Hello fellow gamers. Today is a big day here at alldaygamer.com, we are having our first guest blogger.

Chris from GamerOverBoard.com was kind enough to write this review of the new Don King Presents: Prizefighter video game for Xbox 360. Please take the time to visit his site and read his review below.

Enjoy!

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I was not at all surprised to see the mediocre reviews that Prizefighter received from most gaming websites. I believe it has an average of 55/100 at Metacritic. From the first time I saw actual gameplay footage I knew that Prizefighter will not be getting the accolades that Fight Night Round 3 received. While IGN and Gamespot are reputable websites that have given gamers tons of reliable information on hundreds of games in the past, when it comes to boxing, frankly they don’t have a clue, not even that pudgy boxer dude from Gamespot. Finding knowledgeable boxing fans off the street is rare. It is even more rare in the video game industry. With all due respect to the guys from various video game websites, their opinions are not reliable when it comes to the sweet science. If you’re looking for some insight from a real boxing enthusiast, you know, the type who’ll stay up late at night watching nameless fighters go at it over at YouTube or watch some unknowns trade leather on Telemundo, then you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve barely scratched the surface on Prizefighter’s career mode, but I’ve had a chance to fight in a dozen or so exhibition matches against the CPU. I’m only going to cover for now, the most important aspect of any boxing game, which of course is the boxing itself. Let me get this out of the way. The action in Prizefighter mimics the sport better than any boxing title before it, including the lesser known but highly regarded Victorious Boxers series, and yes, even Fight Night Round 3. That’s not to say that Prizefighter is perfect, for it definitely has flaws. But the rhythm and pacing of Prizefighter is very realistic, and the flow of the matches emulate the sport quite accurately. The boxing mechanics are sound but are somewhat hampered by the extremely steep learning curve. My biggest problem is with the control scheme and I’m not talking about the use of the face buttons as opposed to the widely popular analog punching in the Fight Night franchise. The main problem with Prizefighter’s controls is the body punch modifier, which is the right trigger. When used with the “step-in” modifier, which is the right bumper, it feels like you’re pressing every single button on the controller, especially if you’re adding yet another modifier that makes you “step around” with the punch by pushing up or down with the left analog stick. There’s lots of modifiers but I think the only one that really causes issues is the right trigger. I prefer the body punching in FNR3, where you would naturally throw to the body when your fighter is leaning forward. It only makes sense and I wish that Prizefighter would have adopted this. There have been many, many instances in Prizefighter where I intended to throw a body punch from the crouch position and would instead end up throwing an awkward punch to my opponent’s head. The weird thing is that it seems like I AM able to throw a single left hook to the body from the crouch, but every other body punch requires the modifier. Another issue that just about every website agrees on is the unresponsiveness of the controls in Prizefighter. I don’t particularly agree. What some would consider “unresponsiveness,” I would call realistic. You see, people’s problems with Prizefighter’s punching system is the fact that the punches won’t always be thrown at the same speed and intervals the buttons were pressed. Players tend to press the buttons rapidly and expect the combo to come out just as fast. That’s simply not the case in real life. Regardless of how fast you want to punch, there are physical limitations. There is inertia and varying degrees of weight transfer associated with each punch thrown, and Prizefighter has implemented this aspect. Unfortunately, it is a subtle feature that will be interpreted by the large majority of gamers as “unresponsiveness.” Also, there are some oddities and awkwardness to be found with certain punches and there are times when they don’t seem to come out the way you expect them to, such as hooks to the body looking a bit straight-ish. The reactions to body punches look exaggerated sometimes, but these only happen when you are either hit with a modified version of the punch or you were interrupted in the middle of throwing a big punch yourself. This pretty much sums up the flaws in Prizefighter, and believe me, they are lot more minor than I might’ve made them sound. Oh yeah, Jim Lampley’s commentating is robotic at times. It sounds lame when it is obvious that there is a seam between his phrase and the boxer’s name he’s talking about. Also, Emanuel Steward rarely says anything.

I’m not sure how game reviewers played Prizefighter, but I approached each fight as a real boxing match. I wasn’t intent on spamming certain punches or looking to exploit the CPU. I just wanted a good ol’ boxing match and fought in a realistic manner. What I got was my behind handed to me the first few times in exhibition mode. Heck I couldn’t make it past the 2nd round in my first 3 or 4 fights! I’ve been on the losing end of several one-punch KO’s where the ref didn’t even bother counting. I’ve been beat down and stopped in the middle rounds. I’ve gone the full 12 rounds and lost by a unanimous decision. All I can say is that losing never felt this good! Winning feels much better, of course. I haven’t had many victories, but the two that stick out in my mind are my 5-round demolition of Enzo Macaranelli (sp) playing as Steve Cunningham, and my devastating KO of Edison Miranda playing as Arthur Abraham in which I landed a crippling liver shot in the sixth round, immediately followed by a left uppercut to the chin, instantly ending the fight. If I could only use one word to describe the in-ring action in Prizefighter it would be, “involved.” You are required to constantly move and defend. I’m not talking about running around the ring, but you cannot remain stationary. Otherwise you’ll get pummeled. You have to box. You throw a couple of punches, step back or circle, block, lean, counter, throw a combo, etc. It sounds basic enough but you’d be surprised by how often you’ll find yourself planted in one spot too long and start eating your opponent’s combos. Also you’ll find out that your opponent can reach you even when you think you’re safely out of the way. You’ll learn to always put your guard up and move your upper body whenever you’re not punching, or you’ll be an easy target. It’s funny when you realize how much other boxing games have influenced your fighting and how you would tend to fight the way you’re used to, at least during your first few matches. Eventually you’ll start picking up the rhythm of Prizefighter and you’d be blocking, moving and countering more naturally. Matches will also begin to last longer as you learn to defend yourself better.

You have a wide array of punches at your disposal. You have your basic jab, cross, hook and uppercut mapped onto the face buttons. By holding the right trigger you will direct the punches towards the body. Then you’ve got your “step-in” modifier, which just as the name implies, results in your fighter stepping in or lunging in with his punch, giving it a little more power. It’s also a good way to close the gap between you and your foe and has longer range. It does require you to gauge your distance properly and time your attack, as failing to do so will most likely cause you to whiff your punch and be vulnerable to a counter. Finally you have your “step around” punches, which could be achieved by holding down the right bumper AND pushing the left analog stick up or down as you throw a punch. I haven’t completely figured out the intricacies of this mechanic, but I can see the potential once they are mastered. I found the step-around feature useful in a couple of situations, such as cutting off an opponent who is circling you and when you yourself want to circle him. Regarding the latter, it’s a thing of beauty to throw a left jab and follow it up with a step-around left jab causing you to circle to your left and maintain a good angle to hit your opponent. You can string together a few graceful and effective jabs this way. I also found it useful to throw a step-around left hook going to your right, causing you to clip your opponent’s chin. Then you have your signature punches, which could only be thrown when your adrenaline meter is filled enough. You throw a signature punch by holding the left bumper and using any of the face buttons, each resulting in a different punch, directed either to the head or body. These punches come at you really fast and when timed properly could take away a significant amount of health. However, it’s not that easy to land them. It’s not impossible, but don’t expect them to land automatically . It’s easy to miss especially when you don’t set up your opponent ! properly . Speaking of adrenaline, I’m glad to report that it is anything but arcadey or overpowered. When your adrenaline meter is completely full, you can either use it for throwing a couple of signature punches or going into an “adrenaline mode” by pressing the left and right bumpers simultaneously. Once you do the color palette changes and you get a little faster and can punch as much as you want without tiring. While in this mode, trust me, you are not super human. It lasts but a few seconds, and it takes a long while to fill up the meter, usually over the course of two rounds. You’re most likely to fire a signature punch whenever you have enough in your meter rather than saving it up for the adrenaline mode. If it is your opponent who gets into this mode, it’s not too difficult to stay out of trouble. Unless you are extremely low on health, you’ll almost always weather the storm. You can also try to clinch, which actually is surprisingly difficult to pull off. You do so by clicking on both analog sticks at the same time. A lot of times you’ll clinch when out of range, resulting in a somewhat comical animation. You have to be extremely close to be able to grab your opponent and you have to time it just right or else get interrupted with his punches. One of the most important features in Prizefighter is the stamina system, which is the most realistic I’ve seen. They run out quickly but refill just as fast. If you keep throwing when your stamina is empty, your punches will lose power and speed, at the same time making you more vulnerable as you will move slower altogether and won’t be able to defend yourself as quickly as you need to. You’ll need to manage your stamina in order to fight at your optimum, and you do this by fighting realistically. That means you pop off a few punches, defend, back off, throw a couple more jabs, etc. You won’t be throwing non-stop flurries, and I suspect this to be one of the main reasons Prizefighter received a mediocre score.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the graphics look great. None of the videos or screen shots did this game any justice. The overall visuals look more realistic than Fight Night Round 3’s. FNR3 has more polygons, but the character models looked plastic and artificial. The graphics in FNR3 were great in that the fighters have the appearance of real-life mannequins. Prizefighter, on the other hand, has an authentic look. A side by side comparison will show how artificial FNR3 looks. I honestly can’t believe the negative comments about Prizefighter’s visuals. With regards to the sound, Prizefighter’s weakness is the commentating. Most of the time it works just fine and functions just as well as could be expected, but certain phrases that come out of Jim Lampley’s mouth are so disjointed that it could be a distraction. This is definitely something that 2K needs to work on. All the other sound effects, from the crowd reaction to the punches, sound believable. You won’t be hearing a modified sample of a dead pig covered in grease getting hit with a bare fist when you land punches. Instead, you’ll hear the crisp sound of a boxing gloves making contact with each other or with somebody’s face. Listening to the matches sound just like the real thing. If you’re looking for booming punches that sound like a canon going off, you’ll be disappointed with Prizefighter.

The bottom line with Prizefighter is that while it has flaws, it is a solid boxing title that’s meant to cater to the purists. Each fight has a sense of danger and purpose. You never truly feel safe until you hear the final bell. One punch out of nowhere can truly end the fight, and it is possible for your opponent to turn the tables on you should you let your guard down. You have to remain involved every second of the match, and this is no exaggeration. There’s no relaxing. You have to keep on moving, defending, countering, managing your stamina, keeping an eye on your health, etc. It is taxing but in a fun way that makes you feel like you’re in a real boxing match. There is a steep learning curve that will almost certainly put off most casual gamers, dismissing the game as unresponsive. It does take time to get a handle on things, but once you do, each match feels dynamic. The action is methodical and strategic but at the same time requiring the player to rely on feel and instinct. One reviewer actually said that there is no counter-punching in Prizefighter. One can only assume that his definition of “counter-punching” is being able to stun your opponent with a 5-second parry and then throw a flurry while your opponent is unable to defend himself. This is a game for true boxing fans, and I don’t say that in a demeaning way towards the casual fans. I’m a casual fan myself when it comes to certain things like racing, for instance. While I enjoy games like Forza or Gran Turismo, if I wanted to, I can complain all day long about the ridiculous amounts of braking and slowing down it takes to be able to turn corners, and then I could go off on how ridiculous it is to run into a wall at 200mph and not total the car. Boxing, at its core, is much more than two men pummeling each other. Sadly, this is as far as most people could see. When a boxing title comes out, gamers want non-stop action and non-stop violence with nothing to get in the way of administering a beating on their opponents. Whether they admit it or not, it is obvious that this is the main reason that reviewers gave Prizefighter the mediocre scores. That is, they simply do not understand boxing, plain and simple. For those who do understand and appreciate the sport for everything that it is, Don King Presents: Prizefighter is hands down, the most realistic & most authentic boxing game available today.

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