"The McGuffin with Trek Into Darkness would have been handled better if McCoy found out that the McGuffin got on the Tribble after the attack"
The Spill Movie Community
If it's crap ... We'll tell you
Follow Spill!
Latest Activity
"STAR TREK ID is a must see for fans of the first film. I can't say it's better than the first, but i can't say the first is better either."
Charmingman93 posted a status"So are the cocaine princesses Rohan and the ladyboy tequila slaves Gondor? Marston and the gang unite us as one and kill EVERYONE?!"
&width=104&height=139)
Music
Nick's Picks: Fight Night Champion
When it comes to Sports Games ... lets just say I'm not exactly keen on this genre of gaming. I would actually have to be interested in the sport in the first place before I would consider buying the game on which its based. Out of the massive franchises of sports games out there like Madden and Fifa, I've only ever played two series of sports games. Rugby World Cup and the Fight Night series.
Now after what I considered to be a big let down which was Fight Night 3, I was still interested when I heard that Fight Night Champion was in development. Even more so when I heard that FNC would be the first title in the series to introduce a story element called Champion Mode into the mix in addition to the traditional Career Mode that all of the previous games had.
Once I picked up my copy of the game I was really happy to see that EA Sports had delivered their promise of a fully scripted story. In fact, when you first start the game, instead of going into a start up screen, you are thrust straight into the ring where your character, Andre Bishop, has just been KO'd by someone who appears to be an extra from American History X.
As you lie there, dazed and bleeding from a cut eye, you hear the voice of your old boxing trainer and manager Gus Carisi who gives a cliched but effective speech on the need to get up and stand your ground like a champion. When the cutscene ends you see your character is serving time in a correctional facility and is about to take part in an unsupervised bare knuckle boxing match where headbutts and the occasional low blow to the bollocks are encouraged by the jeering prisoners. When you eventually defeat the Nazi Lowrider another scripted cutscene follows Andre going to the shower room where he is ambushed by the sore loser and the rest of his gang. When they're done with you they leave you in a bloody heap on the shower room floor and the game flashes back 4 years earlier to when Andre was a rising boxer.
Without giving too much away Champion Mode is a fully scripted story about the rise, fall, and (most importantly) rise again of Andre Bishop. Although the storyline uses cliches from every boxing film ever made, like the old wise Italian American trainer or the evil boxing villain, (think the white version of Mr T and you've nailed it) at the end it surprisingly manages to be quite effective. I think it may be the case because it actually allows you to experience all the best moments of Rocky or The Fighter without getting too ridiculous.
What sets the Fight Night series apart from all of the other button mashing fighting games is the strategic stance it takes when it comes to the actual fighting itself. If you have any hope of surviving in the ring you need to conserve your stamina, block correctly, and wear down your opponent over time with the jabs before coming in with heavier punches. Now, what Fight Night Champion has cleverly done is to actually incorporate this into the storyline. For example, in one match Bishop has damaged his right hand and you're unable to use it without damaging your health. In the next fight, when your hand is healed, you need to use that same hand to knock out your opponent in order to prove to the boxing community that you still have what it takes to make champion. This, along with several other story constraints, is enough to make each fight unique and interesting.
Another great improvement in the game is the the brutal damage your fighter will have to suffer through during each fight. When your boxer is hit you can see the ripples of his skin highlighting the painful punches that your opponent has inflicted on you. Beads of sweat fly everywhere, your face swells up, and if you get cut badly enough the blood will actually leak onto the floor and stay there for the duration of the fight. While damage has always been present in the previous titles, this was the first time I felt like wincing while playing.
Career mode pretty much keeps up the exact same formula that all of the other Fight Night games use. You are able to customize a boxer along with his fighting style and your objective is to become champion. Once you do, you then have to keep the title for as long as possible. You can literally put hours of game play into this alone, but what has changed in Fight Night Champion is that you can take a picture profile of yourself and edit it onto your character's face. I was not only able to use my own face, but also customize my boxer's appearance, weight, clothes and even fighting style. Once you have your character ready you can either fight through the ranks of Career Mode or dive straight into the online international championships.
I wonder whether anyone would be interested in doing a multiplayer boxing tournament for Spill. We can have Korey fighting another Spill Member and it would be hilarious. Especially since we can edit his cartoon face onto a boxer. Let Professor Jeff know if that sounds like something you wanna do. Oh yeah and we should have Co Host and The Murph do commentary on the fight as well. LOL.
Buy
Fight Night Champion is available now for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Comment
-
Comment by Crispy Cunt Christian on May 25, 2011 at 4:47am -
Good review mate, I am thinking about buying this game.
-
Staff Comment by Nick Hodges A.K.A Party Starter on March 28, 2011 at 6:17pm -
Glad you like it. Its a really decent game and it doesn't feel you're playing just another cash and grab Sport's release.
-
Comment by Rabid Chicken on March 28, 2011 at 5:50pm -
By the way Nick good review.
-
Comment by Rabid Chicken on March 28, 2011 at 5:49pm
-
Hm, a sports game I'm actually interested in playing, I never thought I'd see the day.
-
Staff Comment by Nick Hodges A.K.A Party Starter on March 28, 2011 at 5:48pm -
Cheers mate. You're actually bloody quick at reading it. I'm just waiting for Korey to put it up on the front page lol
-
Comment by Ha-Ra on March 28, 2011 at 5:44pm -
Always been fascinated by the final night games, might pick this one up for champion mode.
Otherwise, this is a great review Nick! I think this is the first one I've read from you, so good job!
© 2013 Created by The Spill Crew.
You need to be a member of The Spill Movie Community to add comments!
Join The Spill Movie Community