Don King Presents: Prizefighter (Xbox360)
- Publisher:
- 2K Sports
- Developer:
- Venom Games
- Release Date:
- 10.06.2008
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action
- Sport Type:
- Traditional
- Sport Style:
- Contact
- Sport:
- Fighting
- Extra:
- Management
We play Don King Presents: Prizefighter...
2k Sports knows a thing or two about presentation. While EA Sports has been trying out innovative new control schemes, 2k Sports games are all about context. NHL 2k7 introduced the 'Cinemotion' system – a dramatic storyline which subtly affects gameplay – in an attempt to emulate the classic sports films we all grew up with. It's story meets sim. Don King's Prizefighter follows the same formula, with presentation that shames its main rival, EA's Fight Night Round 3. But in the ring, where it all matters, Prizefighter can't deliver the knockout blow.
The single player Career mode is the focus of Prizefighter and 2k has gone all out to impress. After character creation and some brief training sections, the tale of 'The Kid' begins. Developer Venom has structured the story like a retrospective documentary and we are treated to a series of great video sequences in which a mix of actors and boxing legends talk through the Kid's career. Featuring the likes of Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and Joe Calzaghe, the videos certainly give Prizefighter some serious boxing credentials as the talking heads discuss all the rivalries and controversies surrounding your career.
You must take on the role of the Kid, guiding him out of the grotty gyms where you start out, all the way to the top of the professional ladder. Along the way, the storyline takes in some classic boxing staples and isn't afraid to highlight the dark side of the sport. You'll have to contend with injuries, corrupt judges and cheating opponents. In one fight - tipping a wink to the first Ali/Liston contest – you'll take on an opponent who has covered his gloves with some sort of chemicals. With double vision-a-plenty you'll need to keep your opponent at bay until your sight returns to normal. Later in the game, a hand injury means you'll have to fight essentially one-handed against a fierce opponent. Land with the dodgy hand and you'll lose vast amounts of energy. These little touches add both depth and variety to the career mode – two things that are sadly lacking from the gameplay.
You see, for all it's heavyweight presentation, Prizefighter falls apart in the ring. The main problem is that it just doesn't feel like boxing. Punches are mapped to the face buttons of the 360 pad and, to anyone who has enjoyed Fight Night's right stick 'Total Punch Control', it's a huge step backwards for boxing games. There's no fluidity to Prizefighter – combos are difficult to string together due to the fact that the punch animations can't keep up with your button presses. This means controlling the Kid feels unresponsive and frustrating, as you're constantly throwing one more punch than you intended to. As a result, countering your opponent is more difficult than it ought to be and you'll find yourself being drawn into a toe-to-toe war, simply because it's the easiest way to land punches.
Those who like to box an opponent (as opposed to fighting them) will be immediately disappointed. Try to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee and you'll find yourself on the floor pretty quickly. This is largely because, in Prizefighter, the jab lacks any authority and moving around the ring is an almighty pain. Boxers shuffle about the squared circle like they've had a hip replacement and the only way to move quickly is to double tap the left stick to perform a dash. Which is typically unresponsive and helpfully costs you a lot of stamina. You can't bounce around the ring like Sugar Ray. It's simply plant your feet and throw bombs.
The big shots in Prizefighter are the signature punches. Fighters have adrenaline bars which you'll need to fill by landing combos and once you have enough adrenaline, you can perform a signature shot. Like haymakers in Fight Night, they're big shots which will put a hefty dent in your opponent's energy bar. They're easy to pull off and almost always land, especially if you use one as your first punch in the round. But, as valuable as the signature punch is, it feels like a cheap way to score a knockdown.
The knockdowns themselves are pretty underwhelming. It's all a far cry from the gruesome slow-mo splendour of the Fight Night KO, as knockdown shots seem a bit fluffy and carry no weight whatsoever. This isn't helped by the shocking collision detection which means you'll often see your opponent tumble to the mat from a vicious shot to the arm. That's if you actually hit him – sometimes a punch which has visibly missed will be counted as a hit by the game and fighters will fall from phantom haymakers. The most frustrating aspect of the knockdown system is that there are way too many of them for Prizefighter to be considered at all authentic. In my first fight, the Kid managed to score nine knockdowns. Which, these days, is a rare sight in the sport.
However, you'll soon find yourself on the wrong end of a knockdown as the difficulty spikes kick in. At one point you'll encounter a series of four fighters, all of whom are vastly more skilled than the Kid. They gather adrenaline ludicrously quickly and are able to stonewall your shots with unbelievable defensive ability. In these situations, it doesn't feel like you've been beaten by a better fighter (like it does in Fight Night), but rather that the game has decided you're not ready to advance yet. To overcome this you'll need to study your opponent's attack routine and learn to counter it. You're never in control, always fighting at your foe's pace.
Things improve slightly when you take Prizefighter online. As to be expected from a 2k title, the multiplayer is well implemented with excellent net code and a good roster of fighters (finally Calzaghe makes it into a boxing game – shame it's this one). It's pretty satisfying to test your button mashing skills against another human and it's a little easier to employ strategy to your fights than it is in the single player game. Unfortunately online matches have been designed to end in points decisions. Between rounds your fighter will recover almost all of his energy, meaning in order to win by knockout, you'll have to deplete all of your opponent's energy in one round. Which, even with a full adrenaline bar, is highly difficult. As a result most matches are tactical affairs dominated by the reaching jab which, although not powerful, is easy to land. The online game is more realistic, but sadly no more fun than the single player.
There's a strange inconsistency at the heart of Prizefighter. On the one hand it has great presentation, an interesting roster of fighters and a storyline that references classic boxing mythology. It's all designed to appeal to real boxing fans – mention Ken Norton or Larry Holmes to someone with a casual interest in boxing and they'll stare at you blankly. And yet, once Prizefighter gets in the ring, it becomes an awkward, clumsy arcade game. In order to win, you can't fight your own fight and it's just not enjoyable. Fight Night still has the edge in almost every respect: visuals, gameplay, online. If 2k had channelled as much energy into the gameplay as it did into the presentation, Prizefighter could have been a contender. The video documentary is a great touch, but it's not enough to make Venom's effort a credible boxing sim. All talk and no substance, Prizefighter really is Don King's game.
Top Gaming Moment: Beating the #@%* out of Jesus Silva. You'll enjoy it.
The single player Career mode is the focus of Prizefighter and 2k has gone all out to impress. After character creation and some brief training sections, the tale of 'The Kid' begins. Developer Venom has structured the story like a retrospective documentary and we are treated to a series of great video sequences in which a mix of actors and boxing legends talk through the Kid's career. Featuring the likes of Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and Joe Calzaghe, the videos certainly give Prizefighter some serious boxing credentials as the talking heads discuss all the rivalries and controversies surrounding your career.
 |
 |
|
| The boxer models are quite nice, but it's no Fight Night. | Signature punches can be devastating |
You must take on the role of the Kid, guiding him out of the grotty gyms where you start out, all the way to the top of the professional ladder. Along the way, the storyline takes in some classic boxing staples and isn't afraid to highlight the dark side of the sport. You'll have to contend with injuries, corrupt judges and cheating opponents. In one fight - tipping a wink to the first Ali/Liston contest – you'll take on an opponent who has covered his gloves with some sort of chemicals. With double vision-a-plenty you'll need to keep your opponent at bay until your sight returns to normal. Later in the game, a hand injury means you'll have to fight essentially one-handed against a fierce opponent. Land with the dodgy hand and you'll lose vast amounts of energy. These little touches add both depth and variety to the career mode – two things that are sadly lacking from the gameplay.
You see, for all it's heavyweight presentation, Prizefighter falls apart in the ring. The main problem is that it just doesn't feel like boxing. Punches are mapped to the face buttons of the 360 pad and, to anyone who has enjoyed Fight Night's right stick 'Total Punch Control', it's a huge step backwards for boxing games. There's no fluidity to Prizefighter – combos are difficult to string together due to the fact that the punch animations can't keep up with your button presses. This means controlling the Kid feels unresponsive and frustrating, as you're constantly throwing one more punch than you intended to. As a result, countering your opponent is more difficult than it ought to be and you'll find yourself being drawn into a toe-to-toe war, simply because it's the easiest way to land punches.
Those who like to box an opponent (as opposed to fighting them) will be immediately disappointed. Try to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee and you'll find yourself on the floor pretty quickly. This is largely because, in Prizefighter, the jab lacks any authority and moving around the ring is an almighty pain. Boxers shuffle about the squared circle like they've had a hip replacement and the only way to move quickly is to double tap the left stick to perform a dash. Which is typically unresponsive and helpfully costs you a lot of stamina. You can't bounce around the ring like Sugar Ray. It's simply plant your feet and throw bombs.
The big shots in Prizefighter are the signature punches. Fighters have adrenaline bars which you'll need to fill by landing combos and once you have enough adrenaline, you can perform a signature shot. Like haymakers in Fight Night, they're big shots which will put a hefty dent in your opponent's energy bar. They're easy to pull off and almost always land, especially if you use one as your first punch in the round. But, as valuable as the signature punch is, it feels like a cheap way to score a knockdown.
 |
 |
|
| The Kid starts out modestly but before long, the big time beckons. | Not the most appropriate moment to move in for the hug. |
The knockdowns themselves are pretty underwhelming. It's all a far cry from the gruesome slow-mo splendour of the Fight Night KO, as knockdown shots seem a bit fluffy and carry no weight whatsoever. This isn't helped by the shocking collision detection which means you'll often see your opponent tumble to the mat from a vicious shot to the arm. That's if you actually hit him – sometimes a punch which has visibly missed will be counted as a hit by the game and fighters will fall from phantom haymakers. The most frustrating aspect of the knockdown system is that there are way too many of them for Prizefighter to be considered at all authentic. In my first fight, the Kid managed to score nine knockdowns. Which, these days, is a rare sight in the sport.
However, you'll soon find yourself on the wrong end of a knockdown as the difficulty spikes kick in. At one point you'll encounter a series of four fighters, all of whom are vastly more skilled than the Kid. They gather adrenaline ludicrously quickly and are able to stonewall your shots with unbelievable defensive ability. In these situations, it doesn't feel like you've been beaten by a better fighter (like it does in Fight Night), but rather that the game has decided you're not ready to advance yet. To overcome this you'll need to study your opponent's attack routine and learn to counter it. You're never in control, always fighting at your foe's pace.
Things improve slightly when you take Prizefighter online. As to be expected from a 2k title, the multiplayer is well implemented with excellent net code and a good roster of fighters (finally Calzaghe makes it into a boxing game – shame it's this one). It's pretty satisfying to test your button mashing skills against another human and it's a little easier to employ strategy to your fights than it is in the single player game. Unfortunately online matches have been designed to end in points decisions. Between rounds your fighter will recover almost all of his energy, meaning in order to win by knockout, you'll have to deplete all of your opponent's energy in one round. Which, even with a full adrenaline bar, is highly difficult. As a result most matches are tactical affairs dominated by the reaching jab which, although not powerful, is easy to land. The online game is more realistic, but sadly no more fun than the single player.
 |
 |
|
| Damage modeling is pretty well done and gets visibly worse as the fights go on. | Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward commentate on big fights. |
There's a strange inconsistency at the heart of Prizefighter. On the one hand it has great presentation, an interesting roster of fighters and a storyline that references classic boxing mythology. It's all designed to appeal to real boxing fans – mention Ken Norton or Larry Holmes to someone with a casual interest in boxing and they'll stare at you blankly. And yet, once Prizefighter gets in the ring, it becomes an awkward, clumsy arcade game. In order to win, you can't fight your own fight and it's just not enjoyable. Fight Night still has the edge in almost every respect: visuals, gameplay, online. If 2k had channelled as much energy into the gameplay as it did into the presentation, Prizefighter could have been a contender. The video documentary is a great touch, but it's not enough to make Venom's effort a credible boxing sim. All talk and no substance, Prizefighter really is Don King's game.
Top Gaming Moment: Beating the #@%* out of Jesus Silva. You'll enjoy it.
