By nestlekwik
2K Sports had some noble intentions stepping into the ring with the undisputed champ of boxing, Fight Night. Now that the time for hype is well past us, can Don King Presents: Prizefighter really go toe-to-toe with EA's sim?
Prizefighter is definitely unique in its approach - the game's career is told through a series of faux vignettes recorded by actual boxers, trainers and, of course, The King himself (Don King, not the Burger King guy), in documentary style. Developer Venom Games, formerly at task for the two Rocky games released last generation, has opted to not imitate the right stick punching and has added a number of robust multiplayer modes. While this leads to an overall enjoyable experience, Prizefighter will unlikely be able to wow most players who have had a go with Fight Night.
With the four face buttons on the 360 controller, players have a decent amount of punches to select from while in the ring, ranging from the critical jab to blood-splattering signature punches boxers can throw out by holding a bumper button in tandem with any of the face buttons. Defensive tactics are mapped to the controller's triggers, allowing for sidestep and lunge punches and blocks and sways. Players can execute these moves with around 40 professional boxers or a created character, with which players can train in the game's career mode.
While intriguing at first, players will quickly learn Prizefighter's career mode is just as standard and at times monotonous as those in other boxing games. While Prizefighter thankfully concentrates a little more on improving stats and profile than on the bling your character wears, the presentation and game flow is by no means more extravagant than in games such as Fight Night. Prizefighter is a simple matter of booking a fight, training in mini games and then entering the ring over and over, with the game's benefit of FMV and "story progression" sprinkled in here and there.
Unfortunately for players, almost everything presented in Prizefighter is completely generic - from the lackluster and predictable mini-games to the sound and presentation - people will automatically compare it to Fight Night and the general consensus is the latter game does a boxing game better. This is sorely evident in the game play, which will lead to pure button mash bouts. Thankfully, though, the game does make nice use of stamina to ensure the boxers don't hammer on each constantly like Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, but, still the game lacks the fluidity and flare of Fight Night. Fluidity is the key in a boxing title and Prizefighter just doesn't seem to have it. The animations of the boxers are far from solid at times, some collisions are weak-looking and questionable and the animations seemed canned, resulting in an extra, lingering punch being thrown if a player mashes a button twice in rapid succession. And since the game play relies so heavily on stamina, pumping a boxer full of the stat is simply enough to get by nearly all of the computer opponents in the game, cheapening the skill factor required in a boxing game.
While Prizefighter was touted for its realism, it is hardly so thanks to its clunky fighting mechanics and lack of thorough animation, but the video segments really do highlight the game and the music really shines in the menus and during entrances. On the same audible token, however, nothing else compares as the trainer and commentator samples are extremely repetitive and most of the time, the commentators find it hard to keep up with the pace of the match. While multiplayer and online modes along with unlockables help keep the game slightly interesting, there isn't a lot of replayability to be had.
At the end of the day, Prizefighter can't help be compared to Fight Night and, unfortunately it doesn't come close to competing with it. Overall, most portions of the game are quite generic for this generation, however, the core game play really throws a punch to the players' gut. The animations effect game play and with questionable hit detection at times, Prizefighter fails to please on most levels. Most players should be able to give the game a try, but beyond stomping the career mode and picking up some achievements along the way, Prizefighter has little gas in its tank to keep it running beyond a weekend rental.
GemuBaka Final Review Score: 2 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment