Fight Night Round 3

Game Over Online

A fantastic boxing title that really delivers the action in a realistic way for fight fans, and those discovering the sweet science for the first time on their home console.

PSW Magazine UK

A more intelligent, defensive-minded and strategic boxing game than previous Fight Nights. The easier defence system and stance-switching give you more tactical options, while the crazy squelching brain effects make it more of a laugh when you put someone down.

Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

No massive innovations, but a neat fine-tuning job confirms Fight Night as the uncontested heavyweight champion of boxing games. [Apr 2006, p.94]

Worth Playing

Congrats to the Fight Night team for putting this together; for the time being, this is as real as video boxing is going to get.

Game Informer

Round 3 certainly doesn't shirk in the gameplay department one bit, as it has everything Round 2 offered and more. [Mar 2006, p.98]

Stuff

The best boxing game in the business keeps getting better.

Play Magazine

Fight Night Round 3 takes the sweet science of boxing to bloody new levels, and he results are certainly impressive. [Mar 2006, p.40]

Yahoo! Games

Simply a great game. Even without the supreme visual polish of the 360, this is the uncontested champ.

1UP

It's far more than just a really, really good-looking boxing game; it's a little glimpse into the future, and a remarkably good yardstick for ongoing reference.

PSM Magazine

Fight Night Round 3 is the first and foremost an awesome visceral experience, and one that should be enjoyed by fans and non-fans of the sweet science alike. [Apr 2006, p.80]

Games Radar (in-house)

This complexity demands your total concentration, resulting in an all-consuming gaming experience. You're gonna lose hours to this game.

PGNx Media

Fight Night round 3 doesn’t radically change the series but the gameplay is so incredibly solid that the game is still heavily recommended.

PSX Extreme

It strikes a good balance between substance and flash, and does an excellent job of capturing the thrill of the fight.

PSM2 Magazine UK

Top notch visuals and subtly tweaked fight mechanics makes this one well-rounded beat-'em-up. [Apr 2006, p.56]

eToychest

The visuals are beyond amazing.

BonusStage

One round of the next-gen version will make you realize that graphics are a major part of sports games, so I would only recommend the current-gen version if you don’t own a 360.

Console Gameworld

A very good boxing game that doesn’t quite score a knockout, but definitely something you would want to watch on pay-per-view.

Next Level Gaming

Take the great graphics and mix it up with the innovative HUD-less fighting system and solid boxing engine and the result is an excellent boxing game that is at the top of its class.

Cheat Code Central

The absense of ranking in Career mode is a significant loss in my eyes as the game tends to lose purpose, but the improvements help ease the pain a little.

GameZone

The most intense, most cinematic boxing game you’ll find on PlayStation 2. Fight Night Round 3 pummels players with an improved in-the-ring experience, pulling the camera closer to ensure that even stoic gamers feel the hardest hits.

GameSpot

Admittedly, most of the improvements and updates found in Round 3 are merely incremental, but they're still enough to warrant stepping into the ring for another bout.

IGN

Round 3 isn't the huge improvement that Round 2 was compared to Round 1, and the lack of AI and the impoverished career mode is a disappointment. That said, Round 3 is still one hell of an addicting multiplayer game.

Edge Magazine

Plagued by imbalance, the Round 3 career can serve up over 50 bouts before one goes the distance. The new stun punch – a thunderclap of a haymaker – helps to ensure first to third round knockouts for the vast majority of fights. [Apr 2006, p.82]

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Just better enough than last year's game to warrant a purchase. Just. [Apr 2006, p.79]

games(TM)

It may well be beautiful to look at, but the fighting engine, although improved, is so similar to that of Fight Night Round 2 that series veterans may feel somewhat aggrieved when faced with essentially the same videogame. [Apr 2006, p.112]

Loaded Inc

An extremely solid gaming experience that should appeal to the old fans whilst proving easily accessible to the new fans like myself.

VideoGamer

Even though there isn't a whole lot here that we haven't seen before, if you dig the sport, this purchase should be an obvious choice. And if you have an Xbox 360, well then, all the better.

AceGamez

A few technical glitches aside, it's a pretty great turn out from EA, and were Fight Night Round 3 to be a boxer itself, it wouldn't win by total knockout, but would definitely go the twelve rounds and come out on top.

Game Revolution

The sound effects are unbelievable in both versions, conveying a sense of impact completely unique to Round 3. Staggering punches don't just look painful, they sound painful.

Gamer 2.0

Having just paid 40 to 60 dollars for this game, you shouldn't have to be bombarded by advertisements.

Total Video Games

It does trip up on the lack of impact that a connect punch delivers, and the obvious inclusion of health/stamina bars, but for gamers not yet tainted by the phenomenal experience of Round 3 on Xbox 360, this won't be something that they'll worry about.

GameSpy

PS2 online has all of the aforementioned flaws and is an overall nightmarish experience and should be avoided at all costs.