Fight Night Champion PS360

There is a preview up on Xbox Live's Inside Xbox or Spotlight. Shows a lot of gameplay footage. The camera moves around the characters a little bit more. The punching is definitely improved, but I still find some of the punches to lack the impact they should have. Some of them look great, and the overhand or looping punches should add some interest angles for attack. Whether it really affects gameplay, I don't know, since the blocking is one button now, instead of directional. The knockdowns are handled the same way as in round 4, where you have to use one stick to keep steady and the other to stand up. Looks like you can be a fatty again, because Butterbean is sadly in the game. They did have a clip of Lennox Lewis KOing him, which was nice to see. Gameplay looks very fast, and the graphics look NICE. Overall, it looks like they refined the physics and the visuals quite a bit, so it really comes down to how well the new gameplay mechanics work. I watched the preview with the audio off because I was listening to records, so there may have been some other information tidbits I missed. Not sure if the preview is up anywhere else.

I'd also like to add that the visuals were surprisingly not far off from the screenshots they've been releasing. I'm sure there are some differences in anti-aliasing, but the gameplay footage looked very clean. I'm guessing 720p 4x MSAA like Round 4 and EA MMA during gameplay. I imagine it may have some replay enhancements like EA MMA, but the footage was game play, not replay.
 

Story mode seems interesting anyway. It looks like you might get to create your legacy boxer, which means all of the cutscenes would be real-time. It's hard to tell from the trailer if you play one of the characters shown, or if they were showing a variety of protagonists.
 
Doesn't look like much an improvement.The video gives me no hype mostly because boxing is practically a dead sport,heck most of the players seen in the video are old greats.
 
Some extended gameplay clips. They definitely improved on the speed and the power of the punches, and it looks like you can lunge into your punches a bit. Graphics and framerate look very good. It's nice to see the ref in the ring for a bit of realism.


Facial damage and blood looks brutal

 
Online explained:

http://www.ea.com/fight-night/blog/team-up-in-the-all-new-online-gym


Basically, you create a gym with your friends, or make a public gym. The gym members fight eachother during a season. Each fighter fights every other fighter a fixed number of times. Then there is an elimination tournament to end the season to declare a gym champion. Your gym can also take part in rivalries against other gyms, to battle for superiority, I guess.


It seems like a hybrid of league mode and online clubs from either NHL or FIFA. Maybe those that are interested can take part in a Beyond 3D gym. That way we can set our our rules, and have a gentleman's agreement not to exploit whatever bugs are in the game.
 
Just did a quick match before heading out. Wailed on Pac using Cotto. The punching feels great. The punches are fast and look like they have a lot more impact than in round 4. I seemed to land a lot of punches without really doing any serious damage, so I'll have to check out the settings.

Foot movement, is kind of weird. You don't glide around the ring, at least Cotto doesn't. It feels like you're taking a step, which adds some delay, but will hopefully add some strategy. You can step into your punches, but it leaves you a little unresponsive to dodge a good counter.

I'm having a hard time getting used to the blocking. You hold RT to cover up, or tap it for quick blocks. The thing is, if you hit the right stick while holding RT, you'll punch and go right into the guard. I'm so used to directing my block, so I keep punching by accident. Upper body movement is the same.

Opponent seems to grab on when get tired, and if you're crouched down they'll put you in a headlock, like in real boxing.

The presentation is frigging awesome. The camera moves around a bit, and it gives a much better broadcast feel. Having the ref moving around the ring also makes the ring seems smaller, and more like a real fight. The graphics really are awesome, and framerate feels great. Might be rock solid 30fps, but wouldn't be surprised if it was higher. Haven't seen the facial damage much yet, but I'm going to hammer away at it when I get home later.

Demo has online play, I think!

Tyson, Ali, Cotto, Pacquiao
 
Hated the demo.Power shots still suck compared to round3 as does the blocking and overall movement.

it does have online
 
It's kind of weird. I find it much harder to be a good defensive fighter. Sometimes the punching seems very unresponsive, and I'm not sure what's causing it. I think stepping into your shots makes it harder to throw combos, for some reason, but also the LT doesn't consistently seem to work for throwing body shots. It's very weird. There is definitely more of a strategy to ring movement, because you have to use the flicks to do quick movements. Flash knockdowns also are a bit weird, in that the punches that cause flash knockdowns often don't look very powerful. It makes it seem random, and favours power punchers. I fought some great rounds where I'd suddenly get knocked on my ass by a shot that looked weak and glancing.

I still kind of like it, maybe because I'm just into boxing and want a new boxing game to play. There is definitely something weird going on with the controls, maybe inherent input lag. It actually reminds me a lot of Round 3, in that respect, which I found to be the worst game in the entire series.
 
I played the demo for a bit. I didn't like the punch timing. There seems to be a strange lag on the controls and the controls get queued up in a weird manner. The boxer movement is very unnatural and inconsistant also. It's really hard to tell without a damage bar on how well my punches are connecting. I've been knocked down by glancing blows and have the opponents soak up clean hard shots which should have been knockdowns or stuns.

Overall, it just didn't sit well with me. It's feels like they are all over the place trying to evolve the gameplay but it doesn't seem to be working all that well. For me, going forward, I'm looking towards a well done boxing game with motion controls.
 
I think the physics engine, unfortunately, is more cosmetic than actually accurate. You'd think they'd have some way of measuring flush shots. I'm pretty sure I got KO'd by a hook that grazed my forehead.

There is something very weird with the punching, and I think it has to do with stepping into your punches with the left stick. If you let go of the left stick, it is much easier to throw combinations. If you're holding the left stick toward your opponent, you seem to leap into your shots a little too much, and then there is a delay before you can throw your next punch. That's what I'm thinking, so far, and I don't like it. You sort of have to move, plant, combo, move, plant, combo. I guess it is accurate, because you don't see boxers throwing good combinations without planting their feet, and prevents the relentless body-punching pressure style of the previous game, where you could never get separation between players.

I think it will leave a bad impression with a lot of people. They want the game, above all things, to be responsive. I found it very difficult to use a jab effectively. I couldn't consistently double it up. The tools really aren't in the game to be a good defensive fighter. I do like that you can't just walk around covered up endlessly. You have to be a lot better with using a combination of upper body movement and blocking. I'm pretty good in that sense, but I find it hard to throw any punches without getting tagged, because I can't set anything up with a jab. Partially it's because Cotto has really shitty straights, because it was much easier using Pac. Ali was pretty hard to use. His jab was not effective at all.
 
The more I play, the more I like. I'm sure the online will be a glitchy broken mess, but I'll still have a lot of fun with career, and maybe playing against friends in a gym.

There is a delay in some of the controls, I think because of the animations. Leaning and block are instant. Punching is a tiny bit delayed with fast punches like straights, and more delayed with hooks and uppercut variations. Now that I've got a handle on footwork, so I step into a double jab, or do a controlled pawing jab, I can box from range better. Once you employ a real strategy, after getting a handle on the controls, the product actually looks a hell of a lot like real boxing. The only problem is the punches, in the demo, do not do enough damage, and stamina recharges too quickly. It would be very easy to tune the game for a more realistic pace with the sliders etc.

The blocking is way more realistic, despite being simplified. Punches will split your guard now so you can't just stand and block. You have to combine it with head movement. I got KO'd once with an uppercut right between my guard. If you outbox Pac for too long, he'll come at you throwing wild combos, like in real life. You can make him pay, but if he connects you're on queesy street. I find it a little too hard to escape from him when stunned. It's way too hard to clinch.

And the graphics are absolutely fantastic.
 
Scott_Arm said:
Yeah, I don't really understand why they think swearing is cool. All it does is limit the customer base. I can see having the realistic cuts and facial damage, which might get it an M rating anyway, but the language is just pointless and annoying. I don't really want to play out some prison story either, but it might be interesting in that there is actually a story and your legacy is a little more than just the fights with training sessions in between, and a little text blurb when you win a title or whatever.

The gym feature is online, and it's basically a clan system, like they have with clubs in NHL and FIFA. You and your friends can make a "gym" which would have an owner that can add new people, or kick people off. Then you challenge fighters from other "gyms" etc. But I doubt the gym is much more than a series of menus and game lobbies.

The Fight: Lights Out is really a game I have absolutely no interest in, though the punching looks pretty good now that they have the motion mapping. What I really want is a boxing sim. I'm more into the sweet science, and representing the technical parts of the sport, then just playing a game which is a brutal slug-fest.
Click to expand...

Sorry for this late follow-up but I am an example of limiting the base. I hadn't followed the title until the download was made available an M piques my interest (towards the negative) but it isn't until I see "Strong Language" where I don't even give the game a chance. I'm sick of my former industry doing this and sometimes it is so out of place and pointless but done just to appear "edgy". But now this "need" is creeping into my adventure games as well...I don't need any of this language in my Uncharted or Tomb Raiders to make them better games in fact all this does is keep me from allowing my son to play which in turn keeps him from becoming a fan and lessens his chances he will be a purchaser later on in life. So when people complain about "us" (parents) buying "shitty" licensed games look at the developers and publishers who are "forcing" us away.

My son loves to watch me play or for us to play co-op...since co-op is so damn rare then the next best thing besides him being able to play is to watch. I don't think Gears gets enough credit for its language and gore options because an "M" is not an immediate disqualification for me, it's human-on-human killing (so lego doesn't count) and language. So, he can watch me as Master Chief kick some alien ass but not COD anything. It even pisses me off that in Dance Central in break it down mode the guy will yell out, "Hell yeeahhh!" those are the unnecessary expletive drops that don't add anything to the game. This is something that Nintendo grasps wholeheartedly (to their detriment as far as the "core" is concerned) but it wasn't until Kinect launched that Microsoft FINALLY started to have big titles that were not all "rated M for Mature", "rated M for Mature", "rated M for Mature" and now even a sports titles wants to go the M route...no, thanks.


Damn, I didn't actually mean to rant but I can honestly say I rarely miss the industry :devilish:
 
What they need to do with games, is have it so you set a rating for the user on the console, and then it automatically filters content appropriately. Like, if you set your sons account to a certain rating, he wouldn't even see an option to turn gore or swearing on. It would just be off and invisible to him.
 
Very positive review from Eurogamer 8/10:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-23-fight-night-champion-review?page=2

1UP, while positive has some more negative feedback

http://www.1up.com/reviews/fight-night-champion-review?pager.offset=0


I'd say the response to the Champion (story) mode is consistently positive, though there are comments it is too short. 1UP says you can beat it on Easy in 4 hours, but other reviews are more in line with 5-7, I imagine from more fights going the distance.

I'm sure I'll pick it up and post my feedback tomorrow.
 
So far, Champion mode is pretty interesting. Very cinematic. Not the quality of a good movie, but pretty decent for a videogame. The camera in Champion mode seems to be quite different from the demo, so it'll be interest to see how the other game modes play, or if they've really tweaked some things since the demo came out.
 
Ok, just finished a lengthy play session of champion mode. I'm playing on the second highest difficulty (amateur->pro->champion->greatest(?)) and it doesn't feel cheap at all. Not like the last one, where every punch that landed stunned you. Champion is difficult, but the fights are definitely winnable. KOs are difficult to come by, and you have to be careful and conserve stamina, but it's fun.

Champion mode camera is interesting, and even more dynamic than the one in the demo. Only problem with that is sometimes the referee is in the foreground and will block your view of the fight for a second. There are a number of different types of stuns in the game, but there is one particular KO camera that is an absolute joy to watch. Everything but your opponent goes dark and the camera creeps right up over your shoulder. Time slows and the punches slow but speed up to full speed just as they go crashing into your opponents head. It looks absolutely brutal.

The champion mode story is just about every boxing cliche you can think of, but I actually like the protagonist. He's probably one of the better videogame characters I've played this gen. They didn't try to turn him into a "cool dude," or anything. He's like playing Joe Frazier, rather than your typical bad ass flamboyant boxer.

I like how they find ways to fit different kinds of fights into the storyline. The story bits are short between the fights, but they're alright. I can see exactly where it's going, but it's pretty ok. There is definitely far far worse out there, and I'd say for a first stab at having a cinematic story in a sports game, they did a really good job. The facial animation could be better though, and would help a lot in the cutscenes.

Not a huge fan of the audio or music. The commentary is pretty bland too. It would be nice to see them change it up next time around. They do a good job of working in real boxing people.

The boxing feels pretty great. I'm having a lot of fun playing through. So far my favourite fights were
the prison boxing matches. I never thought that would be the case, but busting up a bunch of white-power neo-nazis is very satisfying. The facial damage looks incredible. Stomping out white-power has never been so much fun.

Oh, and the graphics. Seriously amazing. Each venue or scenery has a very different feel. Some have people up close to the ring, others they're far away. The lighting is drastically different in each one, and in all cases looks great. There is one particular training ring with big bay windows on one wall, and if you stand the right way and see the light shining on you, it looks incredible. There is the odd slowdown in the game, but it isn't consistent, so I can't figure out what it is. Some of the cutscenes stutter the odd time, from loading the next fight, I guess. All of the cutscenes are prerecorded with in-game type assets. The in-game graphics actually look better than the cutscenes.
 
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