Pros: graphics, the fight
Cons: everything else
The bottom line: total punch control is awesome
Fight Night Round 3 is the first Xbox 360 title that I have liked. Since it wasn't a launch title like Madden 360, I was really hoping that this wouldn't be another half-a*sed effort by EA. I looked at IGN reviews and the like before I bought it, but hell, IGN made Madden 360 sound good. So I took the $60 chance and I am kind of glad I did.

The first thing to talk about with this game is the Total Punch Control. Every boxing game before this series has had jab correspond to A and hook correspond to B or something like that. Total Punch Control utilizes the right analog stick for all punches besides signature and illegal punches. The player has to move the stick to simulate a real punch. For example, moving the stick all the way to 3 o' clock, then rotating it to 12 o' clock will result in a right hook. Moving the stick to the 6 o' clock position and then to 12 will result in a left or right uppercut, depending on which route you take. Basically, it's just a really great idea, because for haymakers, you'll have to spend more time winding up than for jabs for example, just like in real life. Just like in real life, if you want to punch harder, you got to put more work in rather than just press a different button. It also really simplifies the controls so that you only really use the two analog sticks and triggers 90% of the time. It's minimalist heaven.

It's also hell for button-mashers because there aren't any buttons to mash. And there's a bit of thinking involved in this game. Now I'm not saying you need to think 12 moves in advance like those nerdy chess dudes, but you'll need a better strategy than "throw lots of punches" to beat the CPU past the first few fights on career mode. I usually do something like "throw lots of quick punches unless I keep getting countered, in which case bob and weave and try to counter punch". There are also many fighting styles and stances to choose from which have an effect on gameplay; if you're a speed style boxer, you probably don't want to choose the Lethal Uppercuts fighting style because those punches take a while to develop. Many people have said the AI sucks, but I find it somewhere around medium, but this is also my first Fight Night game.

Those EA guys must've felt a bit pretentious when they were making this game because the HUD (heads up display) is off by default. This is true only on the 360 version, because the graphics are supposed to be so good that you can tell when your opponent can be knocked out just by his facial expressions and body language. Now I'm saying EA is getting a bit pretentious here not only because minimalists tend to be that way but because that claim is way too full of itself. It's true that you don't need the HUD, but not for the reasons they say. First of all, the announcer (who is horrible by the way and announces every fight from the smaller venues to Madison Square Garden!) tells you over and over again, "One more punch and I think he's going to be on the floor!" and "He doesn't look like he knows where he is right now!" and "It looks like a strong wind could knock him over!"ad nauseam.

The announcer is always this repetitive, and has a nasty habit of addressing people with "he" which makes it hard for the player to know which fighter he's talking about. Body language does help you know when a fighter is about to go down, but it has nothing to do with the power of the 360 because it's intensely exaggerated that it becomes a caricature. I mean, you could give body language clues that subtle on a Sega Genesis if you wanted to. So there's no reason to turn the HUD on, and it's pretty cool just fighting from a side perspective with just your fighter and your opponent from the knees up. I wonder why the ref never shows up unless someone gets knocked down though.

Graphics are great. The only real gripes I have about the graphics are that crowds tend to have 1000 of the same exact person over and over again, and crowds still look a little 2-D, and faces don't exactly look real sometimes. Facial expressions are way exaggerated, but I reckon it'll take a long time to ever get those to look realistic in video games. Fight Night Round 3 still has probably the best graphics I've seen in a video game. You can see beads of sweat, lighting effects are always pretty (though exaggerated a bit), and digital Manny Pacquiao looks exactly like the real thing. With a nice HDTV, you'll never want to go back to playing your PS2 again. In fact, I played this game on a regular Xbox at a friend's house and that version looked horrible in comparison. On the Xbox, boxers' faces don't seem to have anything inside the mouth.


However, the animations are another story. Basically 50% of the animations seem like they were mo-capped from a real boxer and the other half seem like they were mo-capped from your grandmother. Some punches almost reach Million Dollar Baby-like ridiculousness (as in "There is no way in hell that punch in real life could have hurt!") I don't know why this happened, but it sure does suck.

The meat of the game is the career mode, in which you create a boxer and train and fight until you become a champion. This mode is fun but seems rushed. Presentation is severely lacking and this mode is also filled with gimmicks. Such as rivalries. One dude just seems to be randomly assigned to be your "rival". He shows this animosity by throwing a few illegal punches (which by the way never seem to be noticed by the ref) in your first fight. It doesn't matter if you knock him out in the first round; he's your rival for life. Lame! I kind of think rivalries should pit two sort-of evenly matched rivals against each other. Maybe some kind of storyline could've set the animosity up? As sweet as it was to dipose of my rival in the first round of our last fight, it just seems like the game just forced it on me, saying, "Here, I know you have nothing against this dude and he can't even hang with you in the ring, but I just feel like assigning him as a rival to you. Tough luck, but now we get to show off a few gimmicks like the weigh-in fight." Needless to say, the rivalries in career mode are never going to reach Yankee-Red Sox or Ali-Frazier or even Agassi-Sampras (wasn't much of a rivalry and was very cordial) levels. A lot to ask? Maybe, but this is what EA gets for shoving a rivalry down my throat.

There's also a Recreate a Legend mode and ESPN classic boxing moment modes for you boxing buffs out there. This game is pretty fun multiplayer as computer AI is pretty good but nothing compared to a human.

There are plenty of gripes I have about this game such as seemingly random judging, mostly lame training, horrible replays (you can't control them and after rounds, they usually pick one of the crappier exchanges to highlight), horrible refs (they don't appear in the ring and they have never once called one of my fights), and even worse announcing. I mean this announcer is almost at Bobbito-level suckiness, but the fight is fun. There's nothing like knowing Sugar Ray Leonard is going to win the fight if it's left to the judges, getting more aggressive with your fighter, and knocking Leonard out in the final round. Nothing like finishing off your "rival" in the first round with a lowblow uppercut and then a haymaker. This game is a must for anyone who owns an Xbox 360.


Graphics: A
Gameplay: A-
Sound: D
Length: Medium-Long
Buy/Rent: Buy because it's pretty good and I doubt you can finish this in a rental period. Plus multiplayer is fun.