The career mode, now entitled Legacy, sees players start at the bottom and work their way up the rankings by booking their own fights and training.
All the stats are reset to that of a rookie's, with fighting and training the only way to improve as a boxer. Players can choose to play with a created fighter or one of the 48 licensed pros that feature in the title. The career mode is another aspect of the game to receive a makeover although one feels that this is still the main area which can be improved upon. The removal of the haymaker's influence may annoy some people, and the counters may favour the computer slightly more than the player, but it does result in a more realistic experience, with the mixture of inside and outside boxing essential to avoid being stung by an open shot. If you manage to land the fatal punch, quite often the opponent will be dazed and weakened for a short period, and this is the time to go in for the kill. There are two ways of making this happen - moving your head out of the way of a punch by holding L1 and moving the left analogue stick, or perfectly blocking a punch by holding R1 and moving the right stick. The counter system is based on timing blocks or dodges to perfection, with the window of opportunity presenting itself with an obvious split-second visual effect. With the haymaker's importance somewhat diminished, Round 4's knockdowns tend to come from well-timed counter punches.
The right stick does largely the same job as before, with jabs, hooks and uppercuts all executed with logical analogue motions holding L1 and swinging targets the body, while holding R2 and throwing a hook unleashes the sole haymaker. The punches are once again performed with the all-encompassing right analogue stick, only this time there is less emphasis on haymakers, and more on ease of mixing up body and head shots. Of course, the more you punch, the more stamina you burn, and emptying the constantly recharging stamina gauge really has an effect on the speed and power of any subsequent punches thrown. It should be pointed out that the faster pace doesn't come at the expense of realism, but instead allows players to inject further strategy into their fights, with slow and measured boxing making way for flurries when a knockdown is on the cards. Anybody who played the demo will understand what I mean, with the lighter weight boxers moving at such a blistering pace that they can be hard to contain, especially if and when you get caught with a few dizzying blows. The knock-on effect of the improved frame-rate and animations is that it leads to a much more fluid gaming experience, and this in turn allows the pace to be upped significantly. The popular slow-motion knockdown replays also make a return, and despite my first impressions being slightly skewed due to the fact that some knockout punches didn't actually appear to hit my opponent, this is only a minor glitch and doesn't feature prominently throughout. The biggest difference with Round 4 is that the fighters look just as good in motion, with the frame rate issues of the previous title well and truly K.O.ed. The beads of sweat, the cuts and bruises and the character models themselves look incredible. Despite not having the ability to blow you away like its predecessor (due to the fact that we have been spoilt since), the visuals are still stunning. Firstly, and because they were such an important part of Round 3's appeal, let's talk graphics. However, with its predecessor receiving unanimous praise for its controls, depth and stunning graphics, what exactly could Round 4 do to make it an essential title? At least with EA at the helm, you know that there will be some improvements and plenty of content, but will the improvements be vast enough to warrant recommending the sequel?įortunately, there are plenty of changes, and while the majority of them are significant, almost all can be spotted and appreciated within the opening moments of the Fight Night Round 4 experience. Fortunately for us, EA Canada has done exactly this, and returned with Fight Night Round 4 for the PS3 and 360. We ended the review by pleading with its developers to resume making the brilliant Fight Night series. Despite having some redeemable qualities, the game didn't quite have the depth or gameplay to make it a true contender. Back in November, Digital Spy reviewed the light-hearted boxing title Facebreaker.