While it serves as a training tool, Champion Mode also adds some emotional weight to a series that has ignored the human drama of boxing for far too long. Some of these criteria get a little tedious, but for the most part it makes Champion Mode stand out from the rest of Fight Night. To get the attention of the boxing world, your corner man demands you knock your opponent on his ass. At one point, you bust your hand on someone's head and have to fight like a southpaw the rest of the match. This can lead to some interesting gameplay situations. Whether it's kicking the ass of a white supremacist in prison, earning a gold medal at the Amateur World Championships, or stepping into the ring for your first professional fight - the story creates an incredible impact for Fight Night. Just about every boxing movie cliché is thrown in and yet the story is incredibly compelling. The five-hour story is a seamless mixture of cutscenes and boxing matches. Champion Mode has you living out the rise, fall and rebirth of fictional boxer Andre Bishop. EA must have sensed this, because it took a bit of a gamble and created an all-new story mode that, at least for a few hours, injects some humanity into a generally soulless experience. As good as the gameplay mechanics are, it still feels like an exhibition. Even with all these improvements, the battles in the ring are missing the key element that makes professional boxing special - the drama. A cautious Iron Mike Tyson? It happened to me once (at least for three rounds before he landed a punch that flattened Holyfield in a flash). I've had fights that feel authentic and others that just don't seem to match up. Maybe that's because some fighters are just plain stupid or maybe the AI simply isn't reacting correctly. Like if Jake LaMotta, the Raging Bull, is pounding them inside, they don't move around and play at a distance. If cut, they are often overly protective of that side of their face. If you're in the seventh round and they know they're losing on points, they might become more aggressive. Ali plays with you Tyson tries to destroy you. In fact, it's smart enough that boxers feel like individuals when you face them. I've had matches where I was winning easily, but because I got careless, I left myself open for the perfect strike at the perfect angle and took a shot that stunned the world. That's new and the danger of such a sudden ending to a fight has an impact on how you play Fight Night Champion. Previous Fight Nights had "flash knockdowns" before, which means getting dropped to the mat suddenly with one hit, but a flash knockout means that you are immediately unconscious with no chance to get up. The threat of a one-punch KO is constant. If you don't move around the ring and protect yourself, you risk more than just abuse. Even then, the addition of flash knockouts requires even mindless punch jockeys to consider using defense. The option to just wail away is still present in Fight Night Champion, but only at the default settings. And when I say "box," I mean as opposed to brawling. Streamlining the gameplay makes the technical aspects of a fight easier to grasp, allowing you to focus on more important areas - like trying to actually box. Other changes include replacing the over-the-top haymaker with a modifier to simply add a little oomph to any punch, simplified blocking, and a new stamina/endurance system that's a touch more sophisticated than before. No one can really play like a fool and have long-term success with Fight Night. You can still attempt a ridiculous rapid-punch session, but the penalty of exhausting your fighter quickly is severe. It's nice to know you are definitely throwing an uppercut rather than hoping you made the right movements with the thumbstick to pull one off. The altered punching system not only speeds up the flow of a bout, but also puts the emphasis of your fighting skills on your strategy. Now, every punch is thrown by flicking the stick quickly in a specific direction. Gone is the old punching system that required complex analogue stick moves, such as half-circle moves for uppercuts. Not only can you see the impact of punches, but some gameplay tweaks give you better control over their delivery. Fight Night Champion, the fifth entry in the series, does an excellent job of enhancing the experience in the ring.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |