In the sports genre, boxing games haven't been as successful or as thrilling as football, basketball, hockey, and even tennis titles. There just wasn't enough to get excited about, but thankfully, EA's latest boxer, Fight Night 2004, successfully injects the sport with some much needed personality and visual flair, making it the best boxing game since Nintendo's Punch Out.

Fight Night is the replacement to EA's Knock Out Kings series, and while the core play mechanic hasn't changed very much, it's the game's dramatic presentation and visual effects that make it stand out. Each of the 32 boxers look almost photo-realistic to their real life counterparts, making this the most impressive looking boxing game ever made, but it's not just the character models that make this a hit. EA's introduced some clever and much needed innovations that keep interest in the game very high.

Fight Night's most talked about feature is Total Punch Control, a system that continues EA's tradition to make the right analog sticks of controllers around the world do something useful. In Fight Night's case, you can use the right analog stick to punch. For example, to throw a right hook you press the stick to the right and then perform a counter clockwise half circle, and to throw a left uppercut, you tilt the stick south west and then quickly do a clockwise arc. The system's awkward at first, but it becomes easier with practice. The trick to success is to know who your fighter is. In other words, if you enjoy throwing flurries of punches, a heavyweight isn't the boxer for you.

While Total Punch Control is fun to use, I couldn't stop using the digital buttons to fight. The game's default controls are set so you can only use the analog (Nice try EA.), but with some quick tinkering you can enable both so you can switch back and forth, which was a welcome comfort despite my progress using the "new way." I didn't buy into Total Punch Control because it didn't feel responsive enough. It definitely sets the game apart from every boxing game that precedes it, but it's a tad over hyped.

Fight Night's knockouts and the rag doll physics is another impressive feature. Bottom line, these are the SICKEST knockouts I've ever seen in a videogame. Delivering a final blow is akin to watching something huge hit a car's crumple zone at point blank range. The body goes limp and collapses in so many different ways it seems like no two reactions are truly alike. Some fall with their butts in the air, while others lie on the mat and twitch. It's truly a sight to see, and the game's worth playing to achieve the satisfaction of witnessing them. Of course, EA went the extra mile by adding other impressive visual touches such as sweat beading down heads and blood streaming down the face. You'll get to see the knock out three times, so there's plenty of opportunities to trash talk your opponent, though the game doesn't always display the best angles. Also, the stream of blood that flies from mouths looks a little on the unrealistic side, but those are both small gripes considering the great job the developers did.

Thankfully, the game's knockouts aren't the only things that look good. The game has a varied selection of boxers divided into their respective weight classes and each looks very much like their real life counterparts. Roy Jones Jr. obviously looks fantastic given that he's the game's cover boy, but Joe Frazier, Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Ray Leonard, and the other fighters look very impressive. Even better, they all take damage, so you may enter the ring a pretty boy, but by the end of the fight, you'll be sporting a hamburger face. Streaming blood, black eyes, and swollen cheeks make pummeling your opponent exciting just to see what sort of damage you can do.

In addition to the abovementioned features, there are plenty of little things that make Fight Night a quality game. When you get knocked down, the game switches to a first person perspective where you see the ref, except there's three of him! The goal is to clear the cobwebs by lining up all three images so there's only one guy counting you out. It's pretty easy to do, though it gets much harder to manipulate the images the more you get knocked down. Another thing I liked was the commentary between rounds. Your trainers summarize your performance and give you good advice, but they can be easily skipped if you've had enough of them.

Finally, Fight Night has a very impressive Career Mode. You start out by either selecting one of the game's fighters or creating your own, then working his way up the ranks, picking and choosing opponents to net precious attribute points that increase your fighter's skills. At first your absolutely nowhere, a scrub the heavyweights wipe off their shoes, but through hard work (Fight Night has some very entertaining mini games that'll help your fighter gain attribute points.), you'll eventually climb the ranks. You can either play it safe and box guys who are on your level, or you can risk it all and go one on one with a more powerful competitor to net more cash and respect. In turn, the cash can be used to purchase all sorts of goodies, including entrance themes, pyrotechnics, special punches, and ring attire. It's a cool feature, though the game forces you to retire at 40, so there's no mini game where you sell grills for a while and then make a tremendous comeback. All kidding aside, the end of the Career Mode somewhat robs the wind from the sails of what could've been a deeper franchise mode.

While the fighters look great, the same cannot be said for the game's crowds or the arenas they fill. The first few rows of people look like Sims, which is passable, but the ones in the back are the standard 2D cutout people we've come to expect in this console generation's sports games. The arenas are also a tad disappointing. Some of them look fantastic, while others are drab and devoid of detail. I was also very disappointed that when you play two player, the boxers come down to the ring with very similar entrances. Signature entrances would've been a nice touch.

Fight Nights aural component is hit and miss. The soundtrack, which includes tracks from Puff Daddy, M.O.P., and Stat-Quo, among others, fits the game perfectly, though gamers who aren't into hip hop may be turned off. Also, the game's announcer, BET's Big Tigger, sounds like a Chris Rock rip off and his lines repeat way too often. Thankfully, he can be muted. Lastly, the crowd noises are far from impressive. It truly boggles my mind why developers don't take the time to make a large crowd sound like a large crowd. It rarely seems like there's as many people in the arena as the visuals suggest. Sometimes, it's too quiet, and chants don't sound realistic enough. However, on the plus side, the sounds of punches being landed is quite good.

There's no doubt that Fight Night's gameplay is solid, and if you're a boxing fan, you're going to love what EA's done, but the game didn't "Wow!" me. Sure, going a few rounds with a human opponent and tinkering with the Career Mode is fun, but I couldn't help but feel the game should've been more dramatic and in my face. It's definitely a simulator, so those of you looking for an arcade experience may be disappointed, but for the boxing purist, Fight Night is a fun game that features enough bells and whistles to make it a quality purchase, and if you're a PS2 owner with a network adapter, the inclusion of online play (PlayStation exclusive.) should keep this one spinning in your console for a long time.

Our Final ScoreOK

What did you think of this game? Post Your Own Review