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Xbox 360 | Sports | Fight Night Round 3

Boxart for Fight Night Round 3
Fight Night Round 3 18 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.5
  • SOUND: 4.0
  • CONTROL: 4.0
  • FUN FACTOR 4.5
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.6
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.4
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Fight Night Round 3

Review by Chris Morell | 02/21/2006 | 08:59:49 AM PST

EA punches the competition in the face with their highly impressive Fight Night Round 3.

Ever since EA ditched Knockout Kings back in 2003, the Fight Night series has been the undisputed champion of video game boxing. The first installment, Fight Night 2004, was a wake up call for fist fighting; a new control scheme correlated analog stick movement with different types of punching, and superbly satisfying knockouts were like a booster shot of masculinity. But in two years much has changed. Foremost, a new generation of gaming has pumped hardware technology to the point of near physical perfection, and for a sport that is based on bone breaking, what more could one ask for?

Instinctive Boxing
With Fight Night Round 3, EA took a rather prominent step in the right direction, eliminating the game's heads-up display entirely. And, like many EA Gamebreaker-ish add-ons, it's not just a quirky gimmick. The removal of the HUD produces a much better and more realistic simulation of a boxing match. Stamina and health meters are no more, meaning you'll need to pay attention to your fighter's movements and tells. Dropping hands and scuffed faces are sure-fire signs of fatigue, which can be capitalized upon by an opponent. And when your boxer is especially tired, he'll seem so sluggish that you'll feel as if you're fighting in slow-mo.

There are numerous game modes in Round 3, but let's be honest--the real star of this show is the fighting engine. If you've played either of the first two installments, you'll be more than familiar with boxing in Round 3. In fact, aside from getting used to a couple of new shoulder buttons, anyone who's played Fight Night 2004 or Round 2, will be able to jump right in without learning any new tricks.

Know Your Limits
The most important part of winning fights is gauging stamina. With no visual stamina meter, it is easy to tire your fighter out to the point of utter slothfulness. You'll have to think real boxing--come out firing like a madman and you'll get yourself in some serious trouble. Between-round breaks are used to patch up your boxer with analog stick-rotating mini-games, though getting bashed up too much can do some rather irreparable damage.

Admittedly, the whole stamina thing is taking to a bit of an extreme. Your fighter will come out fresh and furious at the beginning of a fight, and to a lesser extent, at the beginning of a round. But throw a few combos and take a couple hits and you'll instantly find your fighter lethargic. The reason for the under-exaggerated sense of speed, to show ample contrast between energetic and exhausted, is understandable. But a boxer's punches can get so slow to the point where it is baffling as to how they're actually doing any damage.

This Time Around...
New Impact Punches and a special EA Super Punch help to accentuate the power of a knockout. Boxer faces actually bend to the contour of the boxing glove, and slow-motion replays of knockout provide awesome close-ups of the final blow. The addition of new games modes and features, including Rivalries (recreate boxing's greatest rivalries) and Create a Style (define a unique boxer with variable fighting styles) fill the space in between standard bouts. Training events and the Fight Store made the jump to Round 3, though are both secondary to the actual fights.

Load times are acceptable, though they can be trying from short fight to short fight. And there are some random collision issues, such as fist moving ghostly through an arm, that are very apparent during close-up replays. But most of the game engine runs smooth and solid, and quite impressive for an early Xbox 360 game. Online multiplayer is also back, and in better form on the new Xbox Live interface.

Fight Night Round 3 is head-and-shoulders above other EA Sports Xbox 360 launch games, and is the first game in the sports genre to evolve beyond the current generation, and is worth a splurge, even if just for a few hard hits.


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