EA may be working on Facebreaker, a Super-Punch-Out-like arcade boxing game, but while many gamers thought the more simulation-like Fight Night series had been canned, it turns out that the Fight Night boxing franchise is alive and well. In fact, EA announced today that it’s working on Fight Night Round 4 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
According to EA Sports’ announcement, Fight Night Round 4 will provide “the most realistic ‘in the ring’ experience to date, featuring some of the greatest boxers in history fighting in their prime.” The PS3 and Xbox 360 game isn’t scheduled to ship until 2009.
With all that development time, Fight Night Round 4 will have a completely re-written gameplay engine and add a variety of fighting styles and boxer differentiation. For instance, players can pressure their opponent with the brawling inside style of young Mike Tyson, bobbing and weaving to set up powerful hooks and uppercuts. Or, they can use Muhammad Ali’s reach and speed to puzzle opponents with fast jabs.
For those who are wondering, these examples underscore another of Fight Night Round 4’s new features: the ability to pit legendary heavyweights against one another, even if the fighters were from different eras completely.
Fight Night Round 4 will also include a new physics-based animation system that mimics the full spectrum of impacts from a punch. This new physics system also allows for missed punches, glancing punches, knockout blows and even inside fighting.
With any luck, Fight Night Round 4 will make an appearance at E3 2008, in which case DailyGame will be there to bring you additional details (and screenshots) as they become available.