3. Fight Night Round 4
Fight Night Round 4
I consider myself to be a casual boxing fan. I definately know about the greats such as Ali, Sugar Ray, and Tyson. Out of sheer boredom, I’ve watched numerous documentaries about them, with the most recent being “Tyson.†And, when I go to a bar to watch boxing, it is mainly mainstream popular boxers like Mayweather.
I’m certainly no expert, but that didn’t stop me from pointing out that “Fight Night Round 3†was a terrible game. I knew that boxers didn’t move like robots and flash KO couldn’t be done at will. Much like other EA Chicago games, it was all flash with no substance.
So, when the first trailers of “Round 4†appeared, the first thing they talked about how “Round 3†was terrible. They made all these promises about how “Round 4†would be a realistic boxing experience, that timing and reflexes were going to be key features of a good player, and you need to outsmart your opponent. Add Iron Mike to the cast list and it sounded like it would be an incredible boxing game.
After many months of patience, the game is finally released and I popped it in the 360. A few hours later, I was pretty pissed off.
The first major problem is they decided to make the game exclusively use the analog stick. It is a great concept on paper, until you realize the game can’t detect your motions very well. Uppercuts become body blows and jabs become hooks. Fortunatly, someone smartened up, and after many months, they decided to go back to the button formula via a patch. A noteworthy change, but then you realize the game just feels slow and clucky since the boxers have a hard time keeping up with your commands.
As for realism, it doesn’t exist here. You are able to throw hundreds of punches around and skip around the ring without losing much stamina. Boxers can withstand dozens of hooks and uppercuts without losing much health. Spinners, body spammers, and other pet names are dominant exploits in online play. Recently they tried to fix this in another so-called “game changing†patch, but it didn’t seem to do much as the experience as been mostly the same.
Single player mode isn’t that much fun either as the A.I. seems to read your move before you even do it and falls into a boring pattern. The “higher†difficulties just give more punching power to the CPU, so they can only hit you a few times to stun you while you have to put in more effort.
The sad thing is despite all these failures, this is one of the best boxing games out there. This genre has yet to receive a realistic boxing game, and with the way EA performed with “Round 4,†I highly doubt we will see anything good coming from them in the future.
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
The first “Modern Warfare†showed the world that Infinity Ward doesn’t have to stick to World War II to make a good game. The single player was actually enjoyable, a feat on its own since a FPS mixed in with a modern setting is often a recipe for diaster. But the heart of “MW†was multiplayer, which contained the unique XP based perk setting, and kill streak rewards. It was surprisingly more balanced than other games, since almost anything can kill you instantly or close to that and campers were not welcomed. It was a game of aggression and reflexes.
Then comes “Modern Warfare 2.†The single player campaign is less than five hours on a normal settting, and the plot tries to take itself seriously despite the many attempts of constraversy and numerous plotholes. Let’s not forget the game is pretty much exactly the same as last year, where you are forced to go through a maze of buildings and have infinite respawning enemies. The only good points in the single player campaign was when the game forced you to go stealth.
But, the biggest issue of this disappointment is the multiplayer. The first “Modern Warfare†was very close to perfect; the maps were small, provided few places to hide, and had few entry points. What this resulted in is a match that is identical to having a knife fight in a phone booth. There wasn’t room to do much and in order to create that room, you had to shoot some people. It was fast paced and all about being quick on your feet.
In “MW2,†that has changed. Maps are much larger, with way too much cover, making this once aggressive game into a world of campers. This is further enforced by the lousy map design that has openings in nearly every area. You simply can’t move without getting potentially killed in dozens of places, forcing you to simply wait until you find someone who is actually trying to play the game.
To add further insult to injury, the game is extremely dumbed down for the idiot fanbase. Overall weapon damage has been reduced, claymores won’t kill half the time, and grenades are useless. Because Infinity Ward knows very well that their audience can’t play FPS games for shit, they even added the Heartbeast Sensor and Thermal scope since using their sense of sight and sound is too much for them. Death streaks are also added because, just like “Street Fighter 4,†we need some sort of benefit for being terrible at a game.
But why do you care? You probably have this game already because Activision’s Marketing Department told you to get it. The review scores are high, and the game broke sales records, so it must be good, right? I got it simply because I enjoyed the hell out of the first one and was hoping for an enhancement of the experience. Instead we get a game that had to listen to the whiny fanbase.
1. King of Fighters 12
King of Fighters XII
On one side of the fence, there is “Street Fighter.†On the other side, there is “King of Fighters.†I’ve always been on the “King of Fighters†side because I’m an aggressive player, whereas in “Street Fighter†that style is frowned upon. Not to mention I never have to see another Shoto character again, because if a game has 40 characters, I want to fight them all.
And, just like every other “KOF†fan, I would classify “King of Fighters ‘98†as the high point of the series. It had balanced characters, a huge roster, and a great presentation. There is a reason why, on many online arcade emulation sites, “KOF ‘98†is listed as one of the most played.
“KOF12†was supposed to be the next-gen update of the franchise. The sprites were going to be redrawn, the graphics were in HD, and it was going to include an online system. The game’s trailers demostrated beautifully animated fights and backgrounds. So, things were looking good.
Until some things were mentioned by the development team. The roster was limited to 20 characters, making this the shortest roster in the series. There was going to be no storyline mode, so you could skim through the game with anyone you want. Online play was going to be barebones, and not fully featured like “Street Fighter 4.â€
After getting my copy, I was finished with the game in ten minutes. I don’t mean with my review, but rather the entire single player game, on the hardest difficulty, on my first try. I shook my head in disbelief as if to ask what the hell happened at SNK.
Then I tried playing online, the netcode made the game unplayable. I have no idea how this is even remotely possible since there are programmers on the web (such as GGPO) who did this for free with other 2D fighting games. Again, who gave the green light to this at SNK?
Not only is this one of the most disappointing games to be released this year, it is also one of the worst. The graphics look awful on a HD screen, especially when you make a direct comparison to “Blazblue,†and the content barely makes it worth an XBLA pricetag, nevermind full retail.
The sad thing is that, as a “KOF†fan, I can see this game doing well if they had put more time into it, such as adding fan favorite Mai to the roster, or making the netcode work. It certainly has the best controls in the fighting genre this year, as you are not forced to purchase a two hundred dollar arcade stick to even play properly.
Despite all this, “KOF12†is a mess that should never been released in its current state. It is also insulting the intelligence of both gamers and “KOF†fans to assume we were going to buy a game with such minimal content. It is the most disappointing game of 2009 and it will be very hard to top this game in years to come.
... that and batman are my games of the year 
. also disagree with prototype being there.
what do you mean by "underwhelming" (Just talking about the SP)