Knockout Kings 2002: Web Wombat: Games

This game sure takes it out of you. I don’t mean in a punch-drunk way, but by crikey, do your hands feel as if they have taken a pounding after a few rounds of Knockout Kings 2002.

This sensational boxing sim has you putting on the gloves as any of a score of boxing heroes or wannabes and you can belt seven tonnes of tripe out of your opponent or the AI.

Play as the legendary Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Ray Robinson and see if you can do as well as they did in the ring.

Each boxer has an up to five-star rating and this helps in his bouts. Their strength, stamina, skills and ability to take a punch will either assist or defeat you in your efforts for the crown, and they do make quite a difference.

Take Lennox, for instance. He's built like a brick shit-house and is tough as nails, but he isn't the fastest brute to swagger into the ring. After most matches with Lennox, I found that he would win fairly easily - though he only lost a few times and that was to the likes of Mr Clay and his ilk.

But the stats told all - almost always the statistics showed that I had thrown far fewer punches, with accuracy (hits connected) usually quite high. It showcases that certain characters box in different ways and is testament to the game's diversity.

The fight graphics are terrific and will have you ducking and diving - or just straight out punching each other into oblivion. The skin mapping, in particular, is very nice, avoiding blocky joins. All you'll see is the smooth joining of the various polygons that form the many boxers in the game.

Smell my armpits - that's the B.O that made a K.O!

The little touches are also pretty cool, such as the mouthguards flying out of boxer's mouths after a king uppercut, intermingled with blood and sweat particles. Gruesome, sure, but realistic at the same time. There's no ear biting, though...

If you get knocked to the canvas there is a woozy period as you get your vision back together and when you get hit, and the way the boxer's faces morph throughout a ten round match is amazing. You'll start off looking fine, but end up with blood gushing from you nose and mouth, a sagging black eye, swollen jaw and possibly even a few loose teeth.

If you want a realistic, gritty-looking boxing game - you can't go past this. However, gameplay wise, things aren't so gritty. More often than not, bouts would turn into simple button mashing exercises, with no discernable tactics, such as blocking or dodging, offering a better alternative than a left jab. You can find rhythm in combining certain volleys of punches, one after the other, but really, you won't be sitting down to play this for hours on end.

Mind you, there are rules to the matches and if your penchant is for trying to win through but-crackers or low-blows (we won’t mention any names but his initials are Will Barker) then you forfeit the fight. (I was setup!! - Will)

Although you can fight anything up to 12 rounds, we would suggest starting off on three - as your fingers, hands and wrists really do take a beating while frenetically punching. Knockout Kings is a huge amount of fun, especially in two-player mode, but only in short bursts.

Game: Knockout Kings 2002
System: Playstation 2
Players: 1-2
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Electronic Arts
Distributor: EA

Rating: 70%

(Ratings Key/Explantion)

Knockout Kings 2002 is on the shelves now.

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