all power KO punch, the flash KO punch which is kind of like a haymaker, this punch instantly drains your opponent's health and primes him for a quick knockdown, a stun punch is another exaggeration of the haymaker, and it starts of a sort of reverse first-person game where you see yourself through the eyes of your opponent as you lay into him with punches. All these punches are good, but they are hard to pull off.

There is different fighting styles you can use in the game. Boxers already in the game will have a similar fighting style to what they have/had in real life. For example, Muhammad Ali will float like a butterfly, and sting like a bee. Smoking Joe Frazier will look to hit you with those powerful shots and haymaker you until you're on the mat flat out. When you create a boxer you can chose what style you want to have by setting the base style, punch style and block style. Different styles include a light on your feet speed style, go all out and slug style etc.

Ahh yes, the fighting. That's all good, but the person you're trying to knockout has the same idea as you, he wants to lay you on your ass also. One word, defence. The defence on Fight Night Round 3 is just as realistic as the scrapping. You can duck and weave like Mayweather, dance about the ring like Muhammad Ali, block the punches and counter with a huge haymaker, or if you're really in the shit, you can clinch to save yourself from being knocked out. A good defence is vital along with knowing how to punch. If you go out to punch, the guy you're attempting to punch will be defending, and every shot you miss will waste vital stamina you will need for your heavy bombs leading up to a knockout.

No doubt you will take some damage, if you don't, then you're to bloody good. When your fighter is damaged with cuts and swelling, between each round it is vital you do a good job. Yes, you. You are that important guy that sorts out your boxers cuts and bruises. This is a nifty little feature that involves you moving the analogue stick slowly to take down the cutting and swelling. If you go too hard at it, the % of the cut or bruise will go down slowly, but if you get the right speed, it will go down fast and you won’t have to worry about a referee stoppage due to a dodgy cut.

There are different modes on the game. The usual play now, career and a mode called ESPN classic. The play now is just your typical quick fight between two fighters of your choice, and basically the mode you'll likely use when you play with a friend. The career mode is a your typical run of the mill be champion, and the ESPN classic is if you want to relive, and fight in one of those classic fights like Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, or Mickey Ward vs. Arturo Gatti.

We will look at the career mode more in-depth because of its importance in the game. You start of by having the option to create your own fighter, create yourself if you wish, or you can start your career with a legend like Muhammad Ali, or any other fighter already on the game. Once you do all the creation jazz [talk about it more later] you will start like any other fighter in real life, as an amateur. You will fight your way through the amateur rankings until you win the belt, and then move on to become a professional boxer and the road to becoming the champ, and a legend. Throughout your career you will get rivals, buy yourself some new gear with every pay check you earn, fight in places varying from a warehouse to Madison Square Garden etc. You will also boost your attributes by playing minigames with your trainer. These minigames include sparring which doesn't boost your attributes, but will allow you to become confident with the Total Punch Control stuff, work out on the punch bag, give the combo dummy a smack or two, and finally weight lifting. Each minigame will boost certain attributes, so you'll have to set out a regime to get the best boost for your fighter.

Create a fighter in Fight Night is very detailed. You start out by setting your name, location, fight style etc. The thing that makes this very good is the fact you can mould the fighter to look like yourself, if you’re good enough to do this of course. You can adjust the skull size, nose length, style of hair, eyebrows and facial hair, eye colour etc. You will need to give the fighter attributes, choose whether your fighter will be more power over speed, more speed over power, if he'll cut easily, if you can take a shot on the chin and body etc. Sorry to let you down but, you can't just make yourself a legend straight away. You will have a certain number that you cannot go over, so try and make your fighter all rounded.

Gruesomeness, now that's a word. Lay into your opponent with punches, head butts, rabbit punches etc. Hell, knee him to the balls if it makes you feel manly. The more shots you hit the guy, the more gruesome the fight will become. Look at his eye! Where? Exactly. If you concentrate on one side of the face and connect well with your punches, that eye will start looking like something from Hostel. During this, why not have some fun? Just hit it a jab, move, jab, move etc. Eventually the referee will step in and stop it, or you can just watch the blood fly off that thing like the clothes of a whore in the Red Light District. It's only a game! GBH is all cool in the world of Playstation.

Everything in this game is great. The music is rather good also, even though it is mostly that rap/hip-hop crap, but it has some quality tracks. The graphics are the best you will get for a boxing game on the PS2, probably all the other next gen consoles also. You have fighters like Hatton, Ali, Gatti and de la Hoya, if your favourite fighter isn't on the game, hell, why not create him on the awesome create a fighter? I demand you buy this game if you have a love for boxing. I guarantee you won’t regret it.