DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORMS:
EA Canada/EA Sports/360, PS3

FUN FACT: New this year is EA’s Photo Game Face, which allows players to use their own likenesses (or Gucci Mane’s) in the creation of original characters.

WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Unfortunately, last week’s Best of Video Games (So Far) post was filed too early to include Fight Night Round 4 (which officially drops tomorrow). But no worries: By the time ‘09 expires, we’re quite sure that FNR4 will be atop everybody’s year-end list (check the Metacritic.com stats, son!)

Many a wack boxing game has been released in the three years since the last Fight Night—we’re looking at you, Don King Presents: Prize Fighter—but they’ve all been pretenders, not real contenders. Fight Night Round 4 resoundingly reclaims the belt with everything you loved about Round 3—only better. That means noticeable improvements to the Legacy and World Championship modes (including a much deeper single-player career experience and online title fights) as well as subtle refinements to graphics and gameplay, which were pretty damn near flawless already. FNR4 is the best boxing game you’ll ever play, period. So even if you’re gonna be broke for the next few months, know that some Dutches and this game are all you need to kill off summer. Word!