Don King Presents : Prizefighter

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Game Information

Developed by Venom Games
Published by 2K Sports
Platform : Xbox 360
Genre : Sports & Recreation
Age Rating : 16+
Players : Single player and Two player
Additional Contents Provided : None
Release Date : (NA) 10 June 2008, (EU) 13 June 2008, (AUS) 3 July 2008

---

Synopsis

The most famously successful, enthusiastically coiffured promoter in all of pugilism lends his half-century of experience, wisdom, and name recognition to Prizefighter, a hardcore boxing game with a role-playing sideline designed to demonstrate the dedication and diligence demanded of heavyweight champ hopefuls, even outside of the squared circle and away from the gym. In the role of their own custom up-and-comer, players must make decisions to balance the boxer's conflicting needs. It takes training to stay sharp, but time spent at promotion may lead to bigger matches, and all work with no play can be bad for a man's mental health. Story development occurs through documentary-style updates and cut scenes. The game aims to present, in the words of its presenter himself, "a glimpse at what life is like in and out of the ring for these incredible athletes." Don King Presents: Prizefighter is by Take 2's Venom Games studio, which also developed the 2004 boxing game Rocky Legends and whose founders worked on 2002's Rocky.

---

Gameplay

The gameplay in Prizefighter is quite sluggish and slow. There aren't many high impact moments that leave you gobsmacked or astounded by a move that you have just pulled off. You can play as various characters in the game or you can create a character that looks like yourself or someone you know. There is no real goryness to the game which is silly considering it's a 16+ game. It would be nice for those of us that like boxing games to knock out an opponents teeth or give them that sweet struck right hook to give them that black eye. However, this isn't the case with this game and it seems as not a lot of effort has gone into it. At the beginning of the game, you will be introduced to a tutorial to get your bearings of the game and get a feel for it. The introduction is made really well and it's really easy to pass. However, if you've played other boxing games then you can just skip this, it has the same controls as various other boxing games. The cutscenes are pretty decent and it takes you throughout your career and does have a small base storyline to it which is quite decent. The only problem I had with the game is that sometimes if you continuously blocked you could not get knocked out. The bigger and better opponents that I played against used this tactic and it was a massive frustration as it takes way too long to take them down. Only issue I had with the game and I'm unaware if they have resolved this issue. Would have been nice to see the developers to focus more on the gameplay portion of this game.

---

Graphics

Graphics in Prizefighter are quite bad. Personally, I did not play this game in High Definition back when I bought it but when I was playing in Standard Definition I found the frame rate dropping quite a few times in the middle of a match. This isn't pleasurable to look at and it makes the game less realistic than it already is. Cutscenes are done up well and are vibrant and colourful in areas but that's it. There are no real contrast of colours or textures that make the game look realistic or somewhat realistic. The fighters that you come up against usually have a good body posture and good body texture and their the names on shorts and clothing is visible so you will know who you are fighting and coming up against. Punches, jabs and hooks all look too dramatic and sluggish. When you're punching you wan't vibrations and you want to feel the force of the punches however with this it feels and looks as if you're just blindlessly punching the air. Your health and opponents health are in the bottom left and bottom right corners and is visible and the bars will flash red when one is on low health which looks decent.

---

Controls

---

Overall, this game isn't that amazing and if you are looking for a sports game and you're a fan of boxing I would highly recommend not buying this game. You'd be better off with the Fight Night franchises as they are more thorough and enjoyable.

Game Rating : 4/10 (Gameplay is mediocre and poses no real addiction factor, graphics are poor in areas, too many controls and this can take a while getting use to and I would recommend the Fight Night franchise instead)