by Rob Kentworth

Created on: February 24, 2010

Fight Night Round 4 is a really good boxing game and the game’s realism is pretty much unequalled. The graphics have got to a stage where the boxers almost look photo realistic and like their real life counterparts. As of late, EA has focused on making/publishing titles that have an abundance of polish as well and this game helps to show that they’re committed to making quality games, as they did with Dead Space.

The game itself has several modes of play. The first one that should be mentioned is the career mode. When starting the mode, you can choose to create your own boxer by moulding their face etc. or you can choose to use an already made boxer. No matter which you choose, you’ll start out at the bottom of the ladder and with rather poor statistics. During the first few matches, you’ll be in an amateurs tournament unless you lose the first fight. After the tournament, you can begin to climb the ranks. You’re able to choose who you fight as long as they’re not too far away from you in the rankings and what happens during the fights determines whether you move up or down in the rankings. You will also be able to set the dates for the fights and be able to accept or reject challenges. You can also train via mini-games or have the computer handle it, though you’ll gain lowered statistics. Between each fight, you’ll also need to take the correct amount of time off to heal. Also, as time goes on in your career, you’ll become more susceptible to cuts and such. In addition, there are awards given out to boxers and you can change weight classes alongside win championships and defend them. Of course, the goal is to hold multiple belts at once and also progress to different weight classes.

Outside of the traditional career mode (which is done well), there are other modes such as exhibition. This is the normal play mode where you choose two boxers and pit them against each other. There’s also another mode that lets you refight the classical battles of old that are famous.

Now then, many of the punches in the game are controlled by the right analog stick while the R2 button will modify the punch so that it becomes a haymaker as an example. The left shoulder buttons control where and how you block. The computer is quite intelligent and it will adapt to how you play. In between rounds, you’ll earn points based on your performance that can be spent on healing cuts and recovering stamina/health. The points can also be saved though, so you don’t have to spend them. It helps to make you think a bit more.

The game is enjoyable at the end of the day if you enjoy boxing. If you don’t though, you may want to give it a miss. The graphics do have to be seen though. Also, the game’s an improvement over Fight Night Round 3 in my view.

Learn more about this author, Rob Kentworth.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.