Fight Night Round 3

"Nobody Ever Makes Me Bleed My Own Blood!"

Electronic Arts (EA) presents the third edition of their Fight Night series. This time, it's back with better graphics and more balance gameplay. There is no doubt that this is one of the best games EA has put out in their market as far as visuals.

Gameplay: 8
The game has more realism to the game as far as facial physics and and facial movement. As I recall in Fight Night Round 2, Muhammad Ali was just any other regular boxer in Round 2. In Round 3 he actually tip toes around the ring and has amazingly powerful jabs. So already seeing that difference shows that EA Chicago put some effort into adding some more realism and authenticity to the game. Round 3 provides a career mode. It is very limited to what you can actually do, you can't really choose ring entrances, take on sponsors, or buy some extra cool items (whatever they may be). Rather, you are left listen to your SAME ring entrance in EVERYSINGLE fight, see and listen to the same advertisement in the game, and provided with incredibly expensive gears such as $300,000 pairs of shorts and $300,000 sneakers.

Controls: 10
It's practically the game as the other series. You still have the TPC (Total Punch Control). Six different configurations. A new thing they added was the Flash KO Punch: it's basically a haymaker with more windup on the analog. Another new feature is the Stun Punch: This is done with more wind up and a follow through punch all the way. What the Stun Punch does is it puts the person who has been hit in First Person Perspective and a little mini-game as EA likes to call it comes into action.

Challenges: 9
There are three modes of level difficulty including: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Easy: it's just like the demo, you can practically KO your opponent in 1 or 2 rounds. Medium: a decent fight, but you still end up winning all the time. Hard: In my opinion, this is by far one of least difficult hard level I have ever experience in my whole gaming career. It's too easy to be labeled hard. For those mild gamers, I would stick with Medium but for those who a hardcore gamers, you can stick with Hard. Every so often you'll come across some "hard" fights, but nothing to overly aggressive.

Sound: 9
You feel so good when you hear that boxing glove smash into your opponents face. It's even more satisfying to hear it again and see it again in replay. There are even situations when you choose a roster character in the game and the crowd even starts chanting your name. It's awesome, but nothing we haven't seen. Commentary can get absolutely repetitive but they have some unique comments to each individual player in the game which is a great add-on.

Overall: 9
Fight Night Round 3 is an amazing game. Visually it is amazing (watching people bleed and watching the stream of blood/spit that comes out after each hard it). Graphically it is satisfying where you can see ripples on the face that is hit. Even facial reactions look real. This game is a must buy for boxing fans. Although the single player might be repetitive, short, or have no storyline, the Multi-Player Live factor is what will bring you back to the game.

Blockbuster: Yes (If you can find it anywhere else, rent it and then keep it)
Buy: Yes

Last Thought
If your a big fan of vibration. Expect no vibration. Either EA was lazy, out of budget, or just forgot about the vibration per hit. You only feel it during a windup haymaker for a stun punch or flash KO. And maybe when you hit the canvas, but other than that... there is no vibration. Don't let the no vibration second guess you from buying the game. It's still an amazing game and will be apart of my collection until Round 4 is released.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/23/06