Gameplay
The success of your career is determined by your success in the ring, and, you’ll move up the ranks by choosing a contract out of the few that are on offer at any one time. Before choosing a contract you can look at your opponent’s statistics to determine whether you stand a chance of beating him or not. You can also view the ‘purse’ for the match, and decide whether you’re ready for a ‘big prize’ fight or whether you need to improve your skills in certain areas. The popularity meter shows your current fame and will determine whether a big name boxer will approach you.
The freedom of being able to choose who you fight is a welcome change from the forced matches that are experienced throughout many boxing titles and, the contracts on offer, are realistically balanced and based on your current strengths.
Click for larger imageThe abundance of features is all very well, but how does Fight Night 3 stand up in the ring?
If you’re expecting the fast, over the top boxing moves seen in the likes of the Rocky titles, you’ll be disappointed, Fight Night 3 is pure technical boxing. Yes, there is the option to headbutt or taunt your opponent, but the game concentrates on the strategic aspect of boxing. If you choose the easy difficulty setting, you’ll be able to plough through the majority of opponents without too much skill but, crank it up to normal or hard difficulty and you’ll need to work your opponent. You’ll be dodging and weaving, jabbing to the head, then the body, blocking, parrying and throwing a combination of punches to break through your opponent’s defences.
Many boxing games have allowed for one technique to be used throughout a match. As soon as you determine your opponent's weakness you could press frantically on the same button and he wouldn’t stand a chance. Fight Night Round 3 doesn’t let this happen.
Click for larger imageThe controls are smooth and react perfectly to your movements, meaning you’ll be able to string a combination of punches together without any frustrations. The problem is that, your player’s response to being hit can often be very slow, meaning that you’ll take a good beating before you’ve even had a chance to get back into position. This doesn’t happen with jabs or standard punches, but will often happen with any big punches that come your way. It does feel that this aspect of the game needs to be tweaked ever so slightly to fit in line with the rest of the superb gameplay.