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Fight Night Round 3!

Finally the long awaited third installment in the Fight Night series has come, and by the footage the world has seen, this looks to be the most interactive game in the series.

First Impressions: Whenever possible, we try to give our loyal website viewers the most video footage and most in depth unbiased reviews imaginable. Part of that development is our "initial impressions" where we offer up our first impressions of the title that we are playing.

This gives our website visitors more of clear understanding of what to first expect out of the game when they initially pop it into their consoles.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page in the Rent vs. Buy section of the review and do not see the "final impressions" assessment then it's safe to say that you are reading our initial impression of the game. Once the final impression is up, there will be no further video or review done to that particular title.

Final Impressions: The final impression is just that, our completed breakdown and overall thoughts on the game based off of our entire game playing time.

You can locate the final impressions assessment in the "Rent vs. Buy" section of the review (always located at the very end of all of our reviews). Here you will be able to read our final thoughts on the title and also see any potential grade changes that were made to the game as well (higher or lower). Should a grading change occur, it will be clearly noted with the previous grade, the new grade, and why the change occurred.

Although this approach is more time consuming and requires many more man hours, our entire goal has always been to provide the best and completely unbiased reviews possible and we feel that the inclusion of the Initial Impressions and Final Impressions sections will give you a better view of what to expect from a new game.

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I Coulda Been A Contender: As always, there is a Career mode that allows you to create a fighter that resembles your own mug as well as the Exhibition mode that allows you to choose any fighter from a huge selection that includes, but is not limited to, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Mickey Ward, Arturo Gatti, Ronald Wright and many more. Plus there is an online mode, that offers the chance to slug it out with foes from around the world, but we will get to that later.

Blood, Sweat, And Tears: As you probably already noticed, the game has received a massive graphical improvement over past titles in the franchise, but if you think that the game looked good in the screenshots or videos, wait until you see this game in person. And let me answer a question you may already be thinking, the videos that you have seen before were not photo shopped. The graphics really do look that good. The graphical capabilities of the Xbox 360 truly shine in this game.

The sweat glistens and flies with each bone-crushing blow, and you will often question if you are just watching a boxing match when you pop Fight Night Round 3 in. This is one of the best looking games on the Xbox 360, and easily rivals that of powerhouses like Gears of War. Every blow looks, sounds and feels amazing. The thrill of breaking your opponents jaw has never sounded sweeter.

As for the controls, the familiar and still innovative control scheme of using the analogs to control every aspect of every punch including power is back and still very easy to use, not to mention entertaining. Not only does the analog control allow you to maneuver your fighter in a realistic manner, you can also say goodbye to cramps in your fingers.

It Takes Two To Tango: Now, lets move onto the online mode. First let me say that this is a fantastically entertaining mode and is done very well. However, there are questions of whether the Matchmaking works at all. You will often be paired up with players that have much better records, and obviously a ton of more skill than you have. But that little quibble is only a fly on the wall, because boxing online with people around the world is insanely exciting with anyone. There is nothing like beating down a live player over Xbox Live and then hearing them curse you in anger via your headset.

A Few Quick Hits: In the end Fight Night Round 3 is a huge improvement over the past titles but let me warn you, the appeal of this game will not last forever. The career mode will run a little dry as you work your way up the ranks very quickly, excelling your boxers skills until he becomes old and retires, only so you can repeat the entire process over again.

This games lasting appeal lies in a bloody slugfest with friends or the hugely entertaining online feature. This is not a terribly deep game, but there is still fun to be had by knocking out your friends with a vicious haymaker.

Rent vs. Buy: If the Fight Night franchise stays on its current track without implementing more hardcore features into the series, I suspect EA may leave a small window of opportunity for a rival publisher to creep in and create an even better boxing game. With that said, the Fight Night series is currently the best boxing title on the market. This is without a doubt a must buy for all Xbox 360 console owners.

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