Fight Night Round 3

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Fight Night: Round 3

Developer(s) EA Chicago
Publisher(s) EA Sports
Aspect ratio 480i, 720p, 1080i (HDTV)
Platform(s) Xbox 360, Xbox, PSP, PS2, PS3
Release date Flag of the United States February 20, 2006
Flag of Europe March 10, 2006
PS3 December 6, 2006
Genre(s) Sports game
Mode(s) Single-player, Ad hoc, Infrastructure
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen
PEGI: 16+

Fight Night: Round 3 is a boxing video game developed by EA Sports. It is the sequel to EA Sports' previous boxing title, Fight Night: Round 2, which was released in 2005. Round 3 was released on February 22, 2006 for the Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP and PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 3 version of the game was released on December 6, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Fight Night: Round 3 is the third boxing title from EA Sports, upon succeeding from the Knockout Kings games on the PlayStation. It features the usual improvements such as better graphics and gameplay. "Impact Punches" are one of the most drastic changes, along with ESPN Classic fights and a new career mode, in which the player fights to gain popularity in order to reach sponsored fights, or to be featured on ESPN. Unlike in older versions, Round 3 defaults without a heads-up display (HUD), allowing a player to judge the status of their stamina and energy based on their stance, movements, and facial features, instead of the usual stamina meter.

[edit] Versions

The game has been released for several video game consoles and some differences exist between the versions. The cover art features Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward on the PS2 and Xbox, while the Xbox 360, PS3, and the PSP versions have Oscar de la Hoya on the cover. Only the PS3 version can be played in a 1st person view.

[edit] Critical reception

Official Xbox Magazine awarded Fight Night: Round 3 with a rare 10, the highest score given by the magazine.

G4's Reviews on the Run's Victor Lucas stated that Round 3 had the best graphics he has ever seen on a video game.[1]

The game has been criticized for its highly intrusive product placement. While brands for athletic apparel, such as Everlast and Under Armour are expected in a sports game, sponsorship by Dodge and Burger King is regarded as excessive (The Burger King can even be used as a trainer[2]). It won GameSpot's award as the game with "The Most Despicable Product Placement".

The career mode has also been criticized for lacking reality to boxing with a simplistic ladder to the top, taking on present and historic characters as well as made up boxers. The intelligence has also been called limited; for example, the game automates a rival during the path as an amateur boxer and throughout the career of the boxer. The player's fighter does not have a world ranking and world titles cannot be won, lost or unified, unless the player follows the automated progress.

Furthermore, the minigames are the same from the previous version, with the only alteration being the perspective from which they are viewed. Additionally, the Xbox 360 version has several flaws on what is essentially a modified version of Round 2 that include a cutman who warns of cuts before they can be remedied by the player; and issues with characters falling after being knocked out, such as the common glitch where a character's limbs are thrown around randomly after he hits the ground. Since release, there have been no patches.

Another criticism of the game is its low level of challenge from the AI. Various gaming websites and critics thought that the AI, even on the 'hard' setting, was too easy.

[edit] Awards

  • Received the IGN award for Best Offline Multiplayer on PlayStation 3 in 2006.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Reviews on the Run, 11 March 2006
  2. ^ Michael Donahue, "Forced Guests: Cameos that make us sceam 'Yessss!'" in Electronic Gaming Monthly 226 (March 2008): 34.

[edit] External links

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Fight Night video games