Don King Presents Prizefighter has a steep learning curve that you need to really spend time with the controls. Prizefighter takes a slower paced approach than titles like Fight Night and is closer to a game like Victorious Boxers where depth is the key to the gameplay. I have mainly been playing exhibition fights and I have been getting my ass handed to me. Prizefighter is the kind of title where button mashing isn’t going to win you any fights. Button mash and you will be knocked out within seconds of the fight; I had that happen to me once already.

It comes down to strategy, going in you have to manage your stamina and health meter. I still feel like this is an area that needs refinement if we ever get a sequel. I have been able to make it to the 4th round without getting knocked out once, but once I get to the 4th round all goes south for me. I need to use more clinching and probably jab a lot more early on than I have been. I haven’t been able to effectively tire my CPU opponent and that is part of the problem. I have been using my blocking effectively, but I think that maybe a bit more blocking than I have been doing should help. I get jealous when I read others going over 9 rounds; maybe I will get there soon.

It looks like there is a lot to unlock here. There are 22+ arenas to fight in and over 40+ boxers, and I like the idea that the roster has boxers that we haven’t had an opportunity to fight with yet in any other boxing title.

There are some things that are bothering me with this game, and one that is huge…the CPU is too darn aggressive. The CPU sticks on you like flies on dog crap during exhibition fights. Not too sure what the logic behind this is but it is like the CPU is almost unstoppable at certain points. Reading around, there are ways to stun the CPU to where they back off which sounds promising.

The controls do feel a little bit sluggish to me and it comes from when a) moving around the ring and b) when throwing punches. I have always used the good old hit and move method in previous boxing titles, but here it seems nearly difficult to do that. Another problem that I do see off the bat is collision detection is horrible. After 2 boxing games, you would think Venom wouldn’t have this issue.

I am starting to see how unbalanced the modes in this game are from a difficulty standpoint. Comparing the difficulty of exhibition to career mode is like night and day. In my initial impressions I complained a lot about how difficult exhibition fights were when battling the CPU even on amateur difficulty level. In career mode, it is the complete opposite. The difficulty starts off rather simple and ramps up as you progress. I have no clue what Venom is trying to accomplish here, but it is enough to turn off those that just want to play exhibition. I was reading if you set the round length to 3:00 minutes, it helps with cut down on the CPU aggressiveness.

The career mode is told in documentary style which is very cool. My one issue here is that this is cool for the first time that you play the career mode, but after that going through the same exact documentary piece will be boring since there is no branching or rankings. Back to the documentary style of the career mode, it is a well thought out piece though. Venom used some well known actors and former boxers to piece together the documentary in story mode. This alone makes the career mode a very interesting piece.

Between rounds your corner will give you advice on how you should fight your opponent, you better listen because if you don’t it can cost you the round. Little things like this which is nice that it gets implemented correctly in a game. I also want to mention the training in ‘Prizefighter’ is unique on how it is setup using button sequences which are like a mini game setup. It can be difficult at times since it is setup almost like rhythm game sequences where the right button must be pressed at the right time. Training has always been a pain on other boxing games, but finally a developer like Venom makes training fun.

Per say the career mode isn’t just Venom’s fault, so many boxing games in the past have gone away from a ranking system which has caused a lot of concern amongst gaming fans. I also like the ability to be able to customize your boxer along the way during the career mode is a nice feature. Not too many games allow for that once you have started a career or franchise. Also I like that you unlock bonuses by playing through the career mode, this is a nice addition that some games don’t even offer unlockables. I like being able to unlock new songs for your boxer, gloves, ring trunks to name a few of the items.

The CPU still comes at you aggressively during the career mode, but they aren’t as full force in exhibition. There is still a strategy needed when playing in career mode as if you were in exhibition, button mashing as I stated earlier won’t win you fights. I have had many fights go to 9-10 rounds, which is great, but the kicker is that I have had 6 knockdowns on the CPU during a fight. How can you have a fight with this many knockdowns? After 2-3 knockdowns in a fight, your opponent would be toast so I just find it odd.

This leads me to my next point, the judging. This has to be the worst set of judges on the face of the boxing planet. The score cards for me so far have either been all the same numbers across the board or maybe off by 1 point for the 3rd judge.

Graphically, ‘Prizefighter’ does not look bad. Granted these graphics don’t look like ‘Fight Night Round 3’ gorgeous, but they do look good. There are some nice details on the boxers and the venues/gyms also look good too. There will be those that will complain about the graphics too.

For a first effort by Venom, this game is not as polished as I was hoping that it would be. I am a little disappointed there. With another 2+ months of development time, this game could have been the deal breaker for many out there that aren’t sure on the $60 purchase. You need to remember when playing ‘Prizefighter’ that STRATEGY is what makes you a winner. If you go about this game and play like this is ‘Facebreaker’ you will have your face broken alright. My recommendation for anyone on the fence, go rent this first, because you might be disappointed. Any boxing game that allows me to go into round 10 must mean that it is attempting to do something right with the sport that it mimics. I have played way too many boxing titles that after 3 or 4 rounds, it is game over. Between ‘Prizefighter’ and ‘Facebreaker’ we should be kept busy till 2009 when Fight Night Round 4 releases.

Feel free to discuss over in the forums