Someone needs to be punched, badly…
The Fight is the first Move title that is meant to appeal to the hardcore. It’s not a collection of gimmicky mini-games or an on-rails shooter; it’s a proper boxing game that makes use of 1 or 2 Move controllers to replicate your hands as you punch, block and move. The PS Eye camera can also motion track your head as you tilt it from side to side, which is fairly impressive. But does The Fight pack a punch?
Not quite. The Move controls are sadly not as responsive as I’d had hoped. The biggest problem is with moving back and forth, instead of being handled automatically or allowing you to move, the game wants you to stand still and hold down the Move button and pull back and forth with the controller…which is a pain as you are trying to punch and block. Your movements are fairly accurate, but your punches are not and never to seem to connect like they should. It’s a missed opportunity to say the least.
Instead what you end up doing is what the game doesn’t want you to…punch like a maniac and being physically drained in a matter of minutes. If that wasn’t bad enough the game gives you arbitrary limits on things like stamina, which shouldn’t really apply when you are doing the fighting yourself. Why can’t the game just judge your punches by the strength that you use the controller with and not judge it by how much stamina you have? There is a pretty long career mode which pits you against many, many fighters and you upgrade your skills as you go…but really, the game should just judge your movements instead of putting caps on what you can do, it’s archaic with motion controls.
Can Move not function with the idea of you moving around too much? That’s the impression that I got from The Fight and if true, then the cracks are starting to show for it. I hope it’s not the case and it’s just the limits of the game, but I guess we won’t find out for sometime yet. In terms of visuals, The Fight is pretty average. It has a washed-out grainy look to it that makes it look atmospheric when it’s actually devoid of any. The soundtrack is average hip-hop that tries to make the game look “tough” but can’t quite manage it.
The Verdict
The Fight is a major disappointment for Move. It could have been so good, but lacklustre controls and archaic fighting mechanics let it down immensely. I would wait till the developers harness the power of Move to allow you to actually move around while punching instead of simply holding down a button.
I´m playing this game and loving it. The controls are responsive and i´m working out having a great time. Two Move controllers is a must. I almost pass this game because the bad reviews, i´m glad i didn´t. Just buy the game, you won´t regreat it.