"Fight Night Round 4" Gameplay Video Shows a Bit More Realism

At the end of next month EA will release the fourth iteration in their long-time boxing sim, Fight Night Round 4. The previous game in the series, Round 3, was one of the Next-Gen consoles' launch titles and so graphically was a major improvement over the game it followed. The upcoming game won't present such an instant jump in recognizable quality as that, but it definitely has a great cast of fighters and more importantly is more realistic in the way it allows them to battle inside. This is a good thing since just as with boxing in real life, the franchise may be facing some competition to its popularity from Mixed Martial Arts in the form of THQ's UFC 2009 - Undisputed. But we are talking boxing here, so let's to it.

Fight fans and serious gamers will relish the realism of this inside action, and the video below is a good starting point to see this. This action means access among other things to body shots and hooks to counter an opponent's superior reach if that is your fighter's strength. Although this is really cool, personally, I wish they had gone a bit farther with this. For example although there are a variety of available fighter styles, I don't see that random boxers chosen can tie up opposing fighters inside. When you are talking the real thing, this is boxing 101, especially when you are outmatched or tired. Also, although boxing games are by nature one-on-one events, in the real thing you always have a referee in the ring as well. When a fighter ties up an opponent too much or does something else illegal, the ref steps in and can even take away points. Even though you could be the one penalized, a crafty fighter can use this extra person in the ring to his advantage in several different ways. These tactics would be a great addition to this series, and again are very much true to life. I suppose we need to have something for the next version and so maybe we will end up seeing that eventually. Regardless, as for now Fight Night Round 4 definitely looks like something you might want to check out if you are a fan of the 'Sweet Science' or gaming facsimiles there of. It will be available on Xbox 360 and PS3 at the end of July. Check out the gameplay video below, as well as the fighter styles video that follows it.

	

	

–Hobson's Choice