pavona21's Full Review: Fight Night 2004 for PlayStation 2
Intro
Ah, boxing. An organized, violent sport with a rich history. A history just rich enough for most Americans to care about it less than they do hockey. Let's face it, this is basically a sport for the die hard gambler, not the run of the mill sporting enthusiast. Can you name the IBF welterweight champion?...Neither can I, which is part of the reason that boxing video games have remained a niche genre. Think about it, boxing games aren't quite fighters, but also aren't quite sports games. EA is trying to change all of that though. Knockout Kings didn't quite work for them, so they've changed the name of the series to Fight Night, added a few more recognizable boxers, and changed some basic aspects of the series. Is it "good" enough to attract mainstream gamers? Or is it destined to sell 50,000 copies again? Read in to find out...
Game Modes: 6/10Shorter than Eddie Murphy's Musical Career?
As I've been saying for a long time(some of you may have forgotten), when it comes to sports games, game mode depth is almost everything. For all I care, it can look like crap and sound like Eddie Murphy's music, but if it's fun and can entertain me for hours, it's a pretty good title. Unfortunately, Fight Night doesn't quite have enough meat it in it to satisfy the big man gamer's appetite. When you start the game off, you're going to essentially see three main game modes. Play Now, Play Online, and career mode. The play now mode is pretty self explanatory. Choose your boxer, your opponent, and your venue, and "play now". The online mode is a nice addition, but it isn't done right. You can connect freely via the EA network and challenge people all over the country. This would work well in theory if people all over the country were actually playing, but instead, you'll be able to challenge one of about 10 players actually online.(who's lives are just as meaningless as your life for actually playing this online) The lag is often times bad(Yes, my life is meaningless, I took it online), even with broadband, and the gameplay is pretty poor.
Online and play now modes aren't going to do you much good, so the career mode is where you'll be spending most of your time. First, you could choose to create your own boxer. Here you can use various different adjusters to change your boxers face, hair, tattoos, trunks, gloves, and even nose size. If you're lazy, you can also choose the look of one of the many real professional boxers licensed to be in this game. There are actually a surprising number of household names, both current and historical. The list includes boxers such as Roy Jones Jr.(The cover boy), Sugar Shane Mosley, Lennox Lewis, Mohammed Ali, Rocky Marciano, and Joe Frazier. A few "famous" boxers missing from the game that personally would have liked to have seen are Oscar De La Hoya, George Foreman, and Iron Mike Tyson. An impressive list none of the less.
After you choose your boxer and his weight class(Heavyweight, light Heavyweight, welterweight, ect), you realize that you begin your career ranked 50th in your weight class. You then schedule a fight and begin to train for the fight. Here, you can train on the heavy bags to increase power and speed, sparring to increase stamina and agility, the combo dummy to increase the damage that you can take, or the target mitts to increase heart. For every fight you schedule, you get to train in one of these areas, and the goal is to eventually max your character out in all skills. As your fights progress, your ranking will increase, and you'll be fighting higher profile opponents and more prestigious arenas, all the way up to Caesar's Palace in Vegas. As you become more highly ranked, you'll also receive more prize money(sometimes multi-millions), which you can later spend to edit your characters equipment, theme song, entrance effects, ect.
This mode starts out genuinely entertaining, but by the time you take the crown about 5 hours later without losing a single fight, everything seems tedious. Overall, you should be able to get a good 7 or 8 hours out of all these game modes, until you feel as if the game has "knocked you out".
Controls: 8/10Total Control Boxing
This year, to make this game look like it would be more exciting than it actually is, EA introduced "total control" boxing. Here, you use the right analog stick to punch your opponents. If you move your analog stick to the right, you'll throw a straight right. If you push it to the right then up, you'll throw a right uppercut, ect. Personally, I think this setup is stupid and much more difficult than using the old setup(controller config. 5). In all seriousness, it doesn't make me feel like I'm in a real fight just because I'm moving my right thumb in the same way that I'd be moving my fists. I know that I'm pansy if I'm punching using triangle, or the analog stick, so I may as well do what feels more natural. I'm sure that you'll all pick whatever works for you though.
Graphics: 18/20Topless, realistic looking men
Graphically, this game is clearly superior to any other boxing game on the market. The character models are very realistic, the replays after every knockout are stunning, and the 6 or 7 different venues in the game are well detailed. Also, with the exception of online mode, Fight Night runs at a consistent, smooth frame rate, with little or no slow down. Load times are a bit long, at least on the PS2, but nothing that you can't handle. If only the entire game were as good as the graphics are.
Audio: 9/10Possibly the best sports soundtrack of the year
EA trax strikes again, and this one may be better than ever. The sound track here starts out with one of my personal favorites, P Diddy's Victory, as it's theme song, and is meshed with some other big name rap from David Banner and Lil Scrappy. Bottom line, if you like rap, you should greatly enjoy the soundtrack. The sound effects are also very well done. All of the punching sound effects are hard hitting, and the grunts and groans are so evident, it almost seems as if they're even a bit over dramatized. You also get to listen in to your trainer giving you tips during a fight, which is a nice touch. The commentary is a little over the top though, and is not generally pleasing. All and all though, a nice set of sounds.
Overall: 6.5/10Good intangibles, dwarf sized game Fight Night is good, but for the time being, it’s far from great. The game engine itself is very well put together, featuring a good fighting system, excellent graphics, and a great soundtrack. When push comes to shove, however, this game just isn't long enough to warrant a purchase. I expect at least 25 to 30 hours out of any good sports game, and Fight Night will more than likely fall short of the 10 hour mark. EA has a good start for it's new boxing franchise, but for now, pass on buying it.
EA's boxing series not only brings a new name to the ring, it's an entirely new game. From a 20-year career mode with six weight classes to four mini-...More at GameQuest Direct. com
Shockingly real fighting physics will bring realism and uncertainty to your fights - All-new Controls - One analog stick controls your punches, the ot...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.