Product description
Fight Night Round 2 continues delivering the innovative boxing gameplay with deeper gameplay and all-new options. Knock your opponents out using devastating combos and the new Haymaker option. Then go outside the ring for training, while managing your boxer to make him successful and wealthy. The new EA SPORTS Cutman minimizes damage on fighters by helping them heal critical wounds between rounds. Active cut-man helps you recover from swelling eyes between rounds Dynamic Punch Impacts - stunning visuals reflect the effect of each blow, from swollen eyes to broken ribs

Review
As much as certain events have made gamers a little bitter at EAs business tactics, Fight Night: Round 2 does illustrate what the company is very good at: taking a good thing and making it even better.

Its obvious that the developers, while continuing to fine-tune the all-analog gameplay, have placed a focus on creating a more compelling career mode. Largely, theyve been very successful. The new create-a-boxer is very comprehensive, allowing you to morph almost every aspect of your pugilists appearance on the fly. A new type of match mode, available as a standalone option called Hard Hit Mode, makes an appearance on your schedule as special events. In these events, a round doesnt end until someone is knocked down, lending a more brutal, over-the-top feel to the contest. Thankfully, these are optional and, while they can unlock new items in the store, they dont usually count against your ranking. For hardcore fans, youll be pleased to note that you can now change weight classes mid-career as you age and that each pros career is made so youre fighting era-appropriate foes.

On the gameplay side, the most important new aspect is the Haymakers ? powerful blows that allow you to pre-load a punch for extra impact. Of course, using them is risky, but their power makes them an important tool in winning the belt. Although the initial matches are a bit easier than in last years, the difficulty stiffened once my rank climbed to the mid-30s. The AI seems a bit savvier, and opponents will grapple when youve got them nearly knocked out to buy for time. I find it a little strange that rival boxers have an almost Jason Vorhees-like ability to rise from the mat, sometimes recovering from as many as four knockdowns in two rounds, but thats a minor quibble.

Another nice addition is the woozy camera angles that appear when you or an opponent is nearly knocked down. Its a small touch, but a very dramatic one, just one more of the many little things that EA did right in making Fight Night: Round 2. The sum of these is a game that might just be the best boxing video game to date.



Concept:
After revolutionizing the genre, EA makes an effort to give boxing fans a more well-rounded experience

Graphics:
Improves on last years already great visuals ? the facial injuries and sweat are eerily real

Sound:
Great selection of rough n ready rap, including the reunited Geto Boys (Yay!)

Playability:
If anything, the all-analog control is even more fluid this time around

Entertainment:
A better career mode and more depth make for a better overall game

Replay:
High

Rated: 9.25 out of 10
Editor: Matt Helgeson
Issue: March 2005

2nd Opinion:
With my right and left hands (one is Sorrow, the other Pity) I have brutalized flesh and shortened the lives of men. This is my career. This is Fight Night Round 2. Footwork, punches, and your defense are now all seamlessly integrated into an irresistibly fluid dance of timely parries and devastating counter-blows. It looks so real you can feel your brain slapping against the inside of your skull. Also more lifelike is the career mode, in which your fighter will actually age, necessitating training and the best equipment. But, nothing makes you feel quite as alive as being in the ring, where sweat and bloody spray are the champagne of victory. Absolutely glorious.

Rated: 9 out of 10
Editor: Matthew Kato