FaceBreaker

There's something comical about getting straight to the point in your boxing game, giving it the title of FaceBreaker. One would think their combat in the ring isn't about professionalism, sport, or any cognitive thought; it's simply about pulverizing your opponent. The idea of breaking faces in a boxing game may feel barbaric, but it's appealing to those who aren't inclined to the sport.

FaceBreaker is an homage to the classic side-scrolling boxing games everyone seemed to have on their console. However, there's a focus on taking all the standard fighting mechanics and taking them to a ridiculous, overzealous level. It makes venturing into the title more appealing than it should, but we'll need to find out whether it's good or not.

FaceBreakDown

The first question you might have about FaceBreaker is, "Are you going to be breaking faces?". The answer is yes; the game's mechanics are entirely based on taking your fists into the face of your enemy. Combat in the ring revolves entirely around breaking looks. The 'real-time facial deformation' feature judges your progress until you achieve victory.

So, how do you accomplish these elegant face-breaking victories? As comical and amusing as the game's premise, here's where we start to see hiccups. The straight line is that FaceBreaker doesn't deliver on the gameplay front as much as it would try to convince you it does. You'll get three rounds of fighting with your character lasting for a game of three minutes, with absolutely no skill required.

Each round of fighting requires the player to mash buttons to inflict damage on faces, squeezing your controller in the hope that you'll win. Players can't form strategic approaches nor learn decent combos to execute and subdue their foes. And let's not even get started on the AI, which is uncomfortably tricky to beat.

Whether FaceBreaker is intentionally difficult or only trying to be obnoxious, it leaves players unamused. There was potential to fuse comical sporting with a refined series of fighting mechanics to deliver even the bare minimum of combat expectations. Somehow, the game has failed to do even that and tried to cover up its lack of polish, throwing in unnecessary customization options and game modes.

Stings Like a Bee

The lowdown on FaceBreaker is that it's a fighter where players will only find themselves button-mashing, screaming at the overpowered AI, and getting their faces broken rather than doing the breaking. If you consider classic boxing games like Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, even titles a decade old still have a leg-up on this title that does little to entertain and everything to frustrate.

Round-Up - Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Comical cartoony visuals
• Quite a few customization options
• The conditions for victory are amusing

Cons:

• Broken AI that's far too difficult
• Unrefined control schematic
• Not a well-designed boxing game