Fight Night Round 4

[STDSkillz]

http://www.psu.com/media/fight-night-round-4/fight-night-round-4-ss-7.jpg

Genre: Fighter
Available On: XBOX 360, PS3
Release Date: June 23rd, 2009
Product Features:


New 'Legacy Mode' that allows players to grow the career of fighters from their amateur days to the top of the professional ranks.
All-new physics-based gameplay engine that recreates the full spectrum of true-to-life punch impacts, giving boxers a devastating arsenal of punches, blocks and ring movement.
An undated heads-up display (HUD) that adds blocking functionality to the existing health and stamina status meters on screen.
Realistic boxing styles based on fighters like Ali, Tyson, Frasier, Foreman that allows players to step into the ring and emulate the move of the greats of the Sweet Science.
2-person multiplayer functionality both locally and on Xbox LIVE, and Xbox LIVE achievments and gamer points online.




I was really surprised that no one created this thread yet. I'm pretty excited for this game; was a big fan of Fight Night Round 3. Ships out on June 30th. Below are a few gameplay vids and the roster list:

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Roster List:


Amin Asikainen
Anthony Mundine
Arementa
Arthur Abraham
Arturo Gatti
Billy Dib
Carlos Monzon
Corey Spinks
Diego Corrales
Eddie Chambers
Edwim Valero
Emanuel Agustus
Erik Morales
Fernando Montiel
George Foreman
Jake Lamotta
James Toney
Jermaine Taylor
Joe Calzaghe
Joe Frazier
Jorge Armando Arce
Julio Caesar Chavez
Kelly Pavlik
Kermit Cinteron
Lennox Lewis
Manny Pacquiao
Marco Antonio Barrera
Marvin Hagler
Miguel Cotto
Mike Tyson
Muhammad Ali
Nate Campbell
Nonito Donair
Paulie Malignaggi
Pernell Whittaker
Ray Leonard
Ray Robinson
Ricky Hatton
Roberto Duran
Roberto Guerrero
Ronald "Winky" Wright
Roy Jones Jr.
Sergio Mora
Shane Mosely
Thomas Hearns
Tommy Morrison
Victor Ortiz
Vinny Paz
Vivian Harris
Yuriorkis Gamboa

[Jericho]

I would knock a ***** the fuck OUT in Knockout Kings 02 with Sugar Ray Robinson

[Warden]

I fucking ruined controllers on Fight Night 2 and 3. I just dont see this version being any better. Pretty? Sure. Better? I dont see how they can honestly make a boxing game better by not adding anything all that inventive.

[Cornflake]

Very cool. I really liked Round 3 as well. Looking forward to this.

[Le Goat]

I fucking ruined controllers on Fight Night 2 and 3. I just dont see this version being any better. Pretty? Sure. Better? I dont see how they can honestly make a boxing game better by not adding anything all that inventive.

i'll bet my left nut you're wrong, again.


In my version of Pacquiao vs. Hatton, things were different.
Yes, we all know what Manny Pacquiao did to Ricky Hatton Last Weekend in the real world. We all saw Manny--displaying his typical ferocity and speed--absolutely dismantle the British fighter in less than two full rounds, again making the claim as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the business.
My fight was different. You see, I had a chance to try out Hatton vs. Pacquiao two weeks prior in New York City, thanks to some hands-on time with EA Sports' upcoming FNR4 .And though my fight didn't have the flash of Manny's KO of Hatton, it served as an excellent reminder of the sheer amount of variety that FN4 is going to pack into its gameplay when it is released late next month.
I played as Pacquiao and Fight Night producer Brian Hayes strapped on the gloves as Hatton. Hayes went easy on me for the first couple of rounds, letting me get a feel for the control scheme, which is slightly modified from Fight Night Round 3. The controls aren't that different, but for someone who spent a good deal of time with FN3, it was the little differences that took some getting used to. For instance, body shots used to be controlled by holding down the left trigger as a modifier, but now they're simply tied to the lower half of the right stick. So if you want to throw a shot down low, you simply flick the stick downward and to the right or left.
Splitting up the right stick into upper and lower punches affects haymaker punches, which in FN3 were executed with big spins on the right stick. In Fight Night 4, you throw your biggest punches by modifying your regular hooks and uppercuts with the right bumper (R1 on the PlayStation 3). Every punch, be it a probing jab or a kill-shot uppercut, feels unique in Fight Night 4, with blows landing on different spots on a fighter's head or body. Even exploratory punches have a weight to them that didn't seem to be present last time around, which makes inside fighting a risk worth taking. Fight Night 3's invisible wall between fighters is also a thing of the past. In FN4, guys can get right up against one another to look for that knockout uppercut. If things get too close for comfort, the X button (square on the PS3) will be your best friend, letting you push your opponent back to free up some room.
Playing as Pacquiao, I was able to make the most of Manny's speedy hands to land some impressive blows on Hatton's grill, though it wasn't long before Hatton was returning the favor in kind, with flurries of uppercuts and probing jabs that dazed Pacquiao and kept me backing up. Playing as Hatton, Brian Hayes showed off all of the things that you can do defensively in the ring with enough practice. First up is simply staying away from your opponent's fists. The left trigger is used to move your fighter's torso around while standing. By holding the LT down and moving the left analog stick, you can duck in and out of punches.
There's also the block button (right trigger). Your boxer's ability to block a punch is measured by an onscreen block meter, and once it's depleted, blocking won't do you much good. That meter, along with a stamina and an overall health meter, will be replenished between rounds, thanks to a corner minigame that will let you put points earned during the previous round into attributes such as health and stamina. You can even bank those points, as I did in the early rounds, knowing that sooner or later Hayes, as Hatton, would stop going easy on me while talking about the game and begin to fight.
By the third round, Hayes had essentially finished explaining the controls to me, and the fight had moved from game demo to actual contest. It was on. As Pacquiao, I decided to make the most of my punch speed, quickly darting in and out with stinging jabs and body blows when I could manage them, hoping to drain Hatton's stamina in the process. It wasn't a bad idea in theory, and I had several instances where I worked my game plan to perfection, getting in and out with a minimum of damage to show for it. Regardless, greed plays a big role in any fight (or at least, any fight I'm involved in) and, too often, I found myself standing toe to toe with Hatton and trading punches at lighting speed. It's here that you can find one of the starkest differences between this Fight Night and the games that came before it. Punches rattle off like machine-gun blasts in Fight Night 4 and, though not every punch connects perfectly, the frenetic fury of up-close fighting is conveyed to impressive effect in the game.
Much has been made of the physics in Fight Night 4 but, after playing the game for myself, the new engine is full of surprises. The canned animations and slow punching of Fight Night 3 is a thing of the past; this time around everything--punches, defense, character movement, even the physical make-up of the boxers themselves--feels practically brand-new.
An example: At one point in our fight, I managed to throw a couple of hooks at Hatton's head. In the process of defending himself, Hayes brought up Hatton's left arm, which managed to trap Pacquiao's right hook. Manny, realizing that his arm was caught, tried to yank his arm free from the hook while Hatton took a few shots at Manny's body. "Oh, that's a cool animation," I told Hayes, as Pacquiao struggled to free himself. To which Hayes corrected me: That was no animation. Instead, Manny's arm had literally gotten trapped by Hatton's block, and the "yanking" animation that I saw was the character procedurally trying to pull himself free while reaching the limits of how far his shoulder would move. In other words, if Hatton had somehow managed to trap Manny's arm in a block last Saturday night, it might have played out exactly like it did in our fight.
In the end, Hayes' defense proved to be too much for me and Manny. Not only adept at dodging and blocking, Hayes was also skilled at counterpunching, essentially creating huge openings in my defense with his footwork and dodge abilities, exposing Pacquiao to the kind of punishment that the real-life Hatton can only dream of. Hatton knocked my Manny out in the middle rounds with ease. As humiliating as the loss was, I suppose there's no shame in losing to the guy who's making the game. Perhaps Hatton could have used Hayes in his corner last weekend…

[Skybase]

I've seriously loved every one of the Fight Night games. The use of the analog sticks is superb, and along with the graphics/physics etc it's an amazing game. I'm also extremely excited for 4.

[andrade]

The new physics of this game is really awesome, but none of the FN games can hold a candle to the new UFC game.

[Skybase]

The new physics of this game is really awesome, but none of the FN games can hold a candle to the new UFC game.

As much as I'm sure i"ll like the new UFC game, I find it hard to believe that the Fight Night games would be so inferior. (I still need to actually play my copy. I've only played the demo of UFC)

The only things I could see be inferior would have to do with the age of the games vs the new UFC game.

[Kerjack]

So are Iron Mikes illegal moves punching a old lady and hanging his daughter?























Too soon?

[andrade]

Its not the ages. Yes, they new physics in fn4 has made it a bit more strategic, but you have the same strategy standing in UFC. That, however, is where FN4 stops. UFC has ground game, which is amazing and submissions which is fun, and it has possibly the most challenging career mode of any game I've played.

FN4 is a solid game, the point I'm making is that the UFC is just amazing.

[Le Goat]

Demo is out on XBL

downloading now

[Will-Kill]

The Fight Night Curse just got much more cruel.

[Le Goat]

bitch had it comin'

[Le Goat]

hoooooooooooly shit what a game. you really get a feel for the physics when you watch the instant replay and slow down teh action a bit. You actually see their bodies quake and it looks like a real punch, not a glancing blow or the other dudes hand go through his skin.

[Le Goat]

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/167/946195_20090617_790screen004.jpg
The road to championship gold in Fight Night Round 4 (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/fightnightround4/index.html) is a long one, and that's no more evident than in Legacy mode. Like the rest of this fourth entry in the Fight Night series, Legacy mode is a revamp and reimagining of the straightforward career mode found in earlier versions of the game. And while there's nothing here that will totally reinvent career modes from the ground up, Legacy mode has enough significant improvements to make it one of the highlights in a game that looks to be filled with them.
In fact, the nuts and bolts of Legacy mode are as clear-cut as can be: you create a boxer from scratch, train his skills on a periodic basis, enter him in as many fights as possible, and try to take his career from zero to hero. It's the refined presentation that tells the Legacy mode story--as well as the absolutely ludicrous amount of data the game records--that makes it so special.

I started off my Legacy career by creating a heavyweight who was close to my 6'1" frame (a big mistake, I later learned, and will discuss a bit later). While you can use an existing boxer in career mode, if you're anything like me, you'll want to dive into the create-a-boxer fun. The creation tools display the typically obsessive detail that you find in the best create-a-player features and you can use a camera like the XBL vision camera to import your face into the game. You'll be able to customize everything from the look of your fighter (including body style, eye color, and so on), to his demeanor when making his way to the ring, as well as his ring entrance music (choosing from a large list of provided tunes or from playlists you've created yourself).
If you like customizing your boxer's look, you'll love the gear customization options, which lets you choose everything from the exact color combination for your boxing gloves (the purple, pink and green monstrosities I created strike fear into my opponents' hearts) to the text that appears on the back of your trunks. Everything can be customized: gloves, trunks, socks, shoes, mouth guard, even your ring entrance robe--all of it can be tuned to your preferences.
The game has seven "style" options for customization as well. They are:
• Boxer Stance -- Orthodox, southpaw
• Boxer AI (controls what type of fighter he is when you simulate fights) -- Boxer, brawler, slugger, unconventional, counter puncher, boxer/puncher, infighter, outfighter.
• Boxer Style (controls how boxer holds hands and how he moves in his stance) -- Balanced, upright, textbook, peekaboo, power, wild, mummy, speed, slickster, smooth, hyper, crazy, easy, sniper, steady, high rise, old school,
• Block Style -- Textbook, Philly shell, cross,
• Punch Style -- Balanced, power, speed
• Best Punch -- Straight, left hook, right hook, left uppercut, right uppercut, jab
• Signature Punch -- Bolo lead hook, bolo lead uppercut, bolo rear hook, bolo rear uppercut, chinfake straight, ducking lead hook, ducking lead uppercut, head fake lead hook, head fake straight, shuffle straight
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/167/946195_20090617_790screen008.jpg
All of these style choices affect not just how your boxer controls in the ring, but how effective he is as well. For example, choosing a "balanced" Boxer Style offers slightly higher foot speed than if you choose the "upright" Boxer Style. Conversely, "upright" will give you slightly improved block strength over the "balanced" style.
Once your boxer has been created, you'll move on to the meat of Legacy mode: namely making a name for yourself in the boxing world. Unlike the Fight Night 3's relatively stale ladder system, Legacy mode in FN4 feels more like a proper boxing "world" that you are part of. You'll get e-mail from your trainer and manager, there are end of the year awards in all weight classes that you can be nominated for, and you always plenty of information at hand, both about your career and when scouting your next opponent.
The central component of Legacy mode is the calendar, which you'll use to schedule fights, training sessions, and your rest in between matches. Before you can start scheduling fights, you'll need to make your way through a series of fights in an amateur tournament. Luckily, most of the guys you face are tomato cans and you'll have little trouble getting through them. That said, the competition stiffens once you go pro, especially if you don't make the most of the few training opportunities you have.
Depending on the amount of time you have between fights, you'll typically have just one training session available to you so you'll want to make sure you make the most of it. There are six training minigames to play and, while you can simulate training, you'll only gain the maximum benefit by playing them and doing well. The six training games are:
• Open Sparring -- Box against a sparring partner. You score points by hitting your opponent, and avoiding his punches. Points are deducted for missing punches or getting hit. Sparring benefits head and body toughness, as well as your chin rating.
• Stay On Your Feet -- The goal here is to simulate keeping away from an opponent when you're dazed. You start the round with low health and stamina and must try and stay on your feet as long as possible, avoiding your opponent's punches. This training activity benefits your heart, chin, and head movement ratings.
• Heavy Bag Combos -- Hit the heavy bag with punches your trainer calls out (and are shown on screen). Not only does this activity boost your punch accuracy and block strength ratings, it also demands accuracy on the right analog stick and should improve your overall skills in the game as a result.
• Heavy Bag Push -- You move a heavy bag down a track by punching high or low and the further you move it down the track, you'll score more points. This one is great for your boxer's stamina, heart, and punch power ratings.
• Double End Bag -- As you circle around a bag, your goal is to move to specific zones indicated by the game and punching quickly. Hitting zones correctly in succession will earn you point modifiers as you go and this training activity boosts your punch accuracy, foot speed, and stamina ratings.
• Maize Bag -- My personal favorite of the bunch, the maize bag will put your bobbing and weaving to the test. You lean side to side as a maize bag swings back and forth, then throw punches at the correct moment. Stringing together successive combos will earn you point modifiers. This training activity boosts your head movement, block strength, and hand speed ratings.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/167/946195_20090617_790screen015.jpg
Because you have so few chances to train, one bad training session can often be a significant factor in your next fight. String together a couple of bad training sessions together and you'll wish you had chosen a lower-rated fighter as your next opponent. The boxing AI in Fight Night 4 is one of the more underrated aspects of the game; the more time I spent with the game, the more it impressed me, even if I did find myself on the mat more than once as a result.
You see, my created heavyweight boxer is only a heavyweight in name. At 6'1" he's a bit short to be effective against the bigger guys in the weight class, often giving up a significant advantage in reach. This problem is compounded by the fact that I wanted him to be an outside, jab-first type fighter. If I'd been smart, I'd have done one of two things: 1) Moved him to light heavyweight where his height would be more in line with the top-tier competition or 2) Made him an inside fighter. When you compound his size problems with a bad training session or two, it's no wonder that I've lost as many fights as I have.
In the ring, the problem of a short outside fighter is compounded by the fact that jabs and straights actually do matter in this game. Not only can you score points just from landing the punch but, if you land a few combos, you'll be able to back the AI up, even with punches that don't seem to be doing that much damage individually.
The AI's willingness to change up its fight strategy as you continue into the later rounds is one of the game's most impressive strengths, and while knockdowns and KOs are certainly possible, you'll also frequently see your AI opponents go the full distance, changing their strategy from an offensive strategy early on, to a defensive one as the fight continues. Furthermore, any opening you give it will be exploited. I've had several fights where I was winning on points, got a little greedy towards the latter rounds and started looking for a knockout, only to have the CPU make the most of my sloppy punching and reverse the fight on me.
The second aspect of FN4's AI is one that's a bit more subtle but has a marked effect on each fight: fighter positioning. Blocking and head movement are absolutely essential skills in FN4, as they are the key to the counterpunching feature. If you dodge a punch with a head bob, or manage to block it at precisely the right moment, you'll get a small window of time where you can land a powerful counterpunch. The mechanic feels a bit forced--the action in the ring temporarily slows down, making it obvious that you have this counterpunch opportunity--but its effectiveness is undeniable. That said, the AI is adept at always positioning itself so as to make dodging a challenge.
For example, a typical strategy when you get in trouble is to take a small step backwards, looking to open up just enough space between you and your opponent to make leaning back to avoid a punch that much easier. The AI, however, is not fooled, and will close that distance to make sure your fighter is within range of its punches. And while the strategy of body positioning changes if you are playing as an inside fighter, the overall result is more jockeying for position in the ring than I initially gave the game credit for (http://www.gamespot.com/sports/blogs/sports-blog/909097139/26895766/fight-night-round-4-hands-on-with-the-demo.html), and better fights to boot.
As you complete fights, you'll move up and down the rankings, depending on your results you're your reputation will increase and decrease accordingly. Eventually your goal will be to become the greatest of all time and there's a progression system that will judge your career based on factors like number of championship belts held, popularity ranking, and winning percentage. The game also records extremely detailed fight stats, showing the type of punches thrown, where they were aimed, and how successfully they landed. In the career hub, you can also check out your entire fight history (all the way down to a round-by-round basis) and see your average fight punch stats as compared to all of the rest of the fighters in your weight class.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/167/946195_20090617_790screen005.jpg
Even if Fight Night Round 4's Legacy Mode isn't rewriting the rules of sports game career modes, it's certainly giving it a fresh coat of paint with slick presentation and an easy-to-use interface. I haven't seen much in the way of out-of-ring activities, such as press interviews, or trash-talking your opponent, and while those kinds of things would be welcome, their absence doesn't detract from the overall fun of Legacy Mode. Fight Night Round 4 is due for release next week.

[STDSkillz]

Fuckin' sweet. I'm goddamned excited about this.

[Le Goat]

I actually am too. This might be my Summer Game to hold me over til the Fall hits

[Change]

gonna have to pick this up.