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FaceBreaker Review - PS3

Introduction

It is said simplicity is a beautiful thing, and EA's new sporting title is a shining example. It brings the random mayhem of a Smash Brothers title to the boxing ring. Combining stylish animation, unique characters and a simple and easy to understand play style into one quirky little title, Facebreaker. While many hardcore gamers will be reaching for the more realistic titles such as Fight Night and Dead or Alive, those of us who enjoy the simpler things will get a kick out of this aptly named title.

Gameplay

The first thing that strikes you in Facebreaker is the number of different ways to have fun. From the main menu you can access a one-on-one fight with the AI, a practise mode to get your eye for boxing in, a campaign mode (or "Brawl for it All") for each character (to attain trophies and unlock new characters,) or even the "Couch Royale" where you can challenge up to 6 friends in a "winner stays on" tournament. For those with an Internet connection, you can log onto EA Online and go head to head with other boxers from around the world for the ultimate bragging rights. A great thing to see here was the difficulty level. A lot of arcade fighters miss this, or at least mess it up, but Facebreaker has an easy, medium, or hard setting for all the AI battles meaning newbies can have a go, and veterans also receive a challenge.

Along with an array of play styles, Facebreaker offers a great little package called the "Boxer Factory" to, among other things, alter or create your own character. You can choose everything from facial hair to glove color to your player's build and even upload a photo of yourself to display on the character using the Playstation Eye. While there is a list of unique characters already found in the game, this gave the title a nice ability to personalise your fighter. There is just something so much more satisfying in hitting a face you recognise!

The Factory has a list a mile long of extras to take your fancy. You can upload your own, or download custom boxers made by other plays on the net, which include players such as Heath Ledger as The Joker, Michael Jackson and even Gollum from Lord of the Rings. You can look up your trophies and player stats, you can even run through tutorials to improve your game.

Facebreaker is your standard arcade fighter, though without kicks your main buttons come down to High Jab, Low Jab, Haymaker, Throw and Hook. There are three primary types of defense - dodge, parry and block. A block is achieved by simply holding the block key (R1), this will reduce the damage of high and low punches, but do nothing to stop Haymakers. Dodging on the other hand is a little trickier, you must hold down either the high or low punch just before (continued next page)