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Fight Night 2004 - Hands On Preview
Chris Leyton
01/03/2004
Step inside the ring as we check out the latest offering from EA...
Boxing fans havenât exactly had that much to shout about in recent years, with only EAs âKnockout Kingsâ series providing any substance compared to the usual arcade line such as âReady to Rumbleâ.
The difficult task is conveying the sense of tactics to a fight; as gamers weâre all used to mashing the buttons as quickly as possible to launch as many attacks and special moves within the short time frame. Naturally this isnât the same technique in boxing, where attacks must be planned for the right time and emphasis is placed on blocking and weaving â“ the task is convincing players not to treat it like another Streetfighter clone.
To make amends EA have introduced what theyâre dubbing the âTotal Punch Controlâ; utilising the right thumbstick to give fluid control over your boxerâs actions. Essentially this gives the player three different attacks, which can be used from either the left or right side; simply tapping the thumbstick diagonally up results in jabs, a fluid motion from the left or right to the top results in hooks whilst a motion from diagonally bottom to the top results in an uppercut. Itâs an intuitive system mainly because the motions are exactly what your fighter is doing on screen, and the rotary nature of them makes the whole fighting experience seem much more fluid then the button-based system before it.
However itâs not entirely about throwing punches and any boxing enthusiast will tell you; thankfully âFight Night 2004â looks likely to be the first boxing title weâve played where punches are wonderfully merged into the blocking and weaving system. Simply by holding onto R1 and moving the right thumbstick allows you to pull off a variety of blocking manoeuvres, whilst L1 and the left thumbstick allows you to duck and weave between attacks.
It takes a little while to get used to, and to begin with youâll find yourself trying to throw as many attacks as possible whilst your boxerâs stamina gives out and leaves you kissing the deck within the first round. However persevere and youâll quickly discover how to play the game properly, and marvel at how well you can string defensive and attacking moves together. Itâs not entirely perfect as of yet as the timing can be a little off, however weâve got every confidence that the extra few months in development will tweak this to perfection and result in the first fighting system to give the sport of boxing any true credibility.
Being an EA product the game allows you to pick anyone from the 32 licensed boxers on the roster, including the likes of Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and Sugar Ray Lewis to mention but a few. However the main bulk of the game comes from creating your own boxer and rising through the ranks in the Career Mode. Here players start at the lowly end of the ladder and must fight their way to the top. Along the way youâll have the option to train between fights in areas such as Heavy Bag and Sparring; if you complete the challenges accordingly youâll be given points with which to improve your boxersâ attributes. These do a good job of informing the player of the correct way to play âFight Night 2004â, as such they have the feeling of importance instead of just some mini-game stuck on to give a bit of variation. Special note must also be given to the Knock Out effect, which switches the view to your boxersâ eyes and having to correctly align your double image with the two thumbsticks.
Points also give you the ability to unlock a huge selection of extras through the Managers Office; ranging from the people in your entourage to the mouth-shield youâre wearing, this gives the game a nice level of customisation and allows players to come up with some truly bizarre fighters.
The visuals in âFight Night 2004â are shaping up nicely, particularly in regards to the character models. Every single one of the 32 licensed boxers looks the part and more importantly moves just like the real thing; so you can expect Ali to be twitching around and virtually impossible to hit, whilst the hulking brute of Lewis is one hell of a presence in the ring. In true EA tradition the presentation levels get shot through the roof, with all manner of dynamic camera angles to catch the brutality of a knockout at the closest angle. EA have secured a number of Hip-Hop artists to provide music tracks for the game, and this style runs throughout the whole presentation aspect of the game.
Anonymous
Date Added:Sun 22nd Apr 2007 09:41