Fight Night Round 3

"Fight Night part two and one third"

Here we are again at yet another instalment of the ever popular fight night franchise. I've been a fan of the Fight night (FN) games from the inception of the series back in 2004, and I also followed/was a huge fan the franchise that proceeded it Knock out kings. When they originally announced part 3 I thought it may be a little to soon for a sequel but considering they've been slowly improving and getting better I figured it would be definitely worth a shot.
To be honest I feel it was some what of a letdown and I'm a little disappointed with this installment, read further for the break down.

Game Play:
Game play in FN3 is top notch as always; you have many different options at your disposal. As far as creating a boxer and playing a lifetime career as them. Replaying some of the most memorable fights ever fought in history, creating imaginary (what if) fights with your favorite pros, and taking you boxer(s) online to show who's the best with the hand skills on Xbox live. The game play that we've grown to love is back in FN3 and it gets high marks in all categories except for one crucial area. These are all of the exact same things you could do last year. They added absolutely nothing new this time around. It's basically become routine as madden game; update the roster, add some new commentary, tweak the visuals and music and vwa-la next years instalment.
6 of 10 (Note: not that the game play is bad it gets a 10 on it's own merits, but a -3.5 for being recycled)

Story:
There isn't really a story per-se. As with the previous FN games you create a boxer and fight with him up the rankings, capture different belt/weight class championships. You can also buy items to improve your looks and stats, and retire after a fixed time period or when you're ready to. It's pretty much the same as the other FN games, the one (minor) saving grace is the between fight cometary clips; were you'll have a rival talk trash about a loss or there'll be a little funny quip, and at some points they'll have a quick fight at a press conference/weigh in. None are at all noteworthy or drastically alter the game but all are memorable enough for a small mention
6 of 10

Graphics:
All I can say is “wow, just WOW! The visuals for FN3 Are absolutely awe inspiring. This game has some of the best rendered visuals to date. Some of the shimmering and ripple effects are just breath taking and look like slow/still frame real life pictures shot with high resolution cameras. FN3 Is still plagued with some of the funniest rag doll physics (as with its predecessors) although they've gotten quite a bit better. The blur effects when a knock down is close looks good, and even the ref count visuals takes some advantage of the 360s visual abilities. The background/crowds look great but on some arenas are kind of generic looking. They have about four or so different people as spectators doing two or three different animations mixed in with each other with about two different colors palettes per person. Visually you're tricked in to thinking wow such a huge/diverse crowd , but upon closer inspection you realize that it was a slap up job done for this effect. Overall this is a shining area for this game and deserves a top score.
10 of 10

Audio:
I thought the audio was done pretty well in this instalment. The music is either hit or miss, you either like it or don't. I personally am a fan of rap/hip-hop but not the c-rap they had on last years version. This year I was pleasantly surprised that they had underground artists like Obie trice and dilated people verses the crunk bull-ish ignorant chantings of lil Jon and them eastside boyz that was in FN2 (YUCK ). The commentary was also done pretty well, some of the corner men/trainer voices were a little bit over done and sound like John bang bang Witherspoon (LOL). I felt The crowd sounds were also done well; this time around they were more interactive as far as chanting when someone's getting beat or you'd hear a subtle yell or two if there's not enough action taking place. Overall it gave the game a real sense of realism.
9 of 10

Controls
I have to kind of judge the controls in the same manner as last years instalment being that there was no change. The controls were/are very responsive, crisp and fluid. With the total punch control the fighters basically become an extension of you, which you can't really compare to a push this button do this action type boxing game. This as a great and technical game, it prevents “button mashers” from being able to do any old thing and win a match. As with real life boxing there is an art to the science of this games control scheme and once you learn it the game becomes that much more enjoyable.
8 of 10

(Extras)
Before you boo me for this score like Mike Tyson Vs Evander Holyfield. Please realize that all the extras in this game are exactly the same as the last. There have been no changes, no additions and nothing to set it apart from the previous titles in the extras department. On it's own merits as a stand alone I'd be inclined to say a 7 or so, as far as what extras does this bring to the table as a sequel it falls flat like Roy Jones.
1 of 10

Fun factor
In a word YES! it absolutely is. If you like fighting games this is a nice technical, but yet fun fighter to check out. If you've played the previous KOK or FN games you know what to expect, only brought to you with the visual prowess of the 360 and better audio.
9 of 10

Re-playability
Aside from the almost endless weight classes you can switch to in career mode, you've also got the legendary fights option and XBOX LIVE (the fun never ends).
10 of 10

Good/Bad/Ugly
-Good: Solid and technical boxing game, loads of fun, not a button masher.
-Bad: Not enough improvement from FN round 2.
-ugly: All that spit can't be hygienic.

Overall
As a stand alone game I would rate this a 8.5, as a continuing game in a franchise I have to me more critical being the lack of improvements and rate it about a 6. I'm not sure if I would recommend this game for a buy/rent. On one hand its down to a $30 price tag so even with it's lack of innovation over the previous versions it's still a solid game and worth checking out. For those that don't have it or have never played the previous version the answer is a no brainier; pick it up like a loose mouth piece.
6.5 of 10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/07