The Good
- Story-driven Champion mode is a great addition
- Superb-looking fighters who take realistic damage
- Flash KOs and knockdowns keep fights from being predictable
- Spamming punches is no longer an effective fight strategy
- Intuitive controls.
The Bad
- Legacy mode's training minigames aren't much fun
- Referee occasionally comes between the camera and the action.
Regardless of how much time you've spent with the Fight Night Champion
demo, or with previous Fight Night games, your first act in EA Sports'
latest boxing sim is to pick yourself up off the floor after getting
knocked down. You are fictional boxer Andre Bishop, and you're fighting
against a heavily tattooed skinhead in front of your fellow prison
inmates in the new story-driven Champion mode. Make it through that
fight, which also serves as a decent tutorial, and you then have the
option to either continue Bishop's story or check out other modes
reminiscent of those in Fight Night Round 4.
Wherever you go you'll find that Fight Night Champion improves upon its
already-great predecessor in mostly minor but meaningful ways.
Upon entering the ring for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking that Fight Night Champion is a mindless slugfest. That's not only because it's easy to throw an unrealistically high number of punches simply by flicking the right analog stick (or pressing the face buttons, if you prefer), but also because you might not yet realize the importance of defending, countering, and conserving your stamina. You might enjoy some success spamming punches on the easiest of the four difficulty levels or against inexperienced opponents online, but you need to master both the offensive and defensive controls to make it through Champion mode or to make a name for yourself elsewhere. Fortunately there's nothing complicated about the controls, and even if you've been reluctant to throw your punches using the right analog stick in previous games you might want to give it a try this year. Previous Fight Night games have required you to rotate the stick with some precision to throw different types of punches, but here those same straights, overhands, hooks, and uppercuts are simply mapped to different directions, so you're far less likely to throw the wrong punch. It's an intuitive system, and when used in conjunction with shoulder button modifiers for body punches and more powerful shots, it affords you easy access to a formidable repertoire.
The defensive controls used for blocking, leaning, and clinching are similarly uncomplicated, though it's only through practice that you can get a feel for the timing that's needed to open your opponent up for powerful counterpunching opportunities. You might have no intention of playing Fight Night Champion as a counterpuncher, but after being on the receiving end of a few counters (AI opponents are quick to punish you if you leave yourself exposed), you'll be compelled to add them to your own arsenal. You need to use every move at your disposal to succeed in Fight Night Champion, and that's especially true in Champion mode, where story events often force you to adapt your fighting style to different rules or situations. For example, early on your fights in prison don't end until only one of you is left standing, while the flashback fights at the amateur world championships are points-based. And once you turn pro, all manner of obstacles are thrown your way to keep the action from becoming repetitive. In one fight you hurt yourself anytime you use a broken hand, and in the next you have to knock out your opponent with the same hand to prove to everyone that it's healed, for example. Other memorable fights include one in which a crooked referee has been paid off to rule all of your body shots as low blows, and another that you spend protecting a cut near your eye.
There's no shortage of drama in Champion mode, and while Bishop's story is riddled with Rocky-esque cliches, it's still entertaining for as long as it takes you to reach the requisite final fight against a dangerous rival. How long that takes can vary a great deal depending on how quickly you're able to win fights, but it should be at least five or six hours before you step into the ring as Andre Bishop for the last time if you're playing at an appropriate difficulty level. Most of the storytelling is done via well-voiced dialogue in great-looking cutscenes, with extra flavor during fights coming courtesy of ESPN's ringside announcers Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas as well as your trainer. The former are occasionally amusing and mostly accurate with their observations, and they even go so far as to comment on your performances in previous fights. The latter, whom you sadly don't always get to hear from between rounds, often has sound advice for you and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to letting you know how he feels the fight is progressing. Impressively, the announcers and trainer do their jobs just as well outside of the scripted Champion mode, though in Legacy mode the former are accurate only a little more often than a stopped clock when it comes to detailing the result of your previous fight.
If you played Fight Night Round 4's Legacy mode, then you already have a good idea of what to expect from it in Fight Night Champion. You schedule fight after fight for your created boxer, and juggle training, rest periods, and obligations to sponsors and the like between fights. Some improvements have been made, but the career structure is unchanged, and training minigames--though less frustrating than their counterparts in Round 4--are still a necessary evil. Tedious training minigames aside, there's a lot of fun to be had creating a custom boxer (you can use one of more than 70 licensed and Champion mode boxers if you prefer) and then developing him into a champion, a Hall of Famer, or even the greatest of all time. Creation tools are every bit as powerful as those in other EA Sports games and afford you the freedom to customize your boxer's appearance using photos taken with your console's camera, digital photos uploaded to the EA Sports website, as well as dozens of different sliders. It's still not easy to put a realistic likeness of yourself into the game, but with a little patience you can certainly come up with a boxer that's recognizable as you--at least from the neck up. And once you're done perfecting your pretty boy, you have an opportunity to tailor his skill set so that the face you just spent so much time getting right doesn't become a showpiece for Fight Night Champion's excellent damage and blood effects. (Blood even sprays out of cuts and shows up on the fighters, on their shorts, and on the mat.)
It's probably a good idea to play at least a handful of fights before creating a boxer for Legacy mode because that way you'll have some idea of your preferred style. Choosing the correct style from the seven available for your boxer during the creation process doesn't lock you into fighting that way for your entire career, but it has an impact both on your starting skills and on how many experience points it costs to upgrade different skills as you progress. For example, if you make an "inside fighter," you already have some good hooks and uppercuts at your disposal as your career gets under way, but your straights aren't nearly as powerful and cost a lot to upgrade. Create a "counterpuncher" on the other hand, and you start with a good selection of head shots in your arsenal as well as good blocking, head movement, chin, and heart attributes, but your shots to the body are weak. It's a great system that encourages you to choose a fighting style and stick with it but also gives you the freedom to experiment with different approaches if opponents are making it difficult for you to stick to your game plan.
Upon entering the ring for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking that Fight Night Champion is a mindless slugfest. That's not only because it's easy to throw an unrealistically high number of punches simply by flicking the right analog stick (or pressing the face buttons, if you prefer), but also because you might not yet realize the importance of defending, countering, and conserving your stamina. You might enjoy some success spamming punches on the easiest of the four difficulty levels or against inexperienced opponents online, but you need to master both the offensive and defensive controls to make it through Champion mode or to make a name for yourself elsewhere. Fortunately there's nothing complicated about the controls, and even if you've been reluctant to throw your punches using the right analog stick in previous games you might want to give it a try this year. Previous Fight Night games have required you to rotate the stick with some precision to throw different types of punches, but here those same straights, overhands, hooks, and uppercuts are simply mapped to different directions, so you're far less likely to throw the wrong punch. It's an intuitive system, and when used in conjunction with shoulder button modifiers for body punches and more powerful shots, it affords you easy access to a formidable repertoire.
The defensive controls used for blocking, leaning, and clinching are similarly uncomplicated, though it's only through practice that you can get a feel for the timing that's needed to open your opponent up for powerful counterpunching opportunities. You might have no intention of playing Fight Night Champion as a counterpuncher, but after being on the receiving end of a few counters (AI opponents are quick to punish you if you leave yourself exposed), you'll be compelled to add them to your own arsenal. You need to use every move at your disposal to succeed in Fight Night Champion, and that's especially true in Champion mode, where story events often force you to adapt your fighting style to different rules or situations. For example, early on your fights in prison don't end until only one of you is left standing, while the flashback fights at the amateur world championships are points-based. And once you turn pro, all manner of obstacles are thrown your way to keep the action from becoming repetitive. In one fight you hurt yourself anytime you use a broken hand, and in the next you have to knock out your opponent with the same hand to prove to everyone that it's healed, for example. Other memorable fights include one in which a crooked referee has been paid off to rule all of your body shots as low blows, and another that you spend protecting a cut near your eye.
There's no shortage of drama in Champion mode, and while Bishop's story is riddled with Rocky-esque cliches, it's still entertaining for as long as it takes you to reach the requisite final fight against a dangerous rival. How long that takes can vary a great deal depending on how quickly you're able to win fights, but it should be at least five or six hours before you step into the ring as Andre Bishop for the last time if you're playing at an appropriate difficulty level. Most of the storytelling is done via well-voiced dialogue in great-looking cutscenes, with extra flavor during fights coming courtesy of ESPN's ringside announcers Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas as well as your trainer. The former are occasionally amusing and mostly accurate with their observations, and they even go so far as to comment on your performances in previous fights. The latter, whom you sadly don't always get to hear from between rounds, often has sound advice for you and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to letting you know how he feels the fight is progressing. Impressively, the announcers and trainer do their jobs just as well outside of the scripted Champion mode, though in Legacy mode the former are accurate only a little more often than a stopped clock when it comes to detailing the result of your previous fight.
If you played Fight Night Round 4's Legacy mode, then you already have a good idea of what to expect from it in Fight Night Champion. You schedule fight after fight for your created boxer, and juggle training, rest periods, and obligations to sponsors and the like between fights. Some improvements have been made, but the career structure is unchanged, and training minigames--though less frustrating than their counterparts in Round 4--are still a necessary evil. Tedious training minigames aside, there's a lot of fun to be had creating a custom boxer (you can use one of more than 70 licensed and Champion mode boxers if you prefer) and then developing him into a champion, a Hall of Famer, or even the greatest of all time. Creation tools are every bit as powerful as those in other EA Sports games and afford you the freedom to customize your boxer's appearance using photos taken with your console's camera, digital photos uploaded to the EA Sports website, as well as dozens of different sliders. It's still not easy to put a realistic likeness of yourself into the game, but with a little patience you can certainly come up with a boxer that's recognizable as you--at least from the neck up. And once you're done perfecting your pretty boy, you have an opportunity to tailor his skill set so that the face you just spent so much time getting right doesn't become a showpiece for Fight Night Champion's excellent damage and blood effects. (Blood even sprays out of cuts and shows up on the fighters, on their shorts, and on the mat.)
It's probably a good idea to play at least a handful of fights before creating a boxer for Legacy mode because that way you'll have some idea of your preferred style. Choosing the correct style from the seven available for your boxer during the creation process doesn't lock you into fighting that way for your entire career, but it has an impact both on your starting skills and on how many experience points it costs to upgrade different skills as you progress. For example, if you make an "inside fighter," you already have some good hooks and uppercuts at your disposal as your career gets under way, but your straights aren't nearly as powerful and cost a lot to upgrade. Create a "counterpuncher" on the other hand, and you start with a good selection of head shots in your arsenal as well as good blocking, head movement, chin, and heart attributes, but your shots to the body are weak. It's a great system that encourages you to choose a fighting style and stick with it but also gives you the freedom to experiment with different approaches if opponents are making it difficult for you to stick to your game plan.
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