Fight Night Round 4

Fight Night Round 4

This EA Sports franchise proves it pulls no punches in Round 4.

Unforgivable puns aside, after a few good attempts at the already well-established Fight Night franchise, EA has put a lot of stock into Round 4.

With a cavalcade of boxers to choose from, including Joe Calzaghe, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, George Foreman, Muhammed Ali and - for the first time - Mike Tyson, Round 4 not only has the best line-up yet, it promises to deliver improved graphics, sound, controls and gameplay. This shows instantly.

The thing that's immediately admirable about Round 4 is its overall presentation. EA manages to produce some of the best sports games available and in the last few years, it's standardised everything it produces under the EA Sports division.

However, this brand-wary approach has given way to strange approaches to more tried-and-tested main-staples of gaming, particularly the Round 4's control-scheme. The analogue based controls issue was first notably annoying in the NHL franchise two or three years ago, and though it can be intuitive and clever, it forces you to work through another complex analogue stick-based system to reap the benefits.

Although it inevitably makes the game more realistic and develops faster reactions, you feel like you're thrown in at the deep end from the start, despite a lengthy tutorial before you reach the main menu. It's like trying to nail Vega's finishing move on Street Fighter IV - sometimes you simply can't replicate the seemingly easy action it's demonstrating on screen or in the manual.

As a result, hooks become uppercuts and you soon ingest your own teeth via AI supremacy, thanks to the escalating difficulty the game can surprise you with when you finally get in the ring. But you'll work it out, after a couple of hours and the odd naughty word under your breath.