Damon has posted the following impressions of Fight Night 2004 :First I will just tell you how my fights went. After looking around the game and jumping online (no one on yet ) I started a fight with Jermain Taylor vs. Winky Wright. Jermain is Little Rock, AK top prospect and the middle weight divisions hope for a new star. Winky Wright just beat Sugar Shane Mosely and shocked a lot of people. I boxed as Taylor. The fight was a blast. Went a total of 10 rounds and 2 judges scored it 99-91 saying I won only 1 round and another gave me 2 rounds. Which is very acurate. The first 2 rounds he won as I was getting used to the controls. In the 3rd and fourth i started feeling much more comfortable and started using tatics. These are the 2 rounds one of the judges gave me. But in the 5th Winky scores some very good shots and after that is was all down hill as I tried to fight my way back with big punches.
I started another fight and choose to fight as Roy Jones vs Lennox Lewis. This time fighting in the Palace. The entry's were great. Girls dancing around with laser shows going. However in this fight I got KO'd in the first round by Lewis with a big upercut. I hadn't really figured out how go get up yet as you have to put pictures of the referee counting you out together with the right and left analog stick.
Graphics - Very good graphics as the venus look great and each fighter matches his real life counterpart to a T.
Presentation - The entry of the fighter is very enjoyable to watch. It looks like you have to unlock different venus as there were only 3 available to begin with. Both that I tried Caesars palace and the apollo gym looked great.
Controls - I had problems throwing hooks for some reason but I got better as the fight went on. I suggest getting in the ring and just practice each punch and not worry about the opponent. But after 2 matches I think Total Punch Control with the analog sticks is the only way to go.
Fun Factor - Well i have fought two matches and lost both but am ready to go after it again. Playing a friend or playing online I can't wait for. I think the online will keep people playing for a long time.
Marlowe has posted his impressions : First off, the negatives -
Announcing - I fought about 8 offline matches and I was already annoyed with Tigger or whatever his name is. He's got this high raspy voice that can tend to get a bit annoying at times. Sounds a little bit like Chris Rock on Prozac
Knockout animations - a little arcadey. Talk about rubber legs! There's this whole convulsion, ballerina dance number they (or you do) on the way down that's a little too funny to describe
Tale of the Tape - there isn't one, at least not that I could tell. You really can't use a boxer's reach measurements and other stats to come up with a strategy before the match. It's not a "big" issue but something I felt could have added a bit more to the game.
The positives -
No button mashing! The punching (depending on which configuration you choose) is controlled by the right analog stick (R3).
L3 - controls your movement around the ring
R3 - punch controls:
Left, Up and Right, Up - Left and Right hooks
Up-Left (angle \ ) and Up-Right (angle / ) are your Left and Right Jabs
Down-Left + Semi-circle Up and Down-Right + Semi-circle Up - Left and Right Uppercuts
X or R2 - special punches (Haymaker, etc)
R1 - Blocking
L1 - Upper body movement (when held down and used in conjunction with L3) and body punches (when used with the punches listed above)
I like this system. It seems fairly realistic than just hitting buttons to punch. Nice touch on EA's part.
Upper body movement and dodging is done with the L3 + L1 button. It's a pretty good system and lets you set up some good combos when your opponent over reaches or misses a punch.
A note on the special punches: against the CPU you really have to pick your spots as they tend to block them if they see them coming. The CPU AI seems pretty good. If you're trying to go toe to toe most of the time it'll out punch you for the easy KO or just block and evade your punches. If it sees that you're susceptible to specific punches it'll try to land those more often.
Getting up from knockdowns - I like what they implemented. A basic decription is that once you're out you'll see the referee counting in your face. There's 3 images of the ref though. You have to line up the right image then the left over the middle image in the allotted time span (10 count) or you will get counted out. Think of it as trying to lineup your eyesight to focus as you try to shake the cobwebs out.
Create a fighter - if you've played Tiger Woods 2004 it's the same deal. You can customize everything from eye size to mouth/lip fullness. I really don't see how you can't create the boxers that were left out of the game. I created Earl Campbell as a heavyweight and came pretty close to his likeness! Iron Mike, Cesar Chavez, etc., can be easily placed in the game IMO. Another great feature
That was as far as I got last night. Hopefully I can get some online matches in tonight and check out the Career mode.
Overall I am really enjoying the game. The best features are the create a fighter and the punch controls. The negatives I listed aren't a huge problem. There is alot of replay potential for this game especially with the online mode.
News Interceptor
