Boxing is far and away my most favoritest sport. I think it's much more exciting to watch than most sports and one of my favorite games of all time is Punch-Out for the NES. Needless to say, this game is light years away from playing as Little Mac...And feels like the first batch of truly next-gen gaming.
Everyone has at least seen screenshots of the game. Yes, it really does look that good all the time. Hell, it looks better in action than it does in screens. The boxers all look like real people and they even act like they're real too. At times it doesn't even feel like you're playing, just watching a fight on tv. There are some arenas that look better than others, and some of them do take you out of the realistic experience, but overall the game will have your jaw on the floor.
Character models are top notch for the boxers, and get slightly less detailed for your corner man and then even less detailed for the crowd. The crowd is the one thing that really takes you out of the experience, since they don't look or act realistically for the most part. But hey, you don't pay good money to look at the crowd, do ya? Oddly enough, there are no referees at all, which is kinda disappointing, but it doesn't really matter overall. The create a player mode is really dynamic and lets you have a wide range of changes to make...My only problem is that they don't let you pick Chicago as your hometown...What the hell is that?
Controls are the same as the past two Fight Night's, if not better with the addition of the new moves. It does take some getting used to, and it's hard not to want to throw haymakers the whole time...but your boxer tires easily and will keep you from wanting the KO instantly. Blocking/parrying is still kinda tough to do, and moving your boxer isn't as great as it could be, but they have punching down to a science, so the rest is details.
With the removal of the health bars and HUD all together, you rely on the announcers and cornermen. This works fine for the most part, but you'll hear the same damn phrases over and over and over...And they contradict themselves a lot. You'll be hearing how great you're doing and then the next comment will be how terrible you're doing if you miss a punch or something. It gets old fast and at times makes it difficult to judge how you're doing. Cornermen are the worst at this. If their first comment is positive, the next one will tell you that you suck and vice versa. You still know how you're doing, but there are only a handful of expressions.
Everything else in the game is great. The learning curve is ideal and the training mini games and between round mini games are fun and break the tedium of boxing. You have to have a strategy to win, you can't just go in there fists of fury and expect to win. Every round is a battle. The game is as close to a masterpiece as we've seen on the 360 yet...and I can only imagine this is a GREAT start for the inevitable next 'round'.
Boxing fans, take note. This is the game you've been salivating for
