Fight Night Round 3 was widely regarded as the best boxing videogame of all time, so coming up with an improved title was quite an ambitious project for EA Studios. The latest installment surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts, introducing a more intuitive control system, stunning visuals and flawless animations . Despite minor setbacks, Fight Night Round 4 is a solid hit, allowing gamers to get as close to real thing as it gets, without the risk of getting injured in the ring.

The campaign set is called Legacy Mode and it revolves around the numerous matches of your lengthy career, as well as the heritage you are leaving behind as a boxer. At a first glance the sheer complexity might weed off some players, but the truth is the intricacy is only apparent and the whole thing is rather straight forward. You start as a 19 years old prospect, trying to make a name for himself in the harsh world of boxing, by defeating better seeded opponents and climbing the ladder to prominence. Time is of the essence, because your boxer gets old and sooner or later the time will come for retirement, so you can only fight in a determined number or matches, trying to make the most out of them.

Basically victories against tougher opponents are the key for success, but in order to do that you must improve your stats by rigorous training after each fight. Since you need at least a month of rest between matches, it's very important to come up with the right schedule to maximize your results. Taking too many breaks will allow you to train more, but the number of rated fights will diminish and you'll get old before reaching the expected level. On the other hand fighting match after match with just a training session in between will allow you to leapfrog many opponents, but not for long. Surging through the standings won't permit the stats to keep up with your position, and in the end you'll be fighting vastly superior opponents, against whom you've got a snowflake's chance in hell.

Training is a rather tedious activity and very demanding for newcomers, who will most likely decide to simply simulate it and settle with half of the points rewarded. It's not a winning strategy on the long run, but since you are bound to fail miserably in the first hours, it's an acceptable compromise. Fights can be simulated as well, either by the standard procedure or by using the ESPN simulation which allows you to keep track of every move, thanks to the live coverage. It's only fair to say that this is an interesting addition to the Legacy Mode, but the practical use is virtually inexistent. I doubt that anyone will choose to read about the outcome of a match he could be rather fighting, especially since the better rated boxer will win most of the fights, so you can't really cheat the system.

The gameplay features all those devastating punches we've witnessed on TV during the most intense fights, and throwing them at someone's face even in a videogame remains extremely appealing. Well delivered jabs, uppercuts and hooks can shake off their feet even the most famous boxers, while power punches such as the infamous haymakers will send them crashing down to the deck. Blocking a vicious blow presents you with the perfect opportunity of counter attacking, delivering an increasingly powerful punch to the unsuspecting opponent. Frankly this ability is a bit overpowered, because the sheer force of such a punch is enough to stun or even knock down a player.