pastapadre Fight Night 4 review

[Maynard]

http://www.pastapadre.com/9148/initial-fnr4-impressions#idc-container

Fight Night Round 4 made its way out last week as one of the most anticipated sports releases of the year. Over the last couple days I’ve found myself trying to get a feel for the game and playing online. Some of the detrimental aspects and design decisions have stood out the most once getting past the fantastic visuals. Continue on for some general thoughts and leave yours in the comments!

Much has been made over the longer development cycle that the game had to benefit from. That is most seen in the physics engine which does a fantastic job with things like hit detection and grazing shots. The graphics exceed FNR3 and challenge UFC 2009 as maybe the best of the generation. Those things make it feel like a fresh experience despite being a bi-yearly franchise.

There are a few aspects of the game that have stood out so far as negatively affecting the experience. The camera spins around a great deal and throughout longer fights I’ve found that to be disorienting. I also feel like at times I’m drawn into the opponent and can’t get away from them…almost like the game pushes you into the inside fighting. Fatigue seems to be the biggest issue. It is most pronounced in online bouts but it is the fatigue system in general and not online that has been exposed as a problem.

Go anywhere that is discussing the game and there will be a debate about the button punching being removed. This continues to be a baffling decision as it has upset a large faction of consumers and dominated talk surrounding the game. I actually used the analog stick in FNR3 so my feeling that buttons still should have been included is based on offering options as being a positive thing. For whatever reason though, despite uproar from the community, EA remained stubborn and refused to consider it.

Now though I almost want to go back to the buttons. I’m finding the stick to be inconsistent and too mechanical in nature. Rarely am I able to counter and in many cases I’m having to think about the type of punch and motion involved instead of going off reaction. This is especially the case with haymakers where you’re required to hold the RB which is incredibly awkward. I pretty much have forgotten about attempting to put combinations together. Not to mention that frequently I’m making motions with the stick and no punch comes or the wrong one is thrown.

The ironic thing is that one of the main reasons for removing the buttons was due to imbalance vs the analog stick with online. What that actually means is the buttons were more effective and precise. Now you just have people online stick “mashing” basically meaning nothing has changed. A proper fatigue system could’ve balanced things regardless of the control scheme being used. However people are throwing punches like crazy and not having to pay for it. Against the wrong person online it makes for a very frustrating experience.

At least online runs much better than the last iteration which was plagued with lag issues. I’ve yet to encounter anything but very smooth fights. Against the right people online it could be an enjoyable experience.

The Photo Face feature is a nice addition but again it doesn’t do a great job with the rare exceptions. I’ve yet to create anything that looks at all like me or the celebrities I was attempting to recreate. There are still a lack of options which have plagued it in the past such as not enough variations of hair styles. There are some good created fighters available to download though. Also it’s cool that they have the replay highlight uploading but where is the screenshot feature? This seems like a game perfect for that but it wasn’t included.

Again this is a beautiful game that deserves accolades based on various techncial achievements such as the amazing graphics and physics system. However the enjoyment level is probably going to be more split than was seen with FNR3. I wasn’t get a whole lot out of that game but I respected what it did for being early in the console’s life cycle. Right now I remember having more fun with that than I am with FNR4 though so I don’t forsee playing this extensively. I expect a lot of people will love this game but I’m thinking there will be a larger faction that dislikes it also.

i agree with his entire evaluation of the game and bolded some parts that really ring true for me. Bottom line for me is that the more i play, the more disapointed i am with this game. I am not having fun with it and think the TPC is the main reason.....because of this

I’m finding the stick to be inconsistent and too mechanical in nature. Rarely am I able to counter and in many cases I’m having to think about the type of punch and motion involved instead of going off reaction. This is especially the case with haymakers where you’re required to hold the RB which is incredibly awkward. I pretty much have forgotten about attempting to put combinations together. Not to mention that frequently I’m making motions with the stick and no punch comes or the wrong one is thrown

face buttons were used to button mash by everyone. Me being one of those people. They allowed me to be precise in my punches and feel like my knockdowns were due to my ability to throw a great combo together. TPC does not allow this for me.

 

[Maynard]

same difference

 

[Archer]

I have no problem at all with the stick

People on boxer share have guys who look ALOT like ex boxers and celebrities and online stick mashers are easy to beat if you block um out for a round or two

Only thing i agree 100% with is the drawn into eachother bit

 

[Steel Mamba]

Agreed. Fatigue has to be fixed, the punch output is far too unrealistic, plus that's what allows people to spam punches, usually the jab to the body. Realistic fatigue will force people to select wise punches and also make the flow of the game much more realistic. You're also drawn into the in-fighting because the footwork on the game is pretty bad, that needs to be fixed and sped up a bit. There's a bunch of other issues as well, but those are the two main things that keep this game from being a boxing sim.

For the next FN please, make unrealistic combos less effective. It's a shame how fluid and effective unrealistic combos on the game are, but unfortunately that's not something that can be patched. So, if they fix the two pervious issues then I'll buy the game and I'm sure many others will too.

 

[mfbmike]

If you look in the boxer share, people have created boxers that look almost identical to their real life counterpart. They do it by uploading pics or using the eye.

I saw some dude create fucking smeagle (sp?) from lord of the rings and I busted out laughing because of how much it actually looked like him.

The stick controls are again something that people need to get used to. I've gotten used to em and know how to throw the punches I want to throw. Yeah, it may be a little awkward for some, if not most, but don't knock the game because you can't learn how to use it. :/

And this is coming from someone who hated the stick controls in the demo.

oh and if you are holding the analog stick toward your opponent, you will get drawn into the opponent. as a predominatly outside fighter, i'm always prepping myself to moving opposite of my opponent and throwing 2-3 punches and only ran into that problem as I was learning how to fight effectively.

 

[Maynard]

i seen the boxer share. I have even DLed a bunch. some a good, but not great. And the selection is very small. Plus, who wants to sit there for 10 years and make a face? this isnt operation sports......lol

but i compare to EA games face makers.....TW10 and FN4.....and TW is an excellent recreation of the face...FN is not

 

[Tengo Juego]

I'm hearing the same about Tiger's game face being MUCH better than Fight Night's. I wonder why that is? Is it because in TW you wont have any damage done to your face?

 

[Maynard]

i made maynard from tool on FN4 and i looks nothing like him. I had also heard that TW is better at making faces so i tried it out. In my first try i got a face that looks just like maynard from tool. So much so that my GF came down and saw me selecting hats and glasses for him that she was like wtf....maynard is in that game?

 

[MRN]

Yeah, the game face in this is trash, but the rest of the game is addicting, I can't stop playing my legacy mode. I haven't even touched online yet.