POSTED 9/3/11


FIGHT NIGHT CHAMPION

EA
PS3 (also on Xbox 360)

The first rule of Fight Night is... you do not talk about Fight Night. So is the second, apparently. Shit, what are we gonna fly now – erm, write about then?

Oh look! It’s, ummmmmmmm, ‘Fluffy Nuffy Champignon’, that comes from someplace far away - yes, that’ll do - anyway, we say let’s examine that!

We’ve never understood pugilism – it just seemed like two meatheads beating the shit out of each other in a canvas square that’s quite illogically called a ring. However, FNC has helped us see the light – being a meathead is fun.

The latest instalment in a long-enduring series, FNC packs what you’d expect. You can pick a fighter and get down to it (boppers), including 50+ greats from boxing history like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier and George ‘w-e-e-e’ve got a griller for sale’ Foreman, all of whom you can go the biff with or against, solo or with a pal (locally or online). The classic build-a-boxer-and-train-them thing’s also here for patient types.

The big new addition’s a grittily confronting story mode where you fill the gloves of one Andre Bishop. Basically it’s a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches-again boxing flick with interactive bits. It’s no Raging Bull, but it’s probably better than Rocky V.

The other big new thing is the controls. You can still button flail, but the right analogue stick is now an alternative. Both have their charms, and both will render your hand crippled if you play for as long as we did. Speaking of flailing, button mashers will be bloodied pulps in no time – learn the moves or buy shares in Elastoplast.

FNC looks magnificent and is certainly challenging. It also beats the shit out of all those Move and Kinect boxing schlumps. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

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