A fun boxing game

User Rating: 7.7 | Fight Night Round 3 X360
First let me preface my review by saying I am by no means a boxing fan. I have never played any of the other Fight Night games either. With that being said I really like this game, it is a constant occupant of my XBox 360 tray. Controlling your fighter is perhaps one of the first things that stands out to me. The precision punch control system is truly a thing of ingenuity... the punches are visceral and allow for unprecedented power. This same system with a touch of a button switches into a block and weaving mode and really allows a person to get down and dirty with his opponent. The one down side to this system is it takes some time to get used to playing like this but once it is mastered you'll wonder why no one thought of it before. The constant tweaking of your thumbs might also cause some initial aches in your hands... something every gamer worth his weight in gold coins have ignored at one point.

Graphically, this game is superb but nothing that we haven't seen before in an XBox 360 sports title... and what else could you possibly do to improve this really? The characters sweat as the fights go on in length and blood trickles from every point on the face. The presentation is well done you can see the freckles on the backs of the girls who display rounds (though I think they could have improved the girls by having a larger variety of them. There are a few points that bother me in the graphics department though. They seem a bit rushed in certain spots one moment the graphics are beautiful and the next you are wondering what happened here. The developers seem to love lens flares because there are points where they never leave the center of the screen. Hit detection can be off from time to time and some of the pre-rendered animations are awkward.

On the subject of awkwardness the game feels (like the girls mentioned above) to be reusing elements over and over again to make itself longer. Events are strung together but there is no story to hold a career together. I find myself trying to get more money so I can buy more stuff or hire a slightly better trainer from a limited list. This is the only reason to keep playing... luckily it is a fun game to play, but this strung together afterthought of a career mode can get tedious and encourages nothing from the player but the promise of a car you can't drive. The voice acting and sound effects are spectacular but overused. The training mini games are fun at first but I find myself not really caring after a little while and just auto train so I can get on with the fight. Adding this little bit of stat modification is a great idea I just wish that it could have been done that adds a lasting appeal.

Overall a fun and engaging experience that doesn't expect you to want to play it for over a month.