Fight Night Round 3 throws a couple of precise shots that may be it...
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GRAPHICS - 10
The first time I played Round 3 it was on the 360 and when that happened I could not go back playing the older versions on a regular basis. It's that good looking. As good as the models on the PS2 and the XBOX might look, you have to at least play this once on the 360. The details are so realistic, you can knock the sweat of the polygonal human being and look at him wince in pain at the same time. The damage rendering, while not entirely indicative of the damage dealt, is as realistic as any game out there. EA really did their homework on that aspect.
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GAMEPLAY - 8
Here is where Round 3 differentiates itself from the earlier versions. Boxing is called the "sweet science" and there is a reason for that. Round Three expands the use of the haymaker system by incorporating almost double the amount of types of haymakers that you can throw. Not only that, the ability to turn the tables on your opponent by throwing one of your own when it looks like you will be knocked out adds to the unpredictability of boxing. In earlier versions when the game went into the imminent knockdown scenario an accomplished player was almost guaranteed such but in this version if you are not careful or are swinging for the fences, if you get hit by your opponent with a knockdown haymaker it will: A) unnerve you and B) put you on the defensive.
The rubber of the graphics meets the road of the gameplay in the damage system with brutal efficiency. Whereas in the earlier incarnations the damage dealt to your boxer might have just equaled more time spent in the cutman sequence, with the removal of the HUD in the default mode, the way this game SHOULD be played, you have to pay attention to your boxers' movements and mannerisms more than ever before. If someone is hit repeatedly in one spot you can spot the grimaces on their faces or the slight hop dealt from a body blow you can take a proactive approach to either dealing or treating damage. A small but glaring omission is the inability of your cutman to treat certain cuts that are as visible as the nose on your boxer's face; setting you up to take more damage later on and as a result, more time treating in retroactively. The game does an excellent job of balancing benefits of either headhunting or going to the body for boxing strategies. Trying to score a knockout by attacking the head means that your opponent will not be able to see the punches and therefore their blocking will be hampered whereas going for the body results in their punches lacking power and matches ending earlier because they do not have enough breath to answer the standing ten count. Also, the Teddy Atlas Fight Plan would have also been great to have.
The difficulty of the game is my only major misgiving about the gameplay department as there are still only three settings and after you have mastered your particular boxing settings only the hard setting will give you any real challenge, which are few and far between.
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SOUND - 8
As with most EA games, the music selections are decent because they are from real artists and have a pretty good variety, although Fight Night is mainly known for having hip hop tracks. I think it wouldn't have hurt to have added some rock bands thrown in for good measure as they did a good job mixing genres in the Need For Speed series (Step Up by Drowning Pool would have been excellent for this game). Joe Tessitore does a great job on commentary however I think having his partner Teddy Atlas would have added more to the authenticity of an ESPN production. Another gripe I have is in the knockout cutscenes there is way too much emphasis on the sounds of non-existent bone fractures. It needs to be tuned so that if you hear that sounds, it would be as a result of an actual bone breaking or maybe an illegal elbow to the face (though technically, you could say the occipital bone is being broken but still should be heard only once a fight). Another selling point in the sound department is if a boxer is fatigued or taking a lot of body shots you can hear is his breathing is labored.
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VALUE - 8.5
The game still has the obligatory career mode which is ok but players should have more of a selection of fighters to chose to fight once you move higher up in the rankings. The EPSN Classics fight is a great idea and having unlockables for it's participation is a good incentive to make up for the lack of classic fights available ( I want my Ali vs. Foreman!). There are many boxers and styles to choose from which is always a plus but some people are not in this game that were in others such as Lennox Lewis, Antonio Tarver, and Rocky Marciano to name a few. And for God's sake where is TYSON?!? The game tries to make up for it through the Create A Boxer Mode where you can in fact make anyone you can think of and there is even a website that can show you how to make anyone if you take the time to send me a message. However, certain CAB stats cannot be advanced to reflect their real world counterparts. The online portion is where you will be getting back the $60 you paid for the game as there is never a shortage of people playing on the 360 and is where you can get the true test of your skills.
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REVIEWER'S TILT - 9
This is the game that sold me on the 360. To me it was just that good and so did the Official XBOX Magazine (OXM) which this game was the first to recieve a 10 as well as other professional reviewers who thought the game is a great buy on the 360. Never has beating someone within an inch of their life looked, played, and sounded so good.