Fight Night Champion Review

Whether you are an experienced boxer, or this is your first time in the ring, Fight Night Champion offers a deep and visually impressive experience

Posted by Alex V on March 1, 2011 - 1:07am EST

You can only complete one minigame per week, so succeeding at these challenges is crucial opportunity to earn extra XP. Each week spent in training depletes the stamina meter though – so the last week before the match must usually be taken for rest in order to restore energy for the fight. It’s a realistic scheduling system, though one has to wonder why the game limits us to just one training session per week, and for a pro boxer the stamina drains a tad too quickly. The player can also take the training week to improve any of the boxer’s physical skills. This simply results in a text prompt, so there are no minigames to worry about.

As your boxer grows with experience and rises in the ranks by defeating opponents, there will be options down the road to sign sponsors, attend fan events to increase your popularity, and pickup on last-minute fights. All of these events add a bit of randomness to the experience, but don’t actually affect the overall progression very much. While progressing , the way that a player assigns XP points really affects the outcome of the fights and it is satisfying to see your fighter improve overtime. The career can take a player through a number of weight classes and championships before they must retire due to age – an interesting dynamic that always introduces new AI opponents to the rankings while removing the retired ones. The existing roster of boxers includes ranks filled with modern legends in all weight classes, from lightweight to heavyweight. As with any sports game, Legacy Mode offers a ton of gameplay value and very extensive replayability options.

Once you finally step into the ring, after the cool custom entrance presentation you’ve created earlier, the gameplay really shines. First off, the physics are very well done – there is nothing silly like arm models clipping or glitchy movements. Everything is very well animated and dynamically created as punches land, miss or lack power. It makes the game look great, but the physics doesn’t much influence on the gameplay itself – not that it’s a problem. Full spectrum control is once again present, letting you control your punches and swings with either the right stick or the face buttons on the controller. Both input methods work equally well and feel satisfying. There is also a power modifier, allowing you to throw heavy punches – but they often don’t feel significantly more powerful than regular attacks, and use too much of your boxer’s stamina. Still, they are most often recommended when trying to finish off an opponent.

The boxer’s stamina starts off full at the beginning of a match, and as punches are thrown and received, it gradually decreases overtime. Between the rounds, depending on your boxer’s skills, a percentage of overall stamina level is restored. As such, managing attack and defence is a crucial tactical skill for long matches. And even overall – tactics are a very important part of the game, and it’s impossible to play Fight Night as a button masher. Balancing jabs and hooks with good blocking is key to victory. Alongside the relatively accessible controls, the game also introduces reflexive blocking, allowing the player to dynamically block punches without having to specify a direction.

Alongside stamina, fighters also have a health rating during the match. By constantly landing punches, the player can decrease his opponent’s health level (which is restored a bit between rounds). After a successful combination, the opponent becomes stunned – giving the player a boost of stamina to launch a finishing flurry while the opponent can only cover up and hope to survive. After a few minutes, if no serious punches land, the stunned condition clears but the opponent would have lost a significant amount of health. When stunned, the opponent is vulnerable to a KO by a strong landed punch. Opponents usually go down around twice before the match is decided by a KO result, which becomes a bit predicable. The game also introduces one punch Kos which are difficult to execute, but feel as satisfying as one would imagine. Overall, the accessible control scheme and great match mechanics make for some very intense and fun tactical battles.