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Don King Presents: Prizefighter review
Entering the ring behind EA’s bar-raising Fight Night franchise is a tall order. Thankfully, 2K Sports has the ultimate hype man in their corner to help even the odds. Mere minutes into Prizefighter’s career mode, you’ll know you’re in for a ride as the trash-talking maestro fills your HD display — complete with cigar, bling, and, of course, Heat Meiser–like hair — describing a fight as “extreme spectaculocity.”
His appearance, and those of many other real-life and fictional characters, is part of Prizefighter’s well-produced mock documentary recounting the rags-to-riches history of your personalized pugilist. In clear response to Fight Night’s lackluster story, 2K’s crafted a narrative that gives life to your virtual fighter by having his trainers, agents, and many ex-girlfriends (guy was a playa!) tell his tale.
Despite the slick story-driving device, you’ll spend most of your time in the ring — this is a boxing game, after all. Rather than copying Fight Night’s popular thumbstick-controlled punches, Prizefighter kicks it old-school, allowing players to unleash the face-pounding action by hammering on buttons. While not nearly as polished as EA’s superior system, the controls mix satisfying button-mashing with plenty of options for a modicum of finesse and strategic depth: A and B work your left and right hooks, while X and Y handle each arm’s jabs and straight shots. Buttons, triggers, and bumpers work as modifiers for hooks and leaning or sidestep shots.
Visually, Prizefighter stumbles a bit with some questionable collision detection, which is never, ever good. And while the blood and sweat do fly, they don’t match the shield-your-face realism of Fight Night’s fluid-flinging effects. Prizefighter is definitely a contender in the guilty-pleasure category: its story mode trumps the competition’s, and though its fighting mechanics won’t dethrone the current champ, they still pack a simple, straightforward wallop.
On Xbox 360
+ Nifty documentary-style story.
+ Satisfying button-based boxing.
- Controls and visuals don’t beat Fight Night’s; no illegal moves at all!
? Why doesn’t Don King show up in more games?
7.0
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v0odo0child
June 17, 2008 at 8:48pm
looks like this game is getting bashed every where i look. im a big boxing fan so i may give it a try. its gonna be tuff to knock off FNR3 i think. nWo 4 Life!
GODhimself37
June 11, 2008 at 9:28am
No one can argue he's a cool guy Mitch, he's awesome. His game just sucks lol.
Sgt.Gamer
June 10, 2008 at 9:52pm
Aint they being a little t hard on it? it's a great game and the graphics are ust fine! Although Fight Nights thumbstik controls would have been a great edition. WHy not an 8.5?
Mitch OXM
June 10, 2008 at 9:11pm
Can we all just agree on a 12/10 instead? Don King is one magnificently awesome spectacle of man.
Daze Of War
June 10, 2008 at 7:16pm
I knew this wasn't going to be that great. I've seen another score so far that was a 5.0
Alex GREAT 75
June 10, 2008 at 3:31pm
Honestly who would really buy this game that knows that Fight Night 3 is funner and cheaper? We need more inovation in gameplay besides just a narritive. Hopefully inovation is something that EA can provide with Facebreaker.
GODhimself37
June 10, 2008 at 3:08pm
i think fight night will continue to dominate the realistic boxing gaming industry. wow that was long lol. i mean if you cant even beat the visuals after THIS LONG then there's definitely a "heavyweight champion" when it comes to boxing games. and asides from the visuals, if u cant improve on the core gameplay..... well you get my drift. am i right?
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