sabotai
12-15-2004, 01:20 AM
Yes, despite EA grabbing up the rights to the NFL for the next 5 years, I still do plan to buy EA products (maybe not Madden, a game I've bought each of the last 3 years).
Fight Night 2004 was the best action boxing game ever, and I'm glad there will be a sequal to it. I mentioned Fight Night in the XBox games thread and decided to see if they were making a sequal. Sure enough, Gamespot has it listed.
They announced several new things, but first I have to say something. The guy writing the article on Gamespot...well, here's what he said...
"EA also delivered an impressive publicity uppercut, announcing that Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins would be the game's cover athlete and spokesperson. Hopkins is the current undisputed Middleweight Champion of the World, a title he took from Oscar De La Hoya in September. His boxing record is 45 wins (including 32 knockouts), two losses, one draw, and one no contest."
What's wrong with that paragraph? Fact checking people, I know political "analysts" don't do, but it'd be nice if game reviewers did. That won't win over boxing fans. :)
ANYWAY, here's the list.
# The EA SPORTS™ Haymaker: Unleash the power of the punch. One crushing blow will knock your opponent straight to the canvas, but miss and you're in trouble.
# Total Boxing Control: You now have total control of your boxer with 360° Sticking and Moving and the ability to punch and block while dancing around the ring.
# Create a Champ: Using the analog sticks for total precision, create and train the ultimate champion by transforming his skills and physique.
# EA SPORTS™ Cut-Man: You take an active role in recovering from a beating by tending to a swollen eye in the corner between rounds.
# Dynamic Punch Impacts: Each punch pays off with stunning visuals that reflect the effect of each blow. Your fists have never felt so powerful as injuries affect your fighting abilities—a swollen eye prevents you from blocking, and a broken rib impairs your punching ability and mobility.
First off, the haymaker sounds....kind of arcadey. I mean, yeah, boxers through haymakers all the time. We saw Danny Williams through several in his fight with Vitali. But I hope they don't make it so that if you land it, it always knocks the guy down (Williams connected on a few haymakers and Vitali barely reacted let alone got knocked down). In fact, in boxing, the haymaker usually isn't a very hard shot, because the arm is usually extended before the punch lands and that takes a lot of power out of the shot....
Anyway, it sounds too much arcade, not enough realism. But the rest seem pretty good to me. The Total Boxing Control seems to be a revamped version of the Total Punch Control. Now they say it will let you do more things with it. I don't know about that. After awhile of trying to do the TPC I had to use the buttons.
"Create a Champ"...sounds like what you do in the game. Don't know why that's a "feature" but it's EA.
The last two are what have me excited about the next version. Now it's going to be hard to block a side if your eye is swollen, body shots take away a boxer's punching ability. Sounds so much better. One thing I did not like about Fight Night 2004 was if you were beating up a guy badly, he would just cover up (perfectly on the Hard difficulty) making it hard to take him out when he was hurt. At the end of my fights, both of th eeyes on my oppoents were usually torn to shit and bleeding because everytime I hurt him, he'd cover up. Good to see injuries now impair the boxer's ability to compete.
Now the Cuts rating might mean something. That was the last attribute on my boxer that I raised because in 2004, it was purely cosmetic. I didn't care if my boxer got cut because it did nothing to impair my boxer. It was just for show. Now it might make it harder for me to block.
As for the Cut Man, it seems neat and I want to try it. It has the potential to get me interested in what happens between the rounds. Before I just pressed the button a few times to get to the next round.
But most importly, I do hope they make the game more difficult. I ended up not playing it anymore not because I got tired of the gameplay, but because I had two straight undefeated careers in a row on the hardest difficulty. Winning all the time isn't what made it boring, winning by KO by the 5th round in 100 straight fights made it boring.
I'm reading an interview with EA on Gamespot right now as I type this (going back and forth). It seems the "haymaker" is more of a system of applying more power to a punch rather than just winging a punch. They say a problem with last year's game was you couldn't control how much power was put on a punch and with the new haymaker system, you will. That sounds much better.
Another problem I had with the game was that if you wanted to block or throw a punch, you had to stop moving your feet. By the sound of it, you can now move your feet while blocking or punching. That's so much better.
Fight Night 2004 was the best action boxing game ever, and I'm glad there will be a sequal to it. I mentioned Fight Night in the XBox games thread and decided to see if they were making a sequal. Sure enough, Gamespot has it listed.
They announced several new things, but first I have to say something. The guy writing the article on Gamespot...well, here's what he said...
"EA also delivered an impressive publicity uppercut, announcing that Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins would be the game's cover athlete and spokesperson. Hopkins is the current undisputed Middleweight Champion of the World, a title he took from Oscar De La Hoya in September. His boxing record is 45 wins (including 32 knockouts), two losses, one draw, and one no contest."
What's wrong with that paragraph? Fact checking people, I know political "analysts" don't do, but it'd be nice if game reviewers did. That won't win over boxing fans. :)
ANYWAY, here's the list.
# The EA SPORTS™ Haymaker: Unleash the power of the punch. One crushing blow will knock your opponent straight to the canvas, but miss and you're in trouble.
# Total Boxing Control: You now have total control of your boxer with 360° Sticking and Moving and the ability to punch and block while dancing around the ring.
# Create a Champ: Using the analog sticks for total precision, create and train the ultimate champion by transforming his skills and physique.
# EA SPORTS™ Cut-Man: You take an active role in recovering from a beating by tending to a swollen eye in the corner between rounds.
# Dynamic Punch Impacts: Each punch pays off with stunning visuals that reflect the effect of each blow. Your fists have never felt so powerful as injuries affect your fighting abilities—a swollen eye prevents you from blocking, and a broken rib impairs your punching ability and mobility.
First off, the haymaker sounds....kind of arcadey. I mean, yeah, boxers through haymakers all the time. We saw Danny Williams through several in his fight with Vitali. But I hope they don't make it so that if you land it, it always knocks the guy down (Williams connected on a few haymakers and Vitali barely reacted let alone got knocked down). In fact, in boxing, the haymaker usually isn't a very hard shot, because the arm is usually extended before the punch lands and that takes a lot of power out of the shot....
Anyway, it sounds too much arcade, not enough realism. But the rest seem pretty good to me. The Total Boxing Control seems to be a revamped version of the Total Punch Control. Now they say it will let you do more things with it. I don't know about that. After awhile of trying to do the TPC I had to use the buttons.
"Create a Champ"...sounds like what you do in the game. Don't know why that's a "feature" but it's EA.
The last two are what have me excited about the next version. Now it's going to be hard to block a side if your eye is swollen, body shots take away a boxer's punching ability. Sounds so much better. One thing I did not like about Fight Night 2004 was if you were beating up a guy badly, he would just cover up (perfectly on the Hard difficulty) making it hard to take him out when he was hurt. At the end of my fights, both of th eeyes on my oppoents were usually torn to shit and bleeding because everytime I hurt him, he'd cover up. Good to see injuries now impair the boxer's ability to compete.
Now the Cuts rating might mean something. That was the last attribute on my boxer that I raised because in 2004, it was purely cosmetic. I didn't care if my boxer got cut because it did nothing to impair my boxer. It was just for show. Now it might make it harder for me to block.
As for the Cut Man, it seems neat and I want to try it. It has the potential to get me interested in what happens between the rounds. Before I just pressed the button a few times to get to the next round.
But most importly, I do hope they make the game more difficult. I ended up not playing it anymore not because I got tired of the gameplay, but because I had two straight undefeated careers in a row on the hardest difficulty. Winning all the time isn't what made it boring, winning by KO by the 5th round in 100 straight fights made it boring.
I'm reading an interview with EA on Gamespot right now as I type this (going back and forth). It seems the "haymaker" is more of a system of applying more power to a punch rather than just winging a punch. They say a problem with last year's game was you couldn't control how much power was put on a punch and with the new haymaker system, you will. That sounds much better.
Another problem I had with the game was that if you wanted to block or throw a punch, you had to stop moving your feet. By the sound of it, you can now move your feet while blocking or punching. That's so much better.