Mama said knock you out! Alright, maybe mama didn’t say it, but the folks at EA Freestyle certainly have. Coming a few months after a lack-luster release on the other consoles, Freestyle are bringing Facebreaker K.O. Party to the Wii. Sure, it lacks the realism of Fight Night, and isn’t nearly as engaging as Ready 2 Rumble which came before it, but there’s still a good time to be had with this ultra-fast fighting game.
Gameplay
The first thing you should know about Facebreaker is that it’s about as far from a traditional boxing title as you can possibly get. That said, it plays similar to one. Two people enter the ring, one leaves. There aren’t TKO’s in this kind of fight, and rules? Who needs ’em. Strategy? Hit high, hit low, and try not to get hit. This is a balls out fighting game, plain and simple, people.
Now, as any fan of fighting games can tell you, controls make or break the game. The way to make a great fighting game is to find a balance that works for those wanting to simply button mash, and those wanting more depth. Unfortunately, those wanting more depth won’t find it here. This game relies on quick hits, and the occasional parry or dodge but there’s little to no skill required. Performing a hit requires you to swing either the Wii remote or nunchuk. Which hand you swing doesn’t matter, because the game just performs the moves for you. There’s no synchronization between your movements and that of your character. You can swing whichever hand you feel most comfortable doing so, and the game will automatically translate whatever your doing into combos. This is extremely disappointing, and in essence, really lazy programming.
You can opt to hit high or low, by either just swinging the controllers without pressing a button for a high attack, or go low by swinging and pressing the B button. You can also toss your opponent using the D-pad on the Wii remote. Mixing up your attacks is paramount in the game, because your opponents will catch on quickly to any patterns they see and parry or dodge your attacks with frustrating accuracy. Thankfully, you can return the favour and dodge or parry right back. To dodge, the premise is simple, just throw a punch at the same time as your opponent. Throw high when he throws high and you’ll dodge his punch and land a crushing counter. You have to be able to read your opponent pretty well in doing this, but it’s worth it as counters will run big damage in comparison to just launching all out offense with no defense. Pressing the Z button while doing this will result in a parry. Again, this is going to land you some big damage, but it can be pretty risky as miss and your opponent will capitalize, big time.
Assuming you can hold your own against the AI (which I’ll get to later), and can manage to unleash a set of flurries, you can build up your "Breaker" meter. There are several levels of "Breakers" that can be performed, from a Haybreaker to the namesake of the game, the Facebreaker. To perform this all you need to do is swing while pressing the A button. The level of your meter will determine which Breaker you use. Unleashing a Facebreaker is a little more difficult, as you need to swing the Wii remote three times. Once to send the opponent up, once to knock them down, and lastly, once to break their face. No, it’s not rocket science, but if you miss the timing, you’ll have to build that meter all over again, which can be frustrating. The best thing about using a Facebreaker is that it effectively ends the match. However, if you aren’t able to seal the deal with that, knocking your opponent down three times before the end of three rounds will do the job.
So what if you can’t do it either of these ways? There’s no points score here, so what happens then? Sudden Death my friends. This is where the game really falters. During Sudden Death rounds, the goal is to be the first to knock down your opponent. Unfortunately the AI is almost unstoppable during these rounds, and even if you’ve taken the knockdown ratio 2-0, they’ll often unleash a super cheap, unrelenting attack resulting in a cheap win for them. Considering you’ve just put up a great fight and taken them to their limits, the ability for them to win in such a cheap way really sucks the fun out of the single player experience.
One of the main problems here is that there’s not a lot of depth to the proceedings, which makes the game come up short in the technical department. However, that’s not to say it’s not fun. Actually, the Wii version is by far the best version when compared with the previous versions. That said, the AI is still absolutely brutal and unrelenting. Even on easier settings the AI can overwhelm you with quick flurries, and cheap stun attacks. This is where multiplayer comes in. No, the controls don’t get any deeper, and there’s nothing to redeem the lack of true 1:1 motion here, but it can be intensely fun to just flail away on an opponent that’s prone to human error, rather than super cheap AI.
Brawl for It All mode is the main single player game, and it simply involves your boxer climbing his or her way up the ranks. This is standard fighting game fare, and it gets the job done. Multiplayer offers T.K.O. and Punch-O-Matic for up to four players. T.K.O. is a team affair, and the basic goal is to be the last man standing. Punch-O-Matic is a little different. Before each match, players punch a punching bag as hard as they can to determine certain power ups that become available during the match. In addition to power ups, there are also obstacles to overcome, such as robots that will try to take you out for your opponent. It’s a neat idea, and it’s fun, if only in short bursts.
Graphics & Sound
Facebreaker on the Wii is a nice looking game during gameplay, though characters can be a little on the blockier side than their counterparts on the 360 and PS3. Animations are effectively the same as the other consoles, though, and that’s a good thing as the moves, especially Facebreakers, look incredibly brutal.
The audio is good, though largely unremarkable. Characters have stereotypical fighting game voice-overs, which is to say that they could be better, but you won’t be surprised by it. The music is varied, and it’s nice to have a licensed soundtrack here rather than the generic techno-guitar rock in Virtua Fighter and other titles. Value
There are a good number of fighters here to experiment with, though the styles don’t stray too far from one another, so most won’t be inclined to play through Brawl For It All with more than one character. The multiplayer is where most will find their value, and it does fit the bill when you have a few people over. It’s over the top style and fast-paced matches will keep you and your friends busy for a while.
The Wii version does come up short in two main areas. The first is that there’s no online component, at all. This is really disappointing considering most EA titles have been able to work out an online mode, even if they aren’t as deep as the other console versions. The other, is that there is no customization option. You can’t create your own boxer, and that really brings down the value a bit, as your stuck playing with the same old fighters again and again. At least give us the ability to fight with our Mii’s if you aren’t going to offer a customization option.
Conclusion
Facebreaker is a hard title to rate. It’s lacks the depth of a fighter, the skill of a boxing title, and the super cheap AI can and will put most people off. Yet, the gameplay is so fast and furious, it does have the potential to be fun. Add a few friends to the mix, and you’ve got a reason to at least rent it for a weekend.
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
I’ve always been an advocate for cheap and easy...Er...when it comes to gaming, that is. Unfortunately, it’s because of this that I’ve missed out on some of the bigger titles over the past few years. (CoD4, anyone?). Buying used games, ordering online from sites like Amazon or Ebay, is a simple way to avoid high pricing, (at least until you factor in...
I’ve always been an advocate for cheap and easy...Er...when it comes to gaming, that is. Unfortunately, it’s because of this that I’ve missed out on some of the bigger titles over the past few years. (CoD4, anyone?). Buying used games, ordering online from sites like Amazon or Ebay, is a simple way to avoid high pricing, (at least until you factor in... 
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