For a little while there hell froze over. You see I haven't bought or played a sports game since NBA Jam on SNES. Even then the game was more of an arcade affair rather than a fair representation of the sport. Fast forward to 2006 and I actually had a blast playing Fight Night Round 3 against a friend. I ran out and bought it shortly after, only to be reminded as to why I stayed away from this genre of games.
Quick review in fifteen words or less: Fun with friends but requires a deep understanding of the sport against the AI.
Gameplay
Good hand-eye coordination? Check. Good reaction time? Check. Good at complex controls? My crappy hands strike again. They are not very dexterous. Forcing my hand to punch out combos in quick succession tires my hands out quickly. Naturally when I tire, my would be boxer gets a beating in the ring. The game offers several configurations for the controls however the one I was most comfortable still required quite a bit from my hands. I'm not saying the controls are bad. Instead I am saying that there is a large learning curve to them and if you don't like games that force your hand all over the gamepad then you may run into some of the problems I had.
As for the gameplay itself it was fun. There is not much to say. Fight Night Round 3 is a boxing game so as long as you know how a boxing match goes you'll know what to expect in this game. You can choose to play online, have a career mode, replay classic boxing fights and even create your own boxer. In between fights in the career mode you can train and purchase items for your boxer. Both serve as a means of boosting your boxer's stats.
Audio
I hope you like rap, because if not you'll turn the music off just as quickly as I did. To be fair, I have no idea what type of music would have sounded best with a boxing game. I don't think there is one, so EA just took what they perceived as the latest taste in music that the general public has and inserted it into their game. The real annoying part to the sound section is really the trainers and announcers. Again, I realize that as a sports game you will have both and they will more than likely spout out only a few canned lines but after a few fights you can't stand to hear them anymore. The real star of this section is the sound effects. The punches sound very convincing as you pummel you opponent. When either of the fighters take to their corners to get healed up they puff and pant. The pounding of wet meat sound as the boxers clobber each other and the falling sounds as one of the fighters kisses the canvas is very well done.
Video
I hesitate to call the graphics next gen. The models for the boxers themselves are indeed the best models I have seen on a console game. Also the fighting rings are an eye opener but the rest of the graphics are weak. I know no one is looking at anything else but the boxers and the ring however the slick presentation is not uniform. The spectators and the women with the round signs look like current generation models. Aside from that, Fight Night Round 3 has all sorts of detail on the boxers themselves. You don't need a stamina or health bar. The boxer models themselves will display things like swollen eyes, bleeding lips, hunches shoulders, shuffling feet and slow punches. Honestly you can easily gauge the health status of your boxer by watching how fast he moves, his stance and his facial appearance. Of special note is the detail you'll see when you watch a knock out punch in slow motion. You will literally see the glove compress as it hits the boxer's body or face. If it is a hit to the face you'll see the boxer's face ripple from the impact, spit blood out and even see sweat fly off of him.
Replay
For me the replay value is medium on this game. It is fun to play against your friends however in their absences you will find that the game offers little enjoyment. The problems I perceive with this game are that it requires a very good understanding of the boxing sport and the game can't decide whether or not it is an arcade or simulation sports game. The first problem is easy to explain. Play the career mode and after beating the first couple of title fights (or belts?) you'll find yourself against extremely difficult AI. I'll admit I even turned into a wimp by lowering the difficulty to easy and still had my a** handed to me in these fights.
The second problem is subjective. I found the game to be part arcade and part simulation. At first it appeared to be all simulation but after trying to tackle the same fight with different strategies I realized something was wrong. I had put my opponent on the mat several times and yet he kept coming back up. After five rounds he looked like ground beef and yet the fight turned against me somehow. My boxer was apparently out of stamina. At which point my opponent beat me to the floor. I retry and decide to conserve my energy. Nope, I kiss the canvas. I try to work his gut and take his stamina away. Nope, I kiss the canvas. I try to be very aggressive. Nope, I kiss the canvas. It was like punching a brick wall; my opponent just wouldn't stay down.
Needless to say I stopped playing the career mode and decided that I didn't understand the sport well enough. Add to that not many people I know with this game and my not so dexterous hands. To close this section I'll state that the game was fun for a bit but, I am trading it in and I am sticking to my no sports game policy.
Rent or Buy?
I recommend that just about everyone rent or try this game with a friend. It is fun to beat on each other without actually playing a traditional fighting game. Despite how fun it is I can't recommend a purchase unless you have both a large list of humans (preferably friends) that you can wail on and a good understand of the sport itself. If you don't have both then this is easily a game you and a few friends play for a weekend and talk about it afterwards.
Score
Gameplay 8/10
Audio 7/10
Video 8/10
Replay 7/10
Overall (it is an average) 7.5 rounded up to 8 for the fun had playing against friends.
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