Initially I'd agree with alot of this review. The hidden gem i found was the customisable game sliders in the options menu, this allowed me to tailor the fighting experience to a much more 'realistic' style, more damaging punches combined with less stamina, aswell as tweaking CPU fighting habits helped turn the fights into a much more accurate boxing analogue than the rock-em-sock-em default settings.
I only discovered this after some browsing on the forums however and it's initially very confusing what the effect of each slider does and there are a few that i feel could be added (such as punch accuracy). Sliders however don't help the default online experience, which has moments of brilliance but is all too easy to ruin by the body punch spam you mention.
The only thing i disagree with is the Pre-round system. Particularly in multiplayer i found the fnr 3 system far too cumbersome and slow, it broke the flow of the fights too much for my liking. The fnr 4 system, whilst simplified to the extreme, does allow more streamlined and, most importantly, simultaneous play whilst still allowing some tactical depth.
Overall a pretty solid review (I still think FNR 4 is better overall however, even on default, lets not forget the parry system afterall
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