Fight Night Round 4

I normally try to avoid reviewing games in a series that insanely popular or are numerous in iterations. That reminds me, no NFL Madden 10 review when it comes out. Don't ask. Anyway, I don't even know why I'm reviewing this game. You probably already know if you're going to buy it or not, so this review is pretty useless, unless you really wanna hear me squeak and squabble about it (or see my usual random jokes). I didn't want to, but I feel like I would have lost credibility if I didn't. Plus, I've played all the other Fight Nights (even back when it was called Knockout Kings...didn't know that, did you?) so I wanted to keep the streak alive. Round 4 is a good game, and is really true to the sport of boxing, but it's ultimate failing is that it has to follow Round 3, and it doesn't have the 'WOW' factor Round 3 had.

Boxing has some ugly ass championship belts

Things got off to a flying start when I realized they fucked with my controls. The analog movements are actually much easier to use and more responsive than ever before. You can now do body hooks simply by flicking the stick diagonal down, which makes things better for opening up combos on a-holes. All these improvements make for a better experience with the analog, but the thing is...I've never liked using the analog. I have a tendency of throwing the wrong punches or failing to pull my punches back to avoid the hit, result in getting knocked out. I like to use the face buttons because it allows me to do exactly what I want, which leads to my number one problem with Round 4; THEY TOOK AWAY THE FUCKIN FACE BUTTONS CONTROLS! What the fuck is wrong with you people? You know damn well not everyone can get accustom to that, and forcing them to is a dick move. And don't pull Skate 2 out your ass about how it's control scheme only uses analog. In Skate 2, when you fuck up, you can just try again. In Fight Night, when you fuck up, you lose the match. Big difference. Also, to all the expert reviewers out there who made this claim, how the hell does one analog stick moving 2 hands feel realistic? I feel like I'm playing Legends of Wrestlemania again; a game that come up short of greatness thanks to controls. Of course, if you like the analog controls of the Fight Night series, then this whole paragragh means nothing to you, so takes this as nothing more than the little hate speech that it is.
[Update: There's a free download that let's you play with the face button available as of September. Go nuts.]

My main man Manny with the hook

Besides the controls, what's different in Fight Night Round 4? Well, that's the sweet part of the science. The parry system is gone (like anybody knew how to fuckin use it) in favor of a counter system. Bob and weave out of the way of a punch, and that leave the opponent open for a counter-punch, which does nasty damage. In fact, the main focus of the matches is countering, at least if you're looking for the knockout. Speaking of which, my friends Flash KOs make their way from UFC to Fight Night, but in FN they seem to make sense since you actually have to work for them. They only occur by counter punching or throwing a haymaker, and that's not easy to do. In UFC, you just need to be lucky. Haymakers are slower and not that reliable anymore. In fact, unless you know you have a clean shot, throwing haymakers is actually a stupid idea because you'll just get counter-punched. I like this move because this prevents people from getting haymaker-happy like the last 2 games. Body shots are actually worth a damn in this game, sapping stamina and a good amount of health. The game also moves faster as if you are watching a live show (that's 60fps for those who know what that means), and the graphics look as pretty as you would expect. As for the career mode (called Legacy mode), the only real noticeable difference is the training exercises, which sucks. You're better off just auto-training.

I can't look. Tell me if I hit him

So....ummm..........yea, get it.

Rating: Sweet

NOTE: To hell with a closing paragraph.