"Graphically Decent, but lacks things that makes the series great"

Fight Night Round 3; EA's attempt at bringing Boxing to the next-gen consoles. Does it work well? Read on.

Graphics: 8/10

The character models in FN: R3 look decent, but nothing really stunning. Most of the characters, save for some of the ones modeled after real boxers, look more 'meh' than 'Wow!' and it leaves you thinking that this graphics such as these are very possible on the regular XBox. Some of the modeled boxers though (Sugar Ray Leonard, Evander Holyfield, Oscar De La Hoya) look fantastic and almost make you rethink the overall look of the game. The particle and lighting effects of this game are fantastic, but can't really save the game from the numerous graphical glitches you'll experience while watching replays, and sometimes in-game.

Game-Play: 7/10

Decent, but not fantastic. I, myself, am not a fan of the Total Punch Control, and tend to stick to the button layouts. This however, is at the risk of the player, as you are unable to perform haymaker attacks. What little time I've spent with Total Punch Control feels uncomfortable, and tacked-on, despite being the previous entries of the Fight Night series. TPC (Total Punch Control) tends be unresponsive at times, and that can lead to your opponent landing hits that otherwise could easily have been either parried, or blocked.

The Button layout, on the other hand, feels very comfortable, and makes it very easy to both string combos, and parry attacks, without ruining the difficulty of the game. Once you memorize what each button does (which should only take you about five-ten minutes to do) you're destroying the opposition.

The team who developed FN: R3 also dismissed a lot of the entrance options that Round 2 really persevered in. The addition of ring girls, and at least fire works and a change of music would have been fantastic, but it's blatantly missing, and it leaves a large hole that easily could have made this game great, or at least would have kept it up there with it's predecessors. They also, unfortunately, changed the Mop Top hairstyle, which drags this game down quite a bit in terms of customization.

Sound: 7/10

The sound is decent, but the announcer can be annoying, and says many of the same things over, and over, and after the first four hours of Game-Play, you want to turn down the volume entirely. My only other major gripe about sound is that when you knock down an opponent, it makes the same crunching noise every time and it gets extremely annoying.

Single-Player: 9/10

Career mode offers the player between four and eleven hours of game-play depending on difficulty, skill level, and weight class. You basically work your way through the career of a boxer, working towards different sponsors and matches, and eventually a title match. This mode is quite realistic and does an excellent job of putting the player into a realistic boxing environment. Every so often, you will face a rival, who you have previously faced. It's an interesting concept, but it isn't very intuitive, and doesn't quite offer much other than seeing a (maybe) familiar face.

Multi-Player: 8/10

Online is great, and offers many interesting options. Having not spent much time on the online features, there really is very little I can say for it. System Multi-Player is very fun, and allows you to either face off with your created boxers, or duke it out with the legends. There are also quite a few famous matches that are already set for you to choose.

The GOOD:

-Great lighting and Particle Effects
-Great, Realistic Career Mode
-Some of the Legends look amazingly like their real selves
-Updates an already fantastic game series

The BAD:

-Graphical Glitches tend to annoy
-Announcer is annoying as hell
-Every time you knock down an enemy, an annoying crunch sound plays, no matter the area you attacked, or the strength of the punch
-Customization options from Round 2 were watered down, and were sorely missed
-Constant marketing for Dodge, Burger King, and others gets irritating fast

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/07