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RETAILBIZ: FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 44 MCV 12/06/09
The leading boxing franchise returns to consoles this month to reinvigorate the genre once more as EA Sports calls Fight Night Round 4 into the ring…
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by James Batchelor WHILE THE vast majority of sports see annual outings in the video game space, catering for fans of football, basketball, wrestling and more, enthusiasts generally have to wait a little longer for the latest boxing game. But now the leading franchise in this genre returns to shelves with Fight Night Round 4. The third bout of EA Sports’ renowned boxing series debuted back at the start of the current console generation and redefined the genre with its stunning visuals and deep gameplay, offering the most authentic digital boxing experience ever – until now. Fight Night Round 4 advances the sport further with a completely new gameplay engine, a wealth of new
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features and the biggest names in boxing just waiting to punch gloves and begin fighting. Understandably, EA is confident about Round 4’s potential and the publisher is claiming that consumers seem to be just as excited.
There is a great level of buzz and anticipation around the release of Fight Night Round 4. Luke Cousens, EA Sports “There is a great level of buzz and anticipation around the release of Fight Night Round 4, a title that’s been a long time coming for fight fans,” offers a bullish EA Sports senior product manager Luke Cousens. “We’re expecting our strongest launch for a Fight Night title to date.” Once again, the development team
behind Fight Night has aimed to take gamers closer to the ring than ever before. The new engine, developed from scratch for Round 4, recreates the sport perfectly, with an all-new physics-based animation system making the action appear to be even more realisitic. The animations treat fans to innumerable punch impacts, calculated to reflect the angle and strength of each and every hit. Taking the game beyond simple ‘hit or miss’ conventions, Round 4 shows off missed punches, glancing punches, knockout blows and rough and tumble inside fighting. All of these depend not only on the player’s skill, but also on the boxer’s fatigue, adrenaline, footwork and timing. “There’s a powerful new gameplay engine keeping the action in the ring
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