EA Sports took a risk with Fight Night Champion making it their first ever M-rated title. In a sense they had to do something creative as boxing games simply haven’t been reaching the wide audience that they used to. The ‘Champion’ story mode was definitely intriguing but short – while other critical areas of the game ultimately failed to impress. 

The ranking of games in the best of 2011 list is based on number of factors including the personal amount of enjoyment had with a particular title, whether advertised features were fully delivered, post-release support, community interaction and communication, overall gameplay experience, feature set, and online play performance. Again this is largely a personal take and one with the advantage of tracking the games beyond just the release frame and does not act as some sort of recap of those with the highest scores on Metacritic. The analysis is weighted heavily towards those high in fun factor while considering them as a whole and compared relatively to the field.

Related: Hits and Misses Review — Champion Review — Broken Up for Sale on PSN

The main selling-point for Fight Night Champion was in the story mode. Like it or not that is where the title as a whole was ultimately going to be judged. The story was largely cliche-ridden and didn’t really become overly compelling until near the end. The mix of certain stipulations made for interesting variety and that is something that is hard to come by in standard fights. Completing it in just 3:19 though was disappointing as there was absolutely no incentive to going back and playing through the mode again. Makes it worth a rental in that sense – or in the case of PSN a purchase of just the mode alone for $5.

Other positives included an extensive roster and vastly improved right-stick controls. Graphically FNC continued to be a strength of the series – with blood effects enhanced due to the M-rating – and though a drop to 30fps was unfortunate it didn’t stand out as troublesome.

Sadly though one of the faults of the game this year has been the use of “tuner updates” by EA which have seemed to do more harm than good. Blood effects were pretty much removed from the game seemingly as an unintended side-effect while gameplay balance has been all over the place due to the frequent changes. At one point EA actually decided to just reset everything to release levels. Scoring by the judges was inconsistent and unreliable and that was never really fixed and sliders were broken out of the box.

Beyond those issues Legacy mode was largely tedious and presentation was generally poor. One offensive aspect was the ability to buy XP for created fighters which were then to be used online in the “World Championship” mode. There was no way to compete online unless money was being spent on ratings upgrades.

On a technical level Fight Night Champion can be applauded for many achievements. That has really been the story with the series all along. FNC’s flaws however either display a lack of clear direction from the development team or trouble implementing the necessary functionality and failed balancing efforts. EA deserves credit for trying to expand the value of the product with the ‘Champion’ story mode but once that was through there wasn’t much left to become invested in.

Earlier Year-in-Review Pieces
•#9: Fight Night Champion
•#10: MLB Bobblehead Pros
•Vote for the Community Choice Awards

In an interesting development that suggests EA Sports may experiment with a similar pricing model in the future, Fight Night Champion is available now as a download on PSN – but with the added option of certain portions of the game being made available for purchase individually. Over on the Xbox 360 currently only the full game can be bought ($30 on both consoles). 

The M-rated ‘Champion’ story mode can be had for just $4.99. Many found the mode to be quite enjoyable despite being short – and beyond that FNC wasn’t all that compelling. That makes for a great option to consider with the ability to play through the story but not have to pay full price for the entire game and modes that may not ultimately be desired.

The new pricing scheme is being advertised as an opportunity to “customize your experience”. ‘Fight Now’ for $5, ‘Legacy’ (career mode) for $10, and ‘Online Play’ for $10 are coming options available for purchase on their own but as of yet only the ‘Champion’ mode and full game download are up.

I wouldn’t anticipate this to be a strategy for new releases but it makes a lot of sense months down the line in enticing those who passed on purchasing the full product or others who may be apt to make an impulse buy. FNC is over eight months old and at $30 isn’t going to demand a lot of attention. However by making portions of the game available for a fraction of the price it becomes much more appealing – and for the company the hope would then be that consumers who enjoy one mode may go on to purchase others or the complete package.

The second patch for Fight Night Champion which was detailed here last week has been pushed live for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. As seems to be the case with everything Fight Night related the initial response has been sharply mixed.

Many of the adjustments that had been made through the ‘Tuner Updates’ had been rolled back and re-worked with the patch. Ironically what was at first said to be a return to original stamina levels is anything but as heavy drain – particularly the additional loss in backwards movement – has been the biggest topic of discussion as fans begin to adjust today.

Though Fight Night Champion struggled to gain traction with consumers EA Sports has continued to provide strong post-release support. A second comprehensive patch for the game is set to release for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on June 28th. Continue on to check out all the changes that will be delivered with next week’s patch.

Fixed One-Punch Knockouts
•Pretty self-explanatory this one. One punch KOs are happening again.

Health and Knockdowns
•Boxers with low health can now be knocked down without automatically entering the “critical health” stun state.
•Cumulative punching can, in effect, cause knockdowns without being so predictable.

Locomotion Updates
•Boxers can now move forwards with their guard up as fast as opponents can move backwards with their guard down
•Movement speed near the ropes or corners is affected. Makes it more difficult to consistently run throughout the course of a fight.
•Weave input sensitivity has been improved.

Stamina Updates
•Long term stamina loss for moving backwards is significantly higher than stamina loss for moving forwards.
•Short term stamina loss for throwing several punches is more significant.
•The effect of low stamina on boxer power and toughness is more significant. When a boxer’s stamina bar is low, they are weaker and more susceptible to damage than before.
•Stamina loss for high output punchers is more significant overall.

Hit Reactions
•Tweaked hit reaction strength such that punches to the body do not offset opponent punches as drastically.
•Reduces the instance of what some users felt were, “forced misses”.

Judges Scoring
•Judging logic tweaked to favor clean, effective punching more than previously.
•In general, most judges will favor the boxer who lands fewer, more significant punches over the boxer who lands higher numbers of less significant punches.
•Big punches and stuns have a bigger chance of swinging a round in favor of a boxer.

Legacy Mode
•Fixed issue where game would sometimes hang when attempting to import created fighters into Legacy Mode.
•Alternate Weight Class DLC boxers can be imported into Legacy Mode. So can George Foreman.

•Fixed the Online Leaderboards Cheat

OWC Match-Up Logic
•Prioritizes match-ups been boxers with similar OVR ratings.
•Matchups between boxers with too large a difference in OVR will not be made (no more hunting for easy fights).
•OWC Boxer Ratings have been balanced so that new boxers aren’t at as big a disadvantage starting out.

Offline Gameplay
•Rolled back a subset of previous tunerset updates that were adversely affecting offline gameplay difficulty.
•Improved the effect of Offline Gameplay Sliders for Punch Accuracy and Punch Output (as much as possible).

Work is being completed on a comprehensive second patch for Fight Night Champion with the expectation that it will be released in mid-June. The patch will return general stamina levels to values in line with what shipped with the game originally – citing complaints that stamina was affecting the fights too drastically – and will bring back one punch knockouts. Continue on for a look at some of the changes to be delivered in the upcoming patch. 

•One Punch KOs are working again.
•OWC has been balanced so that new CABs aren’t at such a disadvantage when they start out.
•OWC has new match-up logic to favor match-ups between boxers with similar OVR ratings.
•Numerous factors tweaked to reduce the effectiveness of jab-spamming esp. to the body.
•Stamina loss is greater when moving backwards (most noticable over multiple rounds).
•Having your back to the ropes/in the corner has a bigger impact on movement speed.
•Max Stamina Loss/Recovery overall has been adjusted.
•Some previous patch/tuner-set changes have been rolled back for Offline gameplay.
•Weave sensitivity has been much improved.
•A variety of other bugs have been fixed.

The ability to deliver “tuner sets”, gameplay related tweaks that don’t have to go through the typical patch approval process, has allowed for EA Sports developers to react to community feedback in a more timely and consistent manner. In the case of Fight Night Champion however the tuners have been more calculated in their release, with the first coming during the early demo, a second that coinciding with a comprehensive patch, and now a third that has just arrived.

Jab spamming had been identified as a problem as of late and this tuner attempts to address that issue by making it a much less effective strategy overall. In addition low stamina will have more influence on toughness and power meaning fighters will deal out less damage but take on more of it when tired, the base chin level of created boxers in the Online World Championship mode has been improved, and straights are no longer turned into hooks when throwing in close.

Xbox 360 users will be able to get the latest tuner set immediately. Those with PS3s will be left to wait until PSN service resumes.

The recent patch and tuner update for Fight Night Champion was generally well received though some issues still remained. Another tuner set is expected to arrive next week and hopes to address at least one of them. Jab spamming, particularly exploited online, is what is being targeted in the next update.

EA Sports has also noted that another patch is in the works for the game and that it will include fixes for some of the crashes and freezes being experienced both online and offline. Considering that is still being developed it shouldn’t be expected to arrive for another month or so however.

The patch for Fight Night Champion has arrived a day early for the 360 and PS3. Still scheduled for Tuesday is the release of the downloadable content and a gameplay tuner update. Details on what the patch intends to improve with the game can be found here.

Early reaction is mixed with some believing the changes to be largely positive (particularly the punch accuracy) and others finding immediate faults (body punch spamming). There have also been some isolated issues reported such as consoles freezing and trouble accessing online play that could potentially be related to not getting the tuner update at the same time as originally intended. It is something that will have to be monitored as everything rolls out this week.

EA Sports has officially unveiled the downloadable content offerings for Fight Night Champion. The leaked video was accurate as to the new fighters being introduced though there is no Cowboys Stadium for this go-round. In addition a “Bare Knuckle” mode and eight different weight class versions of fighters currently present in the game are being made available.

•800 MS points/$10 will get you Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, Joe Lewis, Jack Dempsey, and Jack Johnson. It will also include the “Bare Knuckle” pack which will allow for the mode to be used in offline “Play Now” and the various online modes.

•160 MS points/$2 will be the individual charge for each of the five new boxers if chosen not to buy the full pack.

•320 MS points/$4 for the “Bare Knuckle” pack on its own. Note that the following fighters would now allow their likenesses to be used within the mode: Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ray Leonard, Evander Holyfield, Roberto Duran, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko

•80 MS points/$1 for each individual fighter in the “Alternate Weight Class” group: Featherweight Manny Pacquiao, Lightweight Manny Pacquiao, Lightweight Oscar De La Hoya, Middleweight Roy Jones Jr, Middleweight Bernard Hopkins, Welterweight Roberto Duran, Middleweight Thomas Hearns, Welterweight Pernell Whitaker

The release date slated for the DLC  is Tuesday March 29th. If the previous statement regarding the patch and tuner set holds true both of those are expected to arrive the same day as well.

Earlier today the outline of what is expected in the upcoming patch for Fight Night Champion made its way out. Alongside that patch will be the release of new downloadable content. Details on the DLC are expected to be announced tomorrow evening but in advance a video has leaked out (via Kotaku) that purportedly shows what will be offered. 

If the video is real then a handful of legends are on the way with Joe Lewis, Rocky Marciano, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, and Floyd Patterson. Cowboys Stadium, which appeared in EA Sports MMA, will also be made available as a venue.

The video has been out there for a few weeks now and though its legitimacy has been questioned there are reasons to believe it is authentic. CABs can’t be created with some of those haircuts, ratings, or weights and EA has not responded to questions regarding the video (going so far as to delete links references from their forums). Along with the announcement of the content tomorrow it would seem to reason that the availability of the DLC as a pack or individually as well as the pricing will be discussed.