Fight Night Champion Review

I dont like fighting games. Its not that I hate the style and ideas, but its the sad fact that I am usually awful at them. I did try Street Fighter IV and, well, I was basically raped. So, with this in mind, I was extremely caution when starting the latest Fight Night, but my god was I surprised. Fight Night Champion has somehow changed my view on fighting games due to its wonderful execution. Want more? Read on....

FALCON PUNCH!

Fight Night is the long running boxing series that has always offered the most compelling and realistic interpretation of the brutal sport. Champion continues this trait, offering suitable gameplay for even the noob-iest of noobs! The first thing that strikes you are the graphics. The word beautiful does not do the game justice. Bodies shimmer with sweat and the impacts are truly wince-worthy. The facial animations are also amazing, reacting to every punch, scratch or cut that may happen to find its way onto your face. All of the present boxers are pretty accurate with only a few zombie looking people, but the majority are almost uncanny. Whilst the game does run pretty smoothly, I did notice a few frame rate drops in Champion Mode, but as Fight Night is a true feast of the eyes, I think many people will forgive the occasional drop!


Sport games never really have a story, but Fight Night shakes up the genre a bit by actually including a story mode, and its actually really good! Slightly reminiscent of Raging Bull, the Champion Mode mainly acts as an introduction to the main game, but it seems to be more than that. You control up and coming boxer Andrey Bishop, an all going, mean-ass boxer. La di da, the story plays out, its pretty predictable to be honest, but still conjures some Rocky-esque emotions. Champion Mode does a great job of introducing you to Fight Night, making sure that you are accustomed with the classic flick punch controls and weaving and bobbing.


The actual gameplay hasn't changed really as the awesome stick controls return from Fight Night 3. The controls surprised me, by mapping out punches onto the right analogue stick, EA Sports seem to have revolutionised boxing games, making them much more intuitive than before. I personally loved the controls as it has been a long time since I have seen something so natural. There is now an option for a more retarded control version, meaning that punches are mapped to different face buttons, but it doesn't feel the same as classic controls, much like playing Killzone with CoD controls, pure blasphemy!

Its all about the stare!

After spending around 5 hours completing the main campaign mode, you can then jump into Legacy Mode, the career mode. I was originally blown away by the customisation options, from tattoos, to cloaks, to eyebrow colour, every little thing can be personalised, its brilliant! At first some may find the whole calendar and training camps stuff quite intimidating, but after a few hours with it you'll soon become a master. If I were to have one criticism it would be that you can make it all too easy, for example, Im title holder of 3 belts and the furthest I've been is round 3, yeah, you can dominate. However, saying that, you can still ramp up the difficulty to almost IMPOSSIBLE, but then its no fun! 


There is an online mode, but I'm too scared to try it out as I know that I'll just get owned, but I hear its quite good. My bad peeps!


Overall, I am blown away by Fight Night Champion. I wasn't expecting much from the game, but after pouring around 15 hours into all modes, my mind is fully changed. I really do urge you guys to try it, take the plunge. With a huge rooster of professional boxers ranging from veterans like Ali to modern ego filled monsters like David Haye the Hayemaker, Fight Night Champion really is the all round and definitive boxing title. The Champion Mode may be a revolution in the sporting genre, showing that you can include an interesting story without resorting to cheesiness and the amount of customisation is rarely seen. I feel slightly proud of Fight Night, proud that it has shot out of its corner, showing the bigger blockbusters that a excellent gaming experience can arise with two sweaty men in a ring. just remember people, DUN, DUN DUN DUN, DUN DUN DUN, DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNN.