Fight Night: Round 3

Believe It

We've played Round 3 and, yes, it actually looks like these screenshots. "We're trying to build a more emotionally immersive experience through the characters' facial expressions," says Producer Kudo Tsunoda. The lifelike visages actually affect gameplay: Pay attention and you'll see if your foe is tired, dazed, or about to obliterate you. In fact, the game won't even have an onscreen health meter....

Quite the impact

"The great thing about boxing is the concept that one punch can change a fight," says Tsunoda, "You can be getting your ass kicked for 10 rounds and boom--you land one big punch, drop the guy, and you're right back into the fight." Round 3 introduces a new way to turn the tide--impact punches, special hits that pulverize your opponent from a dynamic first-person cutaway view.

Sounds Like a Fight

"With our ESPN deal, we were able to go to their Friday Night Fight venues and record the crowd and put actual live crowd data into the game," says Tsunoda. "You'll get to hear those individual voices, making you feel like you're in the arena."

A Worthy Adversary

Ali-Frazier, Duran-Leonard, Tyson-Holyfield's ear--boxing has always had some heated rivalries. Round 3's career mode plays up the feuds, with plenty of opportunities for trash-talking at bombastic press conferences and weigh-ins.

Stylin' and Profilin'

"We're giving the user the ability to customize their own style," says Tsunoda. So aside from modifying your fighter's physical appearance, you'll be tweaking his punching/blocking mechanics and how he moves around the ring.

With the snazzy graphical sophistication of the Xbox 360 and PS3, games are finally showcasing what really stinks about sports: sweat. Every punch in Fight Night: Round 3 is met with a cloud of perspiration...just like in real life. Well, sort of--mashin' mugs may cause the funk to fly, yes, but is every fight in a sauna? Seriously, cool down, guys!

Capturing intricate facial details requires developers to really dig into a console: We want to see the subtle expressions, bloody gashes, and the all-too-real pores on the face of the fighter we're beating to a pulp. Fight Night does that right. Hell, it's probably the closest thing you'll get to real fist fighting without having to deal with that stupid thing called "pain."