Thoughts on Fight Night Round 4

I tried to resist Fight Night Round 4, I really did. Then i saw an offer to trade in COD 5 and get £25 off and it seemed like a fairly good deal (especially for Game, Yuck).

I’ve been playing the game for a few hours here and there the last few days, and I’m finding it hard, I’m not the only one either. The copy I bought from Game was preowned, even though the game had only just been released. The guy in the shop said the owner returned it the same day because he “hated” it. That’s where we differ though, I don’t hate it at all. I’m really enjoying the challenge, the change in fight mechanics is definitely for the best, it all feels a lot more realistic even the pace of the fight feels a lot better.

It's a good likeness, even down to the muscles

It feels a lot less like an arcade. You can’t easily parry an opponents punches anymore and therefore hit them with constant haymakers. You have to be a lot cleverer. There’s a whole counter punch system that’s been added, and this is where the heart of the new fighting system lies.

Counter Punches cause a lot more damage. In order to pull off a counter punch you need to successfully dodge your opponents punch and then throw a punch immediately. This takes away a lot more health and causes more damage, whilst making a satisfying sound. You you also weave now which makes dodging the punches more realistic. In place of the parry from Fight Night Round 3 you can block and throw a counter punch, however the catch is you can’t just hold your block up to do this. You need to block at the exact moment the punch connects, my problem with this is that it’s almost an advantage to have your block down and keep trying to bring it up when you think your oppoenets punch is going to connect. When in reality you’re better to keep your guard up all the time.

The other feature that impressed me was the ability to upload front and side photos of yourself to the EA Sports site, you can then download these in the game and use them to make a boxer with your likeness and to be fair it worked very well for me.

Overall though it’s hugely enjoyable and it’s great that the controls and mechanics have changed for the better, this’ll keep fans of the previous games busy whilst progressing the game towards a mnore realisitic interpretation