Comment
FaceBreaker is EA's attempt to revive the arcade-boxing genre, last seen in Midway's Ready 2 Rumble series in the early 2000s. As you might expect, it's full of cartoony, over-the-top characters slugging it out in the square ring. It's been two years since EA's last boxing title, Fight Night Round 3, was released and acclaimed by critics everywhere as one of the deepest, most realistic boxing games ever created, and some are looking to FaceBreaker to carry on that mantle, albeit more flamboyantly. But while FaceBreaker is definitely a flashy, attention-grabbing, decently fun brawler, the gameplay just doesn't have the depth to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Fight Night series.
Right from the get-go, FaceBreaker wants you to know it's 'extremeâ?'even something as simple as scrolling up and down through the different options in the main menu is accompanied by brutal punch sounds and shaking-screen effects. At the character selection screen, you get to choose between a wide variety of Saturday morning cartoon rejects, clichés, and weirdos. Most are pretty unoriginal (the fat role-playing nerd, for instance, or the Spanish ladies man); it feels like somebody was trying too hard to come up with a sufficiently 'wacky' cast of fighters. There's also a handful of celebrity (although I use the term loosely) guest characters, so if you've ever wanted to pummel Peter Moore or the cast of The Hills, now's your chance. Of course, if you don't like the characters you've got to choose from, you could always just make your own'you've got a pretty robust set of character creation tools at your disposal. You can upload your mugshot to put yourself in the game, or browse the user-created characters at EA's community site.
After years of playing Fight Night, with its Total Punch Control system (wherein punches are mapped to appropriate movements of the right analog stick), going back to a button-based system felt like a step backward. It also doesn't help that the control scheme is, well, just a little weird: for instance, tapping X throws a high jab, holding X performs a high dodge, and releasing it unleashes a high hook. It felt a little strange at first to attack and dodge with the same buttons, but after a little while I started getting the hang of it. Besides high and low jabs and hooks, your arsenal includes throws and breakers'a multi-tiered series of special punches. Each time you land two punches without getting hit, your breaker meter goes up a level; you start throwing measly little Haybreakers, but soon progress to Bonebreakers, then Groundbreakers, Skybreakers, and (finally) Facebreakers'land a Facebreaker and the fight is yours. That's easier said than done, though'this game is tough. Although you might breeze through the first couple of fights, don't expect to make it very far in the single-player mode without mastering the game's blocking/dodging elements. Beyond the breaker meter and dodging system, though, the combat is pretty shallow, and button-mashing can take you a lot further than it ought to be able to.
At least the fights look great. Character models are remarkably detailed, and while the character designs might be derivative, I can't fault the game's art direction. The fighters' elongated, stylized physiques remind me of Free Radical's Timesplitters series, which more games could stand to emulate. Animations are silky smooth, with heavy characters giving off a sense of their heft with their every movement, light characters darting back and forth gracefully, and every punch landing with tangible impact. EA claims to have developed a new graphics system explicitly to handle the game's real-time facial deformation, and the attention shows; by the end of the first round, both characters' faces will be impressively swollen, bruised, and bloodied. The fight venues aren't quite as impressive; while there are some fairly unique boxing match locations (like the trailer park), there's not a lot going on back there; besides, your attention's going to be elsewhere. The EA Trax soundtrack is hit-and-miss as usual, but with custom soundtrack support, if you don't like the music you've got no one to blame but yourself. The characters' voices, surprisingly enough, weren't entirely obnoxious, and even (gasp) elicited a chuckle or two from me, which I was totally unprepared for (although Steve, the aforementioned role-playing nerd, is guaranteed to draw some fanboy wrath).
Fighting games always shine brightest in multiplayer mode, and FaceBreaker is no different. You can face off against your buddies in a round robin tournament or King of the Hill mode, which has the reigning champion taking on challengers until someone can topple him to take his place'just like in the arcade days of yore. They've also included all the Xbox Live modes you'd imagine, so whether you're interested in a quick couple of matches or an extended tournament, the game's got you covered. The game's flashy presentation and in-your-face attitude make it a perfect party game'everybody can have a good time, whether they know what they're doing or not, and the frenetic visual style make it almost as fun to watch as it is to play.
FaceBreaker isn't going to change the world of video game boxing, but it is a game that succeeds at what it sets out to do. Is it the deepest, most balanced fighter on the market? Definitely not. Is it a fun game that lets you pulverize your friends and complete strangers with equal abandon? Absolutely. FaceBreaker is the gaming equivalent of a popcorn movie: while you might not be playing it five years from now, it's a perfectly entertaining way to waste an afternoon.
