Round 3 was a technical marvel that impressed everyone with its close attention to detail on every fighter and its new control method of fighting. Round 4 has not only revamped the graphical front but also added to the intensity of the fighting mechanics in the game, but keeping the same raw mechanics which define the first one.
The
single player has its usual Fight Now exhibition matches and the career
known as Legacy Mode which is your standard affair for a sports game.
You create a character or take anyone of the 48 boxers and plough
through numerous fights to become The Greatest of All Time (or
G.O.A.T). You are given a calendar where you must schedule fights and
also plan training to increase your fighter’s stats. The training is
similar to Round 3 where it places you in a small mini game related to
a boxers training for example the punch bag or sparring. Achieving a
point limit will increase your fighters stats but if you can't be
bothered training you can use the auto train feature which gives you
50% of what you would get if you where to do the mini game well.The create a boxer has all the sliders you would want to adjust your characters look and also offers the chance to use your Xbox Live Vision Camera or PS3 Eye to take a picture to map to your character though the results aren’t what you would expect. There is also another option to upload a picture to the EA servers and download it into your game to map to your characters face which proves to have better results than the camera option. After that it's onto your attire which offers a huge colour palette to give your fighter a distinctive look. You can also customize the entrance your fighter has down to actually uploading a song that you wish your fighter to come out to. Once you have outfitted your character you are given the task to assign your fighter a style which comes down to an inside fighter like Tyson and outside fighter like Ali. This is down to personal preference and is vital for the success of any match. Then you assign the stats and you’re ready to get going.
Round 4 only offers the thumb stick way of fighting unlike Round 3 which you where given the option to map punches to the face buttons, so if you did not like the system in Round 3 it is unlikely you will find it appealing in Round 4. I never had a problem with the mechanics in the previous one so it was a welcome return. I especially like how it feels more fluid than if you where to press a button. Once you have nailed down the controls then you will be ducking, glancing and throwing haymakers with ease. The satisfactory feeling is back when you land that all important blow that is shown in super slow motion. This is where Round 4 sets itself apart from its predecessor in the fact that every glancing punch you hit is registered creating a more realistic approach and also tactical approach as you must time every punch or you will find yourself on the mat as you have worn your boxer out. The small mini game is back as well when you go down and must line up the arrow to the center of the green bar to get back up.
Once you have powered through the single player you will be in good standing to tackle the
online
side of the game. This is broken up into your usual unranked and ranked
matches but as well as that you can take your created character and
fight in an online tournament called World Championship, where you can
win the Heavyweight, Middleweight and Lightweight titles. All
characters are levelled out as well so there are no balance issues and
it all comes down to how well you can fight with your character.As everyone remembers Round 3 for its graphics it's not hard to believe that Round 4 looks better but it does not have the impact it did those three years ago as there have been some stunners in that time. The deforming faces still look brutal and every fighter looks like its real life counterpart. The commentary is strong though after your career of 50+ fights you will be sick of hearing the same stories from the two commentators.
It is a shame that they removed the option to change the controls to the face buttons but it shouldn't be something to put you off the game. The A.I can sometimes but slightly annoying as they somehow can predict the exact punch you throw and can block a random 10 hits that you just make up on the spot, but the game is great online and has a solid career to back it.