Fight Night 2004

 Xbox
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
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  1. TotalGames.net
    74
    The slow, repetitive action is the knockout blow that stops this contender from ever being the greatest. [XBM]
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  2. Edge Magazine
    70
    As a reinvention it's a resounding success, and there are no pretenders to its comprehensiveness [May 2004, p.107]
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  3. NTSC-uk
    70
    A new revolution in the boxing genre. EA have taken the brave step of totally disbanding twenty years of evolution and creating a control system that breathes fresh air into a genre which has stagnated for some time.

Awards & Rankings

19
#19 Best Xbox Game of 2004
25
#25 Most Discussed Xbox Game of 2004

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 3 out of 24
  1. Lix312
    Feb 25, 2021
    10
    By Far the worst Career mode in boxing history, your opponent will never push the fight and will run from you for 10 rounds straight causingBy Far the worst Career mode in boxing history, your opponent will never push the fight and will run from you for 10 rounds straight causing for a frustrating and long match's. The second con is the amount of fights in the year which is 3-4 fight each year and its likely you will move up 2-3 ranks per year which leaves you getting a title fight at 35-40 yrs of age when your ready to retire. All in all the career mode for fight night 2004 is trash and a waste of time.… Full Review »
  2. ArwinD.
    Sep 28, 2005
    10
    This game is just great! I didnt want to put so much money to buy FN: round2... so i bought this one (because i've heard that those are This game is just great! I didnt want to put so much money to buy FN: round2... so i bought this one (because i've heard that those are almost the same game) I haven't never played anything that has so good worth for my money! At my first day, i played 4h + 4h + 2h of this game! I think i haven't ever played anything that much (except halo1) I love the carreer mode and the controls... but when i started to play, controls were a bit hard... but now i've get used to it. Graphics are nice too...… Full Review »
  3. MatMori
    Aug 17, 2004
    8
    MY SCORE 85/100 I was a little hesistant to pick up EA'S FIGHT NIGHT 2004, because I already had EA'S KNOCKOUT KINGS 2002. In the MY SCORE 85/100 I was a little hesistant to pick up EA'S FIGHT NIGHT 2004, because I already had EA'S KNOCKOUT KINGS 2002. In the end I'm glad I purchased the game because it's a whole nother experience.++++ Total Punch Control is a new concept that disregards the use of the common button mashing fighting style, now you throw punches using the right analog stick. This changes the gameplay since boxers no longer throw 4 jabs in less then 2 seconds (KOKings). The new innovative design is great; a right jab is thrown by pushing the analog stick up at a 45' the right hook is controlled by moving the stick to the right and thown upwards in a 1/8thcircle, and the uppercut is a contolled by rolling the stick down to the right and around up to 3/8th circle. Just imagine the right thumbstick is the boxers hand and the pattern of any punch relates to the movement of the stick. The left stick controls your boxer, the Left trigger (when held) and the combined motion of the left analog stick will sway the upper body of the boxer, allowing him to bob, weave, duck, and doddge. The Right trigger is used for blocking. New in FN is the ability to counter punche, by holding the Rtrigger and moving the Left analog stick you can push punches away which leaves the opponent open to anything. Defense is really important, for it leads to a good offence. Another thing I loved about FN is the damage modeling, boxers now take damage better then KOKings, boxers get really trashed up. Bruises swell mostly over the eyes and nose. Cuts under the eyes eventually start bleeding, along with the nose and the uncommon lip. The new Create-a-boxer is pretty detailed, from different, shapes, sizes, widths, lengths, and enough hair sytles. The addition to rag doll physics is propbably the funniest and sadistic feature to add. Now when boxers get knocked out, the limbs go limp and the knees buckle under. The knockouts look twice as violent then KOKings and it's fasinating and demented to see bodies crumpling under the hit of a huge right hook. Probably the greatest feauture is when an opponent gets backed up in to the corner turnposts and gets knocked out. With the turnpost as a support your boxer can throw devastating punches to an ALREADY KNOCKED OUT OPPONENT! I've thrown 8 consecutive alternating hooks after the intial knockdown-it was extremely violent. With the awsome hit detection, rag doll physics (kneck and face reacted to each punch by swiveling and bending) and the sweat and blood exploding off the face turned into an incredible effect. The whole career mode was expanded from KOKings allowing you to buy extra shorts, tatoos, gloves, shoes, music, taunts, special moves, introduction effects, and women. The women just acompany your boxer to the ring and do some weird unsexy dances. The career also allows you to customize your boxer by having roughly 4 training exercise after each fight. In between rounds, stat cards pull up showing which % of punches were thrown and landed. ++++----There aren't too many serious problems with FN but one or two are beyond annoying. Sometimes during a fight the opponent (usually with a lot of agility) will continually and consitantly run away from you. During the whole match whether you chase or stand motionless he will continually circle around you which lasts more then 20 mintues until the fight finally ends. Out of the whole 20 mintues he might throw about 40 punches total. The punches your boxer throws rarely come in contact and those that do are sometimes blocked, it's ridiculous but thank god it doesn't happen often. Although I do like the blood, it looks fake when it squirts out, it looks like a straight 7inch solid glob of blood, very much like a Mortal Kombat game. The sweat looks great when it sprays off of the face after a hit, but when it rolls down off of the face it looks awkward. It looks like a screen is pasted on the face and it drips sweat drops like rainfall. The beads of sweat don't look right, and it rolls down to fast. It looks worse when the boxer is knocked out and lying on the floor, because the sweat still drops from forehead to chin, but it should drop from forehead and to the mat (gravity). FN does have a decent instnat REPLAY but what really let me down was that there are no SAVEABLE REPLAYS. The camera on the REPLAY system works well but it doesn't play any of the sound effects. The announcer of FN is Lil Tigger and I wish they stuck with KOKings announcers. Tigger has a hip-hop announcing style, but I didn't like much. He's repetitive and he doesn't do much to set the mood of the fight. I wish they stuck with KOKings on this one, the two announcers in KOKings were a lot better. The last problem I had is about the unlockables. I've been playing for a quite a while and unlocked the girls and music and entrance effects, but the special moves I haven't unlocked at all. I'm trying to figure it out but I can't unlock any of them.----====Total Punch Control is tough to learn, but after some practice it becomes second nature and soon your boxer will be throwing lefts and rights with ease and fluidity. Fight Night 2004, is a brutal, often fast paced, sometimes frustrating, frantic, boxing game. It has a decent amount of replay value since it's always funny to see what kind of shapes the bodies fall after a knockout. The sound effects are pretty good but I think KOKings had better 'smacking' and punching sounds. I liked this game and despite the few flaws I really enjoyed it, it's a nice improvement over KOKings.====… Full Review »
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