Fight Night Round 4 (360)
I am a huge fan of the noble art of pugilism and over the years I have played just about every boxing game released.
On the whole they have been pretty shoddy, EA revolutionalised the genre with realism of Knockout Kings/Fight Night and Nintendo have nailed the comedy aspect with Punch-Out.
This latest game from EA is about the best there has been, in fact it is a mesmerizingly brilliant game that delivers a hammer blow of leather to the jaws of the opposition (ie Don King's Prizefighter).
The package is so slick and wonderfully produced it really will leave your jaw wide open in amazement, so much effort has gone into the production of the menus, cut scenes and delivery of the game.
EA don't do anything by halves and this is no exception, the amount of fighters on this game supersedes anything that has gone before it and is so exciting for a true fan of the sport.
My first 10 minutes on the game revolved around a rematch at the MGM Grand between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao - guess what? The Hitman got floored twice - the second a killer left-hook that crumpled him on the canvas without response - hmm - art imitating life.
My second dream match up was Hatton v Duran - two similar fighters both with hands of stone - Duran won a punishing 12-rounder.
I saved the best till last - Ali v Tyson. The ultimate match up. The two greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. The result? Tyson TKO round 5.
The exhibition and Xbox Live multiplayer aspects of the game are endlessly entertaining and as exceed all expectations.
The career mode is also of the highest possible calibre, a lot of fun, very challenging and the best career mode on any of EA's previous boxing incarnations to date.
The game plays like a dream with some very intuitive, responsive and very well thought out controls - there is a lot to remember but when you have it nailed you really will reap the benefits.
This game is the best boxing title to date and sits very nicely in the EA stable, there isn't really anything I can think of to make it better, so much depth and quality has been added to the title I promise you will get the same joy out of it that I am.
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Authors
Steve Wollaston - Sunday Mercury games reviewer Steve has been writing about video games for donkey's years. In fact he is probably far too old for it now which is why you will see a lot of reviews been done by kids... He has been nominated three times for Regional Games Journalist Of The Year at the Games Media Awards, but never wins. His major love is sports games and rates Sensible World of Soccer circa 90's as the greatest game ever made - closely followed by Championship Manager 2. Skyrim has currently taken over his life.
