Facebreaker

Considering that to many of us the idea of an actual real-life confrontation is absolutely terrifying, it seems far more sensible to restrict confrontation to the digital world. Ben Parfitt mocks his opponent (from a very safe distance)…

It’s funny how the misconception that innovation only comes from small independent developers continues to run rife when it has been proved wrong again and again. Yes, XBLA and PSN has given a whole new life and market to ingenious and hugely worthwhile indie software, but it’s a game the big boys play too – whether it’s Sony’s casual peripherals or new IP in the PS2 generation, or Nintendo’s current revolution.

And as much as the ‘net fanboys would like to label EA as some sort of annual-update churning evil conglomerate, the publisher has very much been responsible for some genre-changing innovations in recent times. Forgetting for the moment its recent and upcoming line-up of new IP, EA has single-handedly changed a number of sporting genres in its time.

First up – golf. The genre had relied on the swingometer-timed-button-press mechanic forever until Tiger Woods introduced the analogue swing. And Tony Hawk’s was simply the only way to do an extreme sports game until last year’s arrival of Skate completely reinvented the genre. 2006’s Fight Night Round 3 did exactly the same, replacing button mashing with twin analogue control.

All of which makes it all the more fascinating that EA would take the successful team behind the popular Fight Night outing, but throw the brand and the analogue controls out of the window in favour of a return to old-school style controls – a decision it has credited to its desire to tap into the burgeoning casual market.

In truth, FaceBreaker is in spirit more of a sequel to Midway’s 2000 Dreamcast and PS2 outing Ready 2 Rumble than its own series, though EA’s title looks to go way beyond anything that’s been seen before.

The controls, at least, are reasonably conventional. Light and strong attacks are mapped to the face buttons, and when coupled with defence, form a ‘scissor-paper-rock’ game mechanic that’s simple to get your head around. More complexity is introduced through the shoulder buttons, which offer up additional considerations such as parrying, throwing and dodging.

Gamers will also be familiar with the power bar, or Breaker Meter, that charges up upon successfully landing a string of blows. It can be charged in three tiers, but one punch from the opponent and all is lost.

Much like Fight Night 3, Facebreaker aims to offer a graphical experience unlike any other title on the market. However, whereas Fight Night boasted a level of graphical realism not seen before on consoles (it was very much the game you loaded up when you wanted to show off your console to a new admirer), Facebreaker’s cartoon appearance lends itself to a whole different world of graphical japery. Real-time deformations see character’s faces get visually distorted as major blows are landed, and a trophy mirroring the final state of your opponent’s face is yours upon victory.

The cartoon aesthetic also stretches to the in-game experience, with Russian demolitions expert Molotov slipping in the occasional explosive blow and over-sexed Latin chap Pit Romero allowing himself the odd bitchy back-handed slap.

Boxing and gaming have always been a happy match, right back to the days of Nintendo’s Punch Out. FaceBreaker might not be a revolutionary as its direct predecessor, but sometimes the quest to do something different can detract from simply focusing on what works. Facebreaker has all the ingredients of another successful new IP for EA.