"Boxing at its best....well....sorta"

Introduction:
For yet another year EA sports has supplied the only boxing game on the market and have even expanded their realm to next gen with their highly touted Fight Night Round 3. All in all, it lives up to the hype fairly well.

New Features: 6/10
For pretty much all of their next gen titles, EA sports have been criticized for dumbing things down and stripping pretty much all of the extra features off of their games. That really isn't the case here as everything that made it into previous renditions of the Fight Night series did make it into this version, but there isn't much in terms of new features that have been added to the game and really all of the new things added to this game are relatively minor. Probably the biggest of all the new features added is the new ESPN Classic mode where you can relive some of the greatest rivalries in boxing history, which is limited by their roster size. It's really nothing more than just a cheap gimmick mode. Some boxing elitists might enjoy reliving the history and taking part in it while some of the casual boxing fans might like to learn about some of the more historical aspects of boxing, but in the end it's rather pointless and was just thrown in there to give you something to do other than career mode.

The other few tweaks that sets this game apart at least gameplay wise from its predecessors are the new impact punches and fighting styles. This year EA has expanded upon the haymaker that was added in during last year's game as you can now pull off flash KO's and a stun punch. The names of the punches really don't fit them well, as they should be switched, but that's nothing to worry about. As for the punches, the flash KO is essentially the same thing as a haymaker punch just stronger. You just pull back further on the analog stick before coming forward. The stun punch, however, is a bit different. For this you have to pull back just as far but you also have to come all the way forward with it and follow through. A clean punch with this takes you to a “mini-game” where you have a first person look at the person who is about to get knocked down. It takes a little getting used to since the controls are backwards when you're trying to do the knocking down, but it's a nice little touch. It's not really something that'll make or break the game, but it's good to have. The fighting styles have also been altered a tad as you can now switch from righty to lefty in mid fight. It doesn't make much of an impact on the game, but I suppose it's good to have that option.

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay has always been very tight in the Fight Night series and that trend continues in this version. Using the cutman feature is even easier this year, although essentially unchanged, and getting up from a knockdown is also easier. Punching is a little slower, however, and executing combos while using the total punch control is a little harder to execute this time around but it doesn't really detract from the gameplay. The career mode is pretty much unchanged from Round 2. All of the training mini-games are exactly the same and it still follows the same formula of signing on to do a match and then train once for it. If anything the career mode is dumbed down slightly as you can't customize your entrances anymore and there isn't much there to do other than just train and fight. You can buy extra gear which will give you attributes boosts but a lot of them are ridiculously overpriced. It would have been nice to have a couple more options thrown in there for career mode, but it's still not too shabby.

Presentation/Sound: 8/10
Say goodbye to on screen health meters and stamina indicators. They're gone under the default options which gives you a nice, realistic feel of a boxing match. You'll have to pay attention to the way your boxer is reacting, both graphically and gameplay wise, as well as the announcing to see how far along you are to either getting knocked out or doing the knocking out. If your punches are starting to get a little sluggish it might be time for you to hang back and regain some of that lost stamina before charging ahead. It really creates a great atmosphere for a boxing match. Fight Night now has the ESPN label on it and Joe Tessitore, who is an actual ESPN commentator for their boxing events, is the one doing the commentating on this game. It's certainly light years ahead of the commentating of the beginning of the series where Big Tigger disgraced the game with his voice, but the commentating is very stale. It gets very repetitive very quickly and also hypocritical at times. At one point Tessitore said how my opponent didn't respect me and then said how both fighters respected one another so highly within about a minute of each other in the same fight. The commentating isn't really a vital part of the game, but they could have improved in that area easily. The soundtrack is just about all rap, and is only mediocre at that. If you're not a fan of the genre you'll probably want to turn away from the sound during the menus. If you are a fan of rap then you'll have more of a liking toward the music, but again, it's not all that great.

Controls: 9/10
The controls are very smooth, although I think it's more of a credit to the XBOX 360 controller than anything. Regardless, you really never have to strain yourself all too much while playing. If you use the total punch control then you never have to move any of your fingers other than your right thumb to throw the punches. Everything flows smoothly and leaning and blocking are very easy to pull off. They also have alternate control schemes where you can use the face buttons instead, although the option to use the TPC still remains. Either way, the controls for this game are going to be on point.

Graphics: 10/10
I normally don't put too much stock into graphics when dealing with sports games but the graphics featured in Fight Night Round 3 are really amazing. Everything is ridiculously detailed and looks so realistic as well. It's amazing they look so good considering it's very early into the life of the 360. The fans around the ring are also very detailed. There is nothing to complain about here.

Overall: 8/10
In the end Fight Night Round 3 is still a really solid game even if it's not that different from Round 2. If you're a boxing fan and need your fix of boxing from a video game, obviously this'll be your only choice but you certainly won't be mad at yourself for picking up this title. For those of you not a fan a boxing this would be a good way to get into the sport and kick some tail and learn about some of the history with the ESPN Classic. It's definitely an essential title for any XBOX 360 owner, so if you haven't at least given this one a try yet then it's about time you go out and add this title to your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/06