EA Sports' blood, sweat and brawls smash-hit series steps once more into the ring this month sporting a slick graphical overhaul, control tweaks and a bizarrely engrossing, yet horribly clichéd single player storyline. Gone is the convoluted punch system from previous entries that required thumb-straining analogue stick motions and Street Fighter half-circles. Now, your flurry of punches are mapped to a swift flick of the right stick in any given direction, making for a remarkably more fluid experience than Fight Nights of yesteryear.
The devastating and devious Haymaker has also been annexed in favour of a simpler, yet sufficient punching power-up modifier. And the AI is smart real smart. Now, more than ever, youre encouraged to employ strategy in the ring; carelessness at any point in a scuffle runs the risk of leaving yourself wide open for the perfect opposing retort: the one-two knockout. Alongside the series staple, and incredibly deep, Legacy Mode, Fight Nights Champion Mode - and Rocky-slash-Undisputed rip-off - tasks you with a series of deftly thought out tasks in the ring as you control the games plucky hero, Andre Bishop.
For example, in one fight your goal might be to go for the quick knockout, while in another youre forced to battle it out with just one arm jabs and body punches after the other is injured. Fight Night Champion is far from a boxing revolution, but what it does, it does better than any other brawler out there.