What’s in a Mode?
One area where FNR3 does feel a bit lacking is in its play modes. Career mode takes players through the shoes of a new boxer making their first steps into the boxing world. During the career, they’ll move up through the ranks, take the belts, and eventually retire off. It’s a fun mode, but it’s definitely a bit thin in gameplay options. Between each fight players can participate in one of three mini-games, and as they earn money they can buy new trainers and clothing, but otherwise players will just be boxing the same opponents over and over again in new locations for the whole ride.

Besides Career mode, there is a classic ESPN mode where players can replay classic fights between the historical greats, an online mode that runs perfect with no lag and features endless opponents to pummel (though sadly, the “analogue only” room tends to be empty), and then there’s the character creation mode. Though the actual boxing is of course the star of the show, the player editor is so well-done it almost steals the limelight. Normally one would expect as graphics improve in games, that editors would have less features and more pre-set pieces to choose from, due to the technological difficulty of getting everything looking right. But FNR3 punches that assumption straight in the face with an editor that beats almost all other ones on the market. In the editor, players can stretch and pull every area of the face to make their own human skull, eyes, cheeks, you name it. In addition there are all sorts of hairstyles and several fighting styles to choose from. All put together, the player editor allows players to make photo-realistic people to their liking, which goes a long way towards adding enjoyment to the title.

A Good Hit
While the lack of modes and a some weak AI (Career Mode tends to be fairly easy) keeps Fight Night Round 3 from being a system seller, multiplayer is a blast and with millions of opponents online waiting to fight in the ring, the replay value of FNR3 is pretty high. As the pinnacle of modern graphics at this time and a great boxing game, FNR3 stands as a must have game for anyone with an Xbox 360.

• Great fighting system that’s more about smart defensive and choosing punches wisely than mashing.
  
• Incredible graphics. Both players and the lighting are top of the line.
  
• Create a Character mode is one of the best ever.
  
• Online is great, no lag issues at all.

• Not much to do besides box
  
• CPU AI is often predictable
  
• Too many repeat animations
  
• Online most people use buttons, putting analogue players at a loss.