This could have been the greatest game ever.
First of all the game needs more licensed fighters. A big deal is made about the 40+ featured but it's not enough in a game with 8 weight classes. There really needs to be over 100 fighters. The problem is, there are a ton of more fighters that will be available. But you will have to pay for them, of course, in DLC.
The boxer models that are here, though, are mindblowing. They look and fight just like real life. Watching Tyson vs. Ali here will bring a tear to your eye. But there are so many more absolute legends: Hagler, Hearns, Jones Jr., Robinson, Frazier, Foreman, and about 3 dozen more. And most of them look and fight fantastic. It's thrilling to see the fighters we respect so much represented so well. I'm disappointed that there is no Hopkins, Hamed, or Trinidad but I guess they could come in DLC.
The exclusive Total Punch Control analog stick for punching is something that can be gotten used to. But it is in NO WAY a replacement for button punching. Get over it, analog-obsessives, lots of people prefer to strike with buttons. No one is forcing you to punch with buttons, but it needs to be there as an option. Again though, button functionality is something that has been hinted at for DLC so if it is important to you, you will have the pleasure of paying for it. On top of the $60 you already paid.
So you can't punch with buttons, the buttons are used for: clinching, pushing, signature punch, and a flagrant headbutt. It's funny, because it would have made a million times more sense to have those functions on the analog stick. Or to be able to simultaneously punch with both buttons AND the analog stick, but I guess I am just dreaming. It would have made even more sense to have the ability to punch with buttons, haymakers / clinch, headbutt, and push with the analog stick, and to TAUNT with the D-Pad. I would be on here calling this the greatest game of all time if that was the control layout.
That leads me to one of my biggest complaints. THERE IS NO TAUNTING! They included a blatantly illegal streetfighting headbutt that would get any fighter DQ'ed, but left off taunting. This is a crushing disappointment. There are many times in the game where fighters are running from you, and other scenarios where taunting is necessary. To have the D-Pad there, useless, without a function, while taunting is left off the game, is terribly disappointing. It's even more bizarre when you consider the headbutt is something you would hardly ever see in a real fight, yet taunts you see all the time. They actually made a game with Ali and didn't include any taunts!
The Legacy Mode is great, but filled with bugs. The game locks up constantly. Importing downloaded fighters will immediately corrupt your Legacy. I have found uploading fighters created with the stock faces will work OK, but stay away from the custom fighters people have created online using the fighters' real faces because they will cause your XBOX to freeze. It's a shame, too, because people have done some amazing work. There are fighters online that look so good you don't have wait for DLC. The only problem being they take up one of your petty 40 created character slots.
One thing that sets Legacy Mode apart from any fighting or wrestling game career is the fact that you can make it last for as long as you want. You know, like a REAL CAREER. At no point will Dana White or Vince McMahon be emailing you to tell you you have to retire in your early 20s. With Fight Night you choose when you want to retire, and I love that. It just makes me wish the fighter importation system wasn't so buggy, because it makes the Legacy Mode that much deeper.
Unfortunately the Create-A-Fighter does not allow any customization of facial features. You are only allowed to choose a stock head which is terrible. The head and facial hair features are also shockingly shallow. I dont know why EA would do this on a game where the athlete's face is so prominent throughout the game. In Madden you can adjust facial features and you hardly ever see your player's face, but it FNR4 you can only choose stock heads? Unlike most other sports, boxers have absolutely nothing covering their head or face so it is important to be able to customize these things to your liking. This is one of the only areas where I would rate the UFC game higher than Fight Night, even though the UFC's CAF was also below average.
They did a pretty good job with the stock names and nicknames available that the announcers and commentators will call you, but you should be able to have your own nickname if you want. You will most likely be able to find something suitable. The names are all names real boxers have used, so you are able to create decent replicas of real fighters with the benefit of stock nicknames like "Real Deal", "Brown Bomber", etc. There is also a sizable list of last names although yours will undoubtedly be left off. I thought it was interesting to look at the list of stock cities you can have your fighter be from. I won't bother to make a list, but there are a bunch of major cities left off. Thankfully you can add custom text.
Other than that the CAF is pretty good. The ability to customize gloves, trunks, shoes, and robe are fabulous. The fact that there are real brands and Nike, Reebok, and Adidas available put me in boxing-gamer-geek heaven when I am desiging my fighter's gear. You can totally customize the colors of your gear as well as different fabrics: satin, velvet, metallic, sequins, cotton. And there are a nice selection of shoes, gloves, and trunks. EA did a seriously fantastic job with the fighter's gear. The only thing they missed was custom headgear, but that's minor.
Fight Night Round 4 needs more modes. Create-A-PPV, Tournaments, skill challenges, etc. I'm looking at my copy of NHL 09 and you could spend years going through all the modes in that game. Fight Night should be no different. For some reason these kind of games always get the shaft. Anything involving a ring/cage/etc. gives you a career, an exhibition, and online and THAT IS IT. I don't get it. As engrossing as Legacy Mode and fighting with your friends/online is, it should have more.
According to my tastes and what I personally like in games, I feel this game would have been perfect if it included the following:
Punching with buttons, obviously.
More animations.
Taunts. Where are the taunts?
MORE FIGHTERS (B-Hop? Tito? Prince? Where are you?)
Ring walks / fighter introductions should be a bigger deal. UFC Undisputed's Bruce Buffer introductions crush the fighter intros in this game and that's a shame. Fighters' walks to the ring are also very important in boxing. You should be able to have your robe's hood over your head like a real, intense fighter, and the entire walk down the aisle should be featured.
Legacy Mode needs to be expanded. Something comparable to a Madden Franchise. Your own gym, trainers, team, sparring partners, and more.
More control over your CAF. You have to be able to design the face and also your fighters non-fighting actions. Does your fighter celebrate excessively? Or is he all business?
Hopefully these things can be fixed in DLC.
*EDIT*
Update: upon further review, I would rate this game as 2 and a half stars. The counterpunching system, as other reviewers have complained about, is quite absurd. It is possible to attack an opponent with full force, landing multiple hooks, crosses, and uppercuts to the head with full power, and have minimal effect. Yet your opponent is able to knock you senseless with a single counterpunch jab. And turning down the "counterpunch window" doesn't have much effect.
Additionally, the computer is able to rise from multiple knockdowns, but it's almost impossible for a human player to rise from more than 2 knockdowns. And rising from the second is a test of skill in itself. It's extremely difficult. What's up with that? Aren't we supposed to be having fun, what's the point of making the knockdown game such a pain? It actually eliminates a huge part of strategy in the game, getting put on the canvas multiple times in a fight changes the scoring, and makes going the distance more exciting. With this dopey knockdown system, all of that is eliminated. You had better not get knocked down twice, because then if you get floored by one of the silly counterpunch jabs... forget about it, fight's over.
On a positive note, EA released patches that solved all of my crashing problems. They also offered face-button punching for free. Needless to say, FNR4 is a billion times more fun to play with buttons. I had actually given up on it until I found out about the DLC. I had more fun than ever going through the now non-crashing career, knocking suckas out with buttons, baby, buttons. Go play with your joysticks, analog-boys.
Everything other positive thing I said about the game I continue to stand by.