Tweet
Ok. So I've been playing the full game for a few days. Here are some quick impressions so far.
The Champion Mode is pretty good. The story is the same old, same old boxing movie cliche crap, but the way they put the fighting into it works very well. There is depth to what you do in the fights and isn't just "Go in and beat this guy". Spoiler below about this. There is virtually no replay value aside from trying to get achievements for doing certain things in the mode.
I haven't gotten into career mode much as I just played through the Champion Mode and finished it this morning before I wrote this up. I'll go through a little of it today and throw together some impressions if anybody cares.
The graphics in this game are slightly better than the last. Nothing has really changed from the demo graphics-wise, so if you played that, expect the same. The fighters do get pretty gory cuts and bruising in this game. It's pretty awesome after a 10 round fight and cutting your opponent over both eyes to see all the blood on the canvas and both guys trunks. I thought I would like them putting the ref in the ring, but he gets in the way of the camera sometimes. Not good.
The commentary is identical to last year. They may have added some new stuff in, but the punch drunk Teddy Atlas still talks about the dark hallway in every fight. There is a ton of Andre-specific stuff for the Champion Mode though, so that is pretty nice.
The new blocking simplifies it too much. There should be a little more strategy other than 'if your stamina is low you won't block as well'. I can't time a parry to save my life, but I'll probably get better as I play it more I suppose. Throwing specific punches with purpose is very hard with the way they've changed the right stick. I want to jab at a distance but the guy still throws hooks or uppercuts. Combos are pretty though and devastating as a counter.
Overall so far I think this game is a slight improvement over Round 4. It has taken a step back in the controls, but with the time and effort put into the Champion Mode you can tell that at least EA is making an effort to use the ESPN license and improving the presentation overall. If you're into boxing movies at all I would definitely recommend checking it out. I'm hoping next year they do a 'Great White Hype' story.
As mentioned before, I haven't played Career Mode yet, so I won't be giving the game a review score or anything.
The Champion Mode is pretty good. The story is the same old, same old boxing movie cliche crap, but the way they put the fighting into it works very well. There is depth to what you do in the fights and isn't just "Go in and beat this guy". Spoiler below about this. There is virtually no replay value aside from trying to get achievements for doing certain things in the mode.
I haven't gotten into career mode much as I just played through the Champion Mode and finished it this morning before I wrote this up. I'll go through a little of it today and throw together some impressions if anybody cares.
The graphics in this game are slightly better than the last. Nothing has really changed from the demo graphics-wise, so if you played that, expect the same. The fighters do get pretty gory cuts and bruising in this game. It's pretty awesome after a 10 round fight and cutting your opponent over both eyes to see all the blood on the canvas and both guys trunks. I thought I would like them putting the ref in the ring, but he gets in the way of the camera sometimes. Not good.
The commentary is identical to last year. They may have added some new stuff in, but the punch drunk Teddy Atlas still talks about the dark hallway in every fight. There is a ton of Andre-specific stuff for the Champion Mode though, so that is pretty nice.
The new blocking simplifies it too much. There should be a little more strategy other than 'if your stamina is low you won't block as well'. I can't time a parry to save my life, but I'll probably get better as I play it more I suppose. Throwing specific punches with purpose is very hard with the way they've changed the right stick. I want to jab at a distance but the guy still throws hooks or uppercuts. Combos are pretty though and devastating as a counter.
Overall so far I think this game is a slight improvement over Round 4. It has taken a step back in the controls, but with the time and effort put into the Champion Mode you can tell that at least EA is making an effort to use the ESPN license and improving the presentation overall. If you're into boxing movies at all I would definitely recommend checking it out. I'm hoping next year they do a 'Great White Hype' story.
As mentioned before, I haven't played Career Mode yet, so I won't be giving the game a review score or anything.
Comment