Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

[BSanders]

http://www.gamespot.com/sports/blogs/sports-blog/909097139/26923143/fight-night-round-4-hands-on-with-legacy-mode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=picks&tag=picks;title;1

The road to championship gold in Fight Night Round 4 is a long one, and that's no more evident than in Legacy mode. Like the rest of this fourth entry in the Fight Night series, Legacy mode is a revamp and reimagining of the straightforward career mode found in earlier versions of the game. And while there's nothing here that will totally reinvent career modes from the ground up, Legacy mode has enough significant improvements to make it one of the highlights in a game that looks to be filled with them.
In fact, the nuts and bolts of Legacy mode are as clear-cut as can be: you create a boxer from scratch, train his skills on a periodic basis, enter him in as many fights as possible, and try to take his career from zero to hero. It's the refined presentation that tells the Legacy mode story--as well as the absolutely ludicrous amount of data the game records--that makes it so special.

[parker002]

Re: Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

Awesome!

[Money99]

Re: Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

This is the best part regarding the AI:

The boxing AI in Fight Night 4 is one of the more underrated aspects of the game; the more time I spent with the game, the more it impressed me, even if I did find myself on the mat more than once as a result.

You see, my created heavyweight boxer is only a heavyweight in name. At 6'1" he's a bit short to be effective against the bigger guys in the weight class, often giving up a significant advantage in reach. This problem is compounded by the fact that I wanted him to be an outside, jab-first type fighter. If I'd been smart, I'd have done one of two things: 1) Moved him to light heavyweight where his height would be more in line with the top-tier competition or 2) Made him an inside fighter. When you compound his size problems with a bad training session or two, it's no wonder that I've lost as many fights as I have.

In the ring, the problem of a short outside fighter is compounded by the fact that jabs and straights actually do matter in this game. Not only can you score points just from landing the punch but, if you land a few combos, you'll be able to back the AI up, even with punches that don't seem to be doing that much damage individually.

The AI's willingness to change up its fight strategy as you continue into the later rounds is one of the game's most impressive strengths, and while knockdowns and KOs are certainly possible, you'll also frequently see your AI opponents go the full distance, changing their strategy from an offensive strategy early on, to a defensive one as the fight continues. Furthermore, any opening you give it will be exploited. I've had several fights where I was winning on points, got a little greedy towards the latter rounds and started looking for a knockout, only to have the CPU make the most of my sloppy punching and reverse the fight on me.

[parker002]

Re: Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

This is the best part regarding the AI:

I really have to stop reading. My anticipation is going to get the best of me.

[Vast]

Re: Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

wow man that hands on preview was awesome. It also sounded like the constant slugging issue is not in the final version. Heres hoping to stick and moving!

[DirtyJerz32]

Re: Fight Night Round 4: Hands-On With Legacy Mode (Gamespot)

The closer and closer this game gets to coming out the more and more my excitement grows. I can not wait for this game. It really looks like this game is going to be one of the top if not the best sports game in 2010. This may be the year that NHL gets it's spot taken.