Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

[TheCreep]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

The more I play the more I'm loving it. I can most definitely dig this game.
I'm not that proficient yet but I'm getting there.

Currently using the right side boxer select so I can start the match fighting on the right side of the screen. Trying to get used to that aspect.

I'm splitting it 10 for 10 right now. 10 matches beginning on the left, 10 beginning on the right. Afterwards, I'm going to try and force the fight on the North/south plane to get proficient there. Basically just trying to get proficient at all angles because there's no telling where you'll end up. My bob and weave game on the right side of the screen needs massive work right now. I'll be back to beast status soon hopefully.

[ne0trainer]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

holy ****...Played online in a mike tyson vs mike tyson, the guy tired me out and knocked me down..after that it was all-out beast mode as we were in the third. After a lot of swivelling and head-dodging, i had a shot to knock him down. I held the power modifier and swung the right hook of a lifetime.

Insta-KO. It didn't even go to a count. Game over.

So nasty..

The game is actually pretty damn good. Wish the stamina went a little lower but i'm assuming that can be fixed in retail version.

[Tengo Juego]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

The game looks great, sounds terrible. Ring entrances I was disappointed in. It feels like this stuff(Ring entrances, commentary, cut scenes, etc) was left on the back burner.

I'm reserving my judgment on the controls. I need to become affluent with the "Full Spectrum" stuff to say I prefer the new or the old. But, I will say this: Why are we still not going the route of custom controls?

The game is a lot faster/less robotic feeling than FNR4. Watching videos and trailer pre-demo I thought the game looked exactly like FNR4. I want to speak on movement, but I'm going to bite my tongue because I have a shoddy controller. My left thumbstick has a tilt and is about 4 years old. I really need to get myself a new controller.

[SteelerSpartan]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Ok question for anyone who got the demo early and has been playing over the weekend like me....


Is it just me.....or did the punch speed become slower this evening????

Thought maybe Brizzo had sneaked in one of those Live Tuners or something

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

All I know is they got Ali moving slow as hell and his stamina drops way too damn fast. They also seem to have gave Pacman an iron chin in this game. I nailed him 7 times clean with power upper cuts and he didn't even got rocked or nothing.

I like the ref in the ring, even though a couple of times he got in the way when I was trying to circle away. All in all........a must have for me.

[Epiffani]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

In short, this game is a disappointment to me.

A more poignant impression:

In order for me to have gotten any enjoyment out of the last iteration (FNR4), I had to almost completely block out the sport that it was actually attempting to replicate. This 'technique' worked for about a month and a half, before I grew tired of the game (mainly due to staleness, an overall 'unreal' look & feel to the game, and a complete lack of depth) and shelved it. After playing the demo of champion, it looks like I would've to once again implore and shift my mindset completely away from realism all the way to 'just having fun' for a few months max, before thinking about the next installment to be released in the next few years.

The first thing that stood out to me about the gameplay besides the graphics (looks good as always) was the new camera angle. But with the new camera angle should have came more responsibility to movement. As duly noted time and time again, the foot movement is quite simply bad, and when you factor in the fact that they improved the punching both in crispness and fluidity, it looks to me that the fighters upper and bottom halves are operating on two different spectrum's at two different speeds. I use to only think this way about the upper body movements in past installments of this game when fighters use to (and still do) stand completely flat-footed and "wiggle" their upper body, but now with the new camera, the sluggish lower body movement is on display for people to see. I wonder if this game is using "IK", which I know Madden used before. The technology is supposed to give more realistic and natural movement in regards to gameplay by eliminating sliding, but the funny thing is despite Fight Night Champion having slugglish foot movement, the fighters still slide in an inordinate fashion.

Onto the presentation or the lack there of. Despite sports games almost across the board largely going with real time presentation as opposed to cutscenes, I really don't have a problem with cutscenes; as long as they're well implemented, but with a panning camera covering the action in the ring to transition abruptly into something like a fight stoppage, and mind you, the referee hasn't done anything to effect or get involved in the action up until that point (not even in clinches), I then have a problem then with cutscenes. The entrances and pre-fight scenes from what I can tell are largely the same, lacking ambiance, build up, anticipation all the while with the same tired PA announcer. The announcing, which is my biggest disappointment in anything outside of things involving the gameplay, is abysmal. No other way I can describe it. When I heard Joe segue Teddy into talking about helping under-privileged kids (the EXACT same story word for word) I knew the rest of the commentary was going to be bad. This aspect of the game (presentation) continues to be sold shortly.

As for my actual gameplay experience. Again, the actual look of the punches and the way they are executed in proper situations are well done. Ali hand speed is incredible; however, this game is in need of some sort of robust tendency system for each fighter something ala the NBA 2K series to go alongside the editable player ratings. I was Tyson, and Ali didn't show any hesitation or reluctance to slug it out with me (often getting the better of the exchanges.) Against a fighter like Tyson, there's no way Ali would have sit there and gotten into a test of heavy hands against Tyson. That goes against everything Ali isn't as a fighter. What happened to the dynamic A.I they were touting in FNR4? I still don't see any semblance of it in Champion granted it's a demo. I fought Ali at least 10 times with each time playing out virtually the same.

My post is getting long-winded, despite me having more to say, but I'll end it soon. When I factor everything in, there's no way I can spend $60 on something that I feel is largely a rehash of the same, which the said "rehash" wasn't great at all IMO to begin with (FNR4). I'll definitely rent it because fun can be had with the game, but after the novelty wears out for me (most likely after a month), I'll be done with the game and wondering what if, and waiting more years hoping that they'll fix the underlying issues with this game that has been there since its inception.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Ok question for anyone who got the demo early and has been playing over the weekend like me....


Is it just me.....or did the punch speed become slower this evening????

Thought maybe Brizzo had sneaked in one of those Live Tuners or something

I happen to think a few things are different. I was lifeless against heavy punchers but can easily handle them now. The one thing I have to make sure is that they miss or I'll have to trade punches with them to win on the cards.

I still think stamina needs to be tweaked. It's too easy to throw several punches and see little consequence. Maybe more rounds will prove differently.

[Flightwhite24]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

WOW!!! I love this demo. Day 1 purchase for sure

[wyrm187]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I kinda like the demo but one thing that EA does that just drives me insane is they tip off the decision at the end depending on what cut scene they show. I've just been playing the computer with the boxer on the left so at the end if your boxer is standing next to the ref shaking his fist hoping for the W - you lose, if they show the cut scene of the close up where you are walking around during the announcement - you win.

Its the stupidest damn thing - EA did the same thing in Madden when measuring first downs, there's just no suspense since you know what's coming. EA it's those little misses on the detail that games like the Show and NBA 2K11 excel at - it just seems kinda lazy to me and ruins the experience. The gameplay is still tight - why can't they just get it all together for once?

end rant

[JayBee74]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

When I factor everything in, there's no way I can spend $60 on something that I feel is largely a rehash of the same, which the said "rehash" wasn't great at all IMO to begin with (FNR4).

Well you may love it or hate it, but the gameplay is not a rehash. I thought FN4 was terrible but this one is a totally different animal. One button blocking, no counter window, one punch KOs, no body spamming, and a more effective jab lend itself to a game that is tons more intuitive than FN4.

WOW!!! I love this demo. Day 1 purchase for sure

It's a definite for me. Pleasant surprise.

[BlueNGold]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Well, the game is definitely fun, which is key. The graphics are great as always and the new damage doesn't seem overdone. I've only seen a slight cut on the cheek of CPU Cotto out of my 5 matches (3 vs CPU, 2 online).

Speaking of CPU fights, out of those 3 fights I had against the CPU, I didn't win once. All of them went to decision, so I haven't seen an overabundance of 1 punch KO's yet. I have seen some nice flash knockdowns (again, not many) and stuns.

I like the new controls. It was funny because at first I was still going through the hook and uppercut gestures. It seems much easier to set up and throw combos now and just let your hands fly when needed.

On the negative side, I hate the camera. I don't like how it follows every single movement and there's times where the boxer you're controlling will be at the top corner of the screen with the opponent at the bottom corner, making it impossible to tell how much space there is between you and the opponent.

Also, the footwork is still pretty bad. It's improved over 2 years ago, but that isn't saying much. I used Ali online in an Ali/Tyson fight and I don't know if it was just me but Ali felt very slow. He was probably the slowest fighter in the demo.

And of course the presentation is still terrible. This doesn't bother me too much, because I'd rather the game play well than have great commentary and all of that, but it is still disappointing. The entrances aren't full length, the announcement of decisions isn't that great and like it's been mentioned, the commentary is a carbon copy of Round 4's.

Anyways, this demo has affected my view of the game in a mostly positive way, but I'm still weary and I'm pretty sure I'm just going to wait it out the first week and see how the impressions are here.

[tony01313]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

I hate this game I can't believe most of y'all think this is the greatest thing since slice bread.

The graphics are stunning amazing and flawless that's were it ends for me. The gameplay is horrible I used too love the sticks in the last fight night games now they suck. I can't do what I want too do I have zero control, I try too double up on the jab and end up jab and end up throwing a hook. I try to throw 2 punches and end up throwing a four punch combo it's a joke. Its super hard to throw bodyshots. And who in there right mind thought one button blocking was a good I idea? That right there totally kills the game for me.

I read a reply saying now you can box!! Lol child please it's impossible too represent the sweet science in this game. It's a straight all out war every fight gotti ward out there. Now all a person have too do is hold block let the CPU block for you and then throw 10 punch combo and repeat. It doesn't matter if you throw a body or head shot cause the CPU will block for you, it's cheese at it's finest.

Fn4 had an awesome foundation all EA had too do was find away too fix the fatigue and have fighters move like boxers instead of sliding. Instead they destroy the game with the auto block I will not buy 100%

[allBthere]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Well you may love it or hate it, but the gameplay is not a rehash. I thought FN4 was terrible but this one is a totally different animal. One button blocking, no counter window, one punch KOs, no body spamming, and a more effective jab lend itself to a game that is tons more intuitive than FN4.
It's a definite for me. Pleasant surprise.

I feel the same way...for now lol

[BlueNGold]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

Response in bold:

The gameplay is horrible I used too love the sticks in the last fight night games now they suck. I can't do what I want too do I have zero control, I try too double up on the jab and end up jab and end up throwing a hook. I try to throw 2 punches and end up throwing a four punch combo it's a joke.

This is entirely on you, not the game. You're the one inputting the commands to make the game throw a four punch combo or a jab, hook instead of a double jab. When I played earlier this afternoon I threw plenty of double jabs on command. If anything I struggled with the uppercut, but again, that's on the user, not the game.

Its super hard to throw bodyshots.

No it's not. Hold L trigger and punch. Simple as that.

And who in there right mind thought one button blocking was a good I idea? That right there totally kills the game for me. I read a reply saying now you can box!! Lol child please it's impossible too represent the sweet science in this game. It's a straight all out war every fight gotti ward out there. Now all a person have too do is hold block let the CPU block for you and then throw 10 punch combo and repeat. It doesn't matter if you throw a body or head shot cause the CPU will block for you, it's cheese at it's finest.

This is also wrong. If a guy wants to hold down the block button, let him. It wears out his blocking meter, allowing you to punch through his guard much more easily, even if he is holding block. That's why the key to blocking is to time the attacks by pressing on the R trigger, not holding.

[acarrero]

Re: Fight Night Champion Demo Available Now, Post Impressions Here (360, PS3)

The demos is good. Some things will take time to get used to. It's a different game for sure. More emphasis on offensive game, more realistic animations but a dumbed down blocking system as a result. I like how it's easier to throw combinations, but it makes the game easier and thus more shallow mechanically. It remains to be seen if strategically, this is a better game than FN4. The footwork I think it better than FN4 thanks to the lunges. The camera angle and presentation is better. The commentary by Teddy and Joe can seem old when you hear something from FN4. But overall, it's still better than most sports games commentary. There are a lot of new features I like, but in the ring, after playing this demo, FN4 is still on it's feet.