'Fight Night Round 4' New Features Analysis

Fight Night Round 4 Trailer »

My buddy Jon Robinson at ESPN has posted an in-depth feature on the upcoming Fight Night Round 4. It's a smart and extensive look at the game, particularly if you're a huge boxing fan. I love to watch boxing and used to train a bit (remind me to tell you about that time I sparred with this guy from GameSpot and sent him to the hospital). Fight Night Round 4 is the EA game I'm looking forward to the most. I'm actually checking it out tomorrow, but to prepare for my preview, let's take a look at some of Robinson's quotes from the game's producer, Brian Hayes. Commentary and Larry Merchant-style analysis (sans whiskey) will follow.

"Fight Night Round 3 is a tremendously fun game that people loved to play, so we didn't want to change our direction away from the fun. What we tried to do was bring a little more variety, authenticity and strategy to the game. We want people to have as much fun as they did with Round 3, we just want Round 4 to be more of an authentic simulation of the sport."

As much as I've loved this series, there have always been things that bugged the hell out of me as a boxing fan. Clinching is one of them. This aspect of the sport has never been properly integrated into the game. While holding can be a lame and boring tactic (John Ruiz), it can also be applied strategically (Vernon Forrest's victories over ShaneMosely). When a fighter gets in a spot of trouble, clinching can save the fight or lose it (Juan Diaz).

Weight is another area that was never handled properly in Fight Night. Example, look at Oscar De La Hoya's career. Early on, from super featherweight (130 lbs.) to junior welterweight (140 lbs.), his blend of speed and power was extraordinary. His skills were still superior at welterweight (147 lbs.), but his power was only good at junior middleweight (154 lbs.) and ordinary at middleweight (160 lbs.). I also didn't like how decreasing one's weight was handled in Fight Night's career modes. Moving down in weight can make a fighter extremely ineffective, particularly older fighters. Chris Byrd is a great example of this. After years of campaigning as a heavyweight, Byrd tried his luck at light heavyweight (175 lbs.), only to be annihilated. De LaHoya's recent loss to Manny Pacquiao had less to do with his age and more to do with him moving down to welterweight for the first time in eight years.

Hopefully these two aspects of prizefighting will be addressed in EA's efforts to add more authenticity to Round 4. Now let's check out some more features!

'Fight Night Round 4' New Features Analysis

"When you break it down, speed is tremendously important to the sport of boxing. The faster you can throw your punches, the faster you can move your feet, the faster you can move your head, the better off you're going to be. So one of our focuses for gameplay was to make sure we deliver on that sense of speed."

I'm a little worried about the developers focusing too much on speed. Certainly, it's a vital aspect to the sport, but speed can be overcome with great timing and great fundamentals. Again, I'll use Vernon Forrest's victories over Shane Mosley as an example. There's no doubt that Mosley is eons faster than Forrest. However, Forrest was able to neutralize Mosley's speed with an accurate jab and a smart punch-and-hold strategy. I'd hate for this game to become too much of a speed-fest, neglecting other elements of the sport.

"We developed a system where based on your fighter's performance in the previous round, they earn a certain number of points that their trainer can then use towards either regenerating some of their health, regenerating some of their stamina or healing physical damage like cuts or swelling to the face. And all three of those things are very important to your performance in the next round."

This part makes no sense to me and I'll be sure to ask the developers more about it tomorrow. I don't see how one round's performance has any bearing on recuperation. Having a good round has nothing to do with regaining stamina, controlling bleeds caused by cuts, and skillfully using an enswell to reduce swelling. I'm certain that I will hate this aspect of the game. This is a totally arcade feature in a game that should be more about simulation.

'Fight Night Round 4' New Features Analysis

"We're now recreating more physiologically-accurate hot spots on both the head and body. So if you take the point of the chin -- which is a very bad spot to get hit because it slightly dislocates your jaw, then your jaw snaps back into place and it shakes your brain -- we're able to place a hot spot on the chin or on your temples, whereas places like the flat of your forehead might not be a great place to get hit, but at the end of the day if you have a choice to get hit on your forehead or your chin, the forehead is better. Again, this adds to the varied collision detection system because your head has hot spots and weak spots that withstand damage differently."

Now this is more like it. Getting hit on the head sucks, but where you get hit on the head can determine the outcome of a fight. It all has to do with nerve endings. Taking a left hook to the chin can often spell doom, simply because it causes your nerves to seemingly disconnect for a second. While getting hit on the side of the head isn't exactly a picnic, it's much more tolerable than taking a well-timed punch to the chin or nose. I love that Fight Night is implementing this feature. Hopefully, the game is able to convey the crippling sensation of taking a shot to the liver. Boxing games, not just Fight Night, have rarely shown how effective this punch can be.

"If there is a boxer who is 6-5 with an 80-inch reach, then in our game he's going to look like he's 6-5 with an 80-inch reach. And if he's fighting a guy who is 5-11 with a shorter reach, that's going to come into play. The guy who is shorter with small arms needs to get inside his opponent's punch range in order to land punches at all. But once he gets inside, he probably is going to have the advantage because having long arms and a big body makes you an easy target to hit and it's hard to get your punches off if you're a big guy in a tight space. So this inside-outside space tug-of-war, which has always been around since short people and tall people have been fighting is something we have in the game and it's something that didn't exist in Fight Night Round 3 to any significant degree."

I'm split about this. Height and reach can absolutely make a difference in a fight, but only if they're used properly. I hope the advantages aren't automatic and that it's up to the player to exploit them. There were plenty of great fighters that were unusually tall for their weight, but didn't use their height and reach to their advantage. The late Diego Corrales immediately comes to mind. The man was nearly 5' 11", with his best fights in the 130 and 135-lbs. weight classes. He usually towered over his opponents, but he was definitely more of an inside fighter. Tell Jose Luis Castillo that "it's hard to get your punches off if you're a big guy in a tight space." Corrales cold cocked him in their first fight.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts on Fight Night Round 4. (Be sure to check out J.Rob's full article for more details. It's great stuff.) The recovery feature scares the crap out of me -- it seems so random and pointless. That said, there appears to be a lot of great features in the works. I'm super psyched to see that game. Hopefully, EA's efforts make the game more authentic. I'll have a proper preview for you real soon!

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