Fight Night Round 3 [X360]

Since EA first showed off scenes of Fight Night Round 3 running on the 360, it's been among the most anticipated titles on the platform. Then, when the demo was released over Xbox Live, eagle-eyed gamers noticed that it wasn't quite as visually dense as the initial footage. Looking at the final release, that's certainly true, but our advice is to divest yourself of all that early hype and simply enjoy the game for what it is: the best-looking sports game on any platform, and the biggest step yet taken towards next-gen.

On the 360, Fight Night is simply a beautiful game. Without any onscreen displays to distract from the detail, we can see all sorts of great touches. Cuts and swelling bloom on faces as punches land; you can tell the condition of a boxer just by looking at him. No meters needed.

With the developers free to leave behind meters and readouts, the game simply feels different than on current-gen platforms. On the Xbox, there's a slight arcade sensibility that isn't in place here. Some aspects of this release almost seem slower, but it's also harder and more immersive.

Initially, we'd had concerns that the extra realism of the 360 might make the game tough to watch -- boxing can be brutal, no matter how some prefer to see it, and seeing a boxer's eyes go soft after an uppercut might be too much after a while. Regardless, Round 3 is gorgeous and thrilling to watch, especially when a combination of punches lands, then causes the camera to zoom in so that we can really feel the knockdown blow. It's a great balance between realism and artistic license.

Beyond the nearly immaculate details, Round 3 has plenty of great visual qualities. The individual style of each boxer really stands out, with a mixture of punching and blocking styles to suit every body type. The lighting, arenas, and crowds are very nicely handled, and anyone turned off by flying flecks of spittle coming off the glove that just ran into a man's face might want to think twice about playing.

The game's other big innovation has been the use of the right analog stick to throw all punches, and EA has made the stick more responsive and variable than before. Learning to use it takes some time; at first the game will even seem to move too slowly. But as players learn the rhythm of the game, they'll see how to counter and parry and string together devastating hit combos. While Fight Night has many enviable qualities, it's that emphasis of rhythm over brutality that really stands out.

Two big complaints were levied against last year's game: landing flurries of haymakers was easy and dominated every bout, and the career mode was too thin. The haymaker issue has been addressed with big impact punches that take more time to throw and leave a greater window of vulnerability if poorly executed. This is a game of jabs and body shots, where fighters have to measure the blocking ability and speed of an opponent to win.