Boxing games are few and far between on the Xbox 360, so it is good to see a few more titles coming to surface. The first of these titles is Prizefighter, endorsed by the legendary promoter Don King and brought to fruit by 2K sports. At time of writing the only other option for 360 gamers is Fight Night Round 3 from EA Sports, which received praise for its good standard of game play and impressive visuals. Nevertheless, it was an ‘arcade’ affair and most avid boxing fans will agree that we have been crying out for a good simulation for a while. The question is, will Prizefighter deliver in that sense or will it find itself sprawled on the canvas?
The first thing you notice when you boot up the game is the presentation, which is top notch and does its job more than adequately. It quietly resembles FNR3 in all aspects of the front end and subsequent menus. Game modes available are limited to Career mode, Exhibition and Multiplayer. There is also the option to create your own fighter, plus training practice available from the main menu. There are about 40 fighters to choose from, ranging from the legendary Joe Calzaghe to classic fighters like Larry Holmes and Joe Louis. There are a lot of more well-known fighters missing. Not all fighters are available to use from the get go, they need to be unlocked. You can also unlock classic fights and video footage by completing career mode challenges.
The Career mode allows you to create a boxer and take him from being a relative unknown all the way up to world champion. During this mode you have the option to choose fights and training regimes. One of the good features of this game is the training. The speed bag and jump rope in particular will make all avid Guitar Hero players feel at home; as it demands you press the button sequences in pretty much an identical manner. You receive offers of employment (such as appearing in a TV ad) along with other trivial things via the in game PDA, which seems like it was thrown in at the last minute. Eventually as you despatch famous fighters, you earn the honour of having Don King as your promoter. The majority of achievements are unlocked during the career mode.
The most important part of a boxing game (or any fighting game) is the game play. That goes without saying. Unfortunately for Prizefighter, it gets a TKO on these grounds alone. There are many different controller configurations available; however I am yet to find one that is ergonomic or rewarding. Let me just be clear about one thing; the controls are appalling. In fact, they are so frustrating when you play the game for the first time that you may find yourself launching the controller against walls or in the direction of your pets. That’s how I felt. That’s what I did.
As a direct result of the bad controls, the game play suffers immensely. You can lean, block, jab and punch your way to victory against a really poor opponent on the easiest difficulty – but against a tougher fighter on a harder difficulty you will find yourself resorting to ‘button mashing’. So yeah, tactics really go out of the window. The adrenaline system is also flawed. The idea is that you charge up your adrenaline meter so you can perform a haymaker... which is ridiculous. The so called ‘fight mechanics’ appear to be missing from the final game, after 2K sports raved about them so much.
During a match, I noticed a number of bad design flaws. Most notably is the occasional right hook appearing to land perfectly on your opponents’ face, only to completely pass through him as he pummels you into next year. During a flurry of punches a fighter retains a somewhat glazed expression. What is that all about? I’m sorry but that is unacceptable. I expect gritted teeth and angry facial expressions, but they are mostly absent. Another annoyance is when a punch is thrown about three seconds after you hit the button, which happens quite often if you are on the defensive as there is no ‘super cancel’.
Another avenue that Prizefighter gets beat by FNR3 is the visuals. While it may look decent in freeze frame or screenshots, the ugly animation is kind of an eyesore. Punches often clip through the opponent and the fighters themselves look bland. There really isn’t much to praise about the graphics at all. There is very little blood on offer, but at least the damage done to each fighter’s face is there for all to see. Frame rate is consistent but that is expected from a game where there really isn’t much going on. However, it is far from a smooth affair. The graphics just don’t have the polished look and fluidity of FNR3. There are a lot of cut-scenes in career mode, plus real life footage from various boxing sources, giving it a documentary-like feel.
I can’t really fault the sound. As this is generally conceived as an arcade affair, the sound effects tie in with it – being unrealistic. There are a few discrepancies during a bout; sometimes you land a big bomb and the game forgets to play the accompanying sound effect. Also the commentary (from Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward) suffers from stutter if you try and skip the annoying cut scenes quickly. The actual soundtrack is a mixture of rap/hip hop and mainstream style rock. Overall, I have no major complaints. But crucially, it doesn’t impress either. Xbox live is supported, along with ranked matches and leaderboards. You can also create custom bouts, having control over the amount of rounds and the length of each round. I have played several ranked matches and have noticed lag, but this is irrelevant as punch lag (believe it or not) is present in single player. Voice chat is supported, so expect a lot of trash-talk during those LIVE button mashing sessions.
With boxing games such as EA Sports’ Fight Night Round 4 and Facebreaker on the horizon, I implore everyone to skip a purchase on this game. It may be worth a one night rental, but if you buy it (as I did) you will be left needing a cutman after you bang your head up against the wall so many times. You may even need to fund a purchase of a new controller. If you need a 360 boxing fix, pick up Fight Night Round 3 on the cheap. It delivers a knockout blow to Prizefighter, which fails on so many levels that it’s close to being disgraceful.
