Fight Night Round 4 Comments by Kristan Reed

I still want to be able to do my 'low blow right, punch to the back of the head left' combo. It's all about the fouls.

Having got the game and played for a while, Fight Night Round 4 is a different experience from 3.

FNR3 is a slug-fest. It's the game you get when you get some mates round and you want to swig on a few drinks and bash each other's brains in. It's still a great title, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it's a launch titile.

FNR4 is more tuned in to the boxing element; the fact that people can't (and don't) just keep punching each other until one person falls. There are a great deal of tactics involved now. In order to fulfil the tangibility between the player(s) and the on-screen characters, EA have chosen to have sticks only - possibly because they felt they need to set the stall out; to show that the game has moved on.

Due to the counter-punching from dodges and blocks, punching through blocks, the role of stamina and tactical punching (such as inside and outside fighting) an experienced fighter ought to be able to let the button-mashers punch themselves out and then move in later. Don't get dragged into fighting their fight. Pick your time.

I wasn't sure if I liked FNR4 on the first few plays. After a couple more games, I realised that it's almost a wholey different game from its predecessor. It won't be for everyone. Some of the FNR3 fans don't like FNR4 because it's not all about the big hits. Some of the people who didn't like FNR3 may like FNR4 because it's not all about the big hits.

Credit to EA for moving the franchise on.

Little bit unfair this review, I think the series has always been a series for purists ad boxing fans, myself being one. I hear complaints from people regarding the difficulty spikes in the series, but I don't find this a problem at all, and I think that because I understand boxing, I understand the game a little more, and prhaps people are approaching it with the attitude that it's just a game and go out swinging, only to get their asses handed to them. ANYWAY, it seems like Kristan isn't all that great at the game because for one thing, I think the button controls should be left well alone and am very glad there not in round 4. I used to use them for round 3 and so had to adapt to this for a little while, however now I wouldn't have the controls any other way, I think the total punch control is brilliant. I never "fluff my punches" as Kristan put it and it would only serve to annoy to have a slew of button-bashers online that don't pay any heed to the actual tactics of boxing. Definetly don't think the game should be marked down to an 8 for not having a control scheme that belittles the fisted art. Also I don't have any problem with the training games either, another example of a complaint being submitted because the reviewer doesn't seem to be very good at the game. Yeah it's a hard game, they always have been apprently, there meant for boxing purists at the end of the day. I'd give this game a 9/10 easily, possibly 10 I dunno.

Online is absolutely pants in this game. It's a pure spamfest. In regular online fights I always throw 700+ punches in the first 4 rounds and unless my opponent is also a spammer he's knocked out before that. The stamina system is broken and the core gameplay is very poor for online play.

And if you don't believe that the game is broken... then you simply haven't met a player who knows that you can't get counters for body shots save the odd block counter.