After the success of Fight Night Round 3 on the Xbox 360 and PS3, it was inevitable that a sequel wouldn’t come out sooner or later.  After EA Chicago closed its doors it was unsure who would take over the development duties for the series.  EA’s Vancouver studio took over the job early last year and we can now finally see the fruits of their labors.

Fight Night Round 4 differs from its predecessor in a few ways.  The first being that all of the gameplay is now heavily reliant on physics simulation.  Every punch is always slightly different based on your boxer’s position and their stamina level.  Also new is the way that impacts are calculated.  There’s no longer a set area where a punch can and can’t land.  Your opponent’s body is pretty much completely exposed to punches.  A punch can hit solidly, or end up being a glancing blow, it’s all determined by the game’s physics engine.

Since the game now has a much more realistic system for determining where and how punches land, it opens up a play style that hasn’t really been possible in the previous games.  You can now come in close and box from the inside.  Fighters like Mike Tyson were known for this close quarters style, and so it’s great that you’ll be able to replicate it in the game.  The Total Punch Control system has a few tweaks this time around.  It’s now possible to throw head and body punches on the same stick.  You no longer have to hold down the Left Trigger to get a hook or uppercut to the body, though you still do have to do this to throw a jab or straight right to the body.  It’s also worth pointing out that the game feels quite a bit faster than Fight Night 3 did.

Fight Night Round 3 was one of the nicest looking games on the 360 and PS3 when it came out.  To keep up the tradition, Fight Night Round 4 has received a much improved visual presentation.  It’s hard to point to one specific area that’s been improved, because everything from the boxer models to the arenas and crowds have been retooled.  It’s pretty safe to say that Fight Night 4 looks outstanding.

Fight Night Round 4 is shaping up to be the definitive boxing game for boxing fans.  With a large roster of fighters, excellent physics, a big career mode, and a full suite of online modes, it looks like the game will have just about everything that you could want in a boxing game.  We’ll have a review when the game ships in late June.

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