Written by Jeff Buckland, 4/12/2004
Played on:
Xbox
Boxing games have gone through an actual de-evolution over the years. Many boxing titles from the 80's required quick reflexes, the ability to defend yourself from your opponent, and a little strategy. But there have been a huge glut of boxing titles since around the time Ready 2 Rumble Boxing was released about five years ago that embrace some sort of "arcade-oriented" style. In boxing games, this means you need to basically mash the buttons faster in order to win. So while the button mashers have had their fill of "great" boxing games, those of us who wanted something more technical have been mostly left in the cold for the last few years.
Even EA was guilty of this with their Knockout Kings games, but apparently they've decided to scrap the series in favor of a new one with all-new gameplay. Fight Night 2004 is EA's attempt to revitalize boxing games; it includes gameplay that allows boxers to carefully defend themselves and counter at the right moment. The developers have gone through major efforts to redo almost everything about the game since Knockout Kings 2002, but is it enough to restore our faith in boxing games?
EA is putting a lot of hype into Fight Night's "Total Punch Control", although I find that there are other aspects of the control that are more important. This system allows you to use the right analog stick to throw your punches, be they jabs, hooks, or uppercuts. After playing with the controls, though, I found that switching to a button-using configuration was better anyway. I understand that EA is trying to prove to people that this isn't a button-masher, as they even say it in the actual game during a tutorial. But I can act faster pressing a button than by swinging the right stick around to punch, and doing an uppercut just means pressing the jab and hook buttons at the same time. Overall, Total Punch Control isn't bad, but I suggest you try one of the button setups as well and see.
What's even more important than Total Punch Control is the way the boxer can defend himself from incoming punches. If you hold the left trigger, you can use the left analog stick to lean in any direction - you can duck under many high punches, and you can keep your face out of range of that incoming hook. On top of this, you can hold the right trigger and use the right stick to block either side of your head or body. Use this correctly, and you'll knock away an incoming punch and get some time to launch your own offensive. Still, pick any of the four quadrants, and that's only a 25% chance that you'll successfully knock his hand away. Basically, this is good for dealing with button mashers, but it's tough to shut down anyone who mixes up their offense a bit.
This is without a doubt the best-looking boxing game to date. The fighters themselves look excellent, and their motion-captured animations are impeccable. Each separate animation flows together beautifully, which really helps with the game's immersion.
The venues you'll fight in range from the dirty old gym on the corner all the way to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and they all have their own little details that you just don't expect in a boxing game. You can see out of the windows in the Appolo Gym and see cars driving past in the background, and the old busted neon sign flickers outside.
The boxers show plenty of damage during the fights; a good punch will show blood flying out - maybe a bit too much - and sweat will also show during a good shot. The boxers' faces can show blood running down, and you even get to see swelling and bruising in certain spots on the face. Despite all this, the condition of your boxer's face has zero impact on the actual fight. More on that later.
Much of the crowd is also now made of polygons, which I think is a first for boxing games. I expected to see the really flat, cardboard-looking sprites that usually make up the crowd in a boxing game, but these people are actually in 3D. Granted, they're very low-quality models and only loop through a single animation, but it's a step up from anything else I've seen. In a few venues, you can even see security people, waiters walking around, and bartenders cheering the fighters on. It's a small touch, but I think it was worth it.
The meat of any boxing game comes down to how it actually plays. The Xbox version of the game includes a quick exhibition mode with any of the game's 32 licensed boxers or one you created yourself, and two players are of course supported here. But it's the career mode where you'll find most of the single player action going down, and this mode is pretty robust. You again can create a new boxer or start off any of the licensed ones as a newcomer, and fight your way up the ranks. Between fights you'll participate in one of four training exercises which increase your stats - and you'll have to score higher and higher in these mini-games to keep increasing your stats as you go.
The boxing is still very action-oriented compared to what you'd see in a real fight on TV or pay-per-view; after about thirty hours of gameplay, I've only fought a handful of matches that didn't end in a knockout (feather- and lightweight fights included). Combine this with a lack of clinching, and the boxing can easily degenerate into a complete brawl. This isn't a bad thing as long as the actual boxing feels mostly authentic, and EA does succeed in this respect.
As you go, you can unlock new stuff like different gloves, trunks, shoes, and other accessories like tattoos. You can configure your entrance with confetti, fireworks, and more, although all this stuff is simply cosmetic; the cash you put towards these upgrades doesn't help your boxer win any fights. But since your prize money can't buy you anything else, you might as well spend it on something.
