Fight Night Round 3 is the Kennedy Assassination of videogames; EVERYONE remembers where they were the first time they saw it. It’s the moment a million naysayers realised exactly what the 360 could pull off: the camera zooms in, time slows down and the most gruesomely realistic replay of glove hitting jaw flashes across the HDTV to the sounds of a thousand bones breaking in hell. We challenge anyone not to be impressed.

This most graphic of images (see poor Holyfield on this page for an example) has been doing the rounds thanks to EA’s clever manipulation of the Xbox Live Download service. By providing a playable demo of Fight Night months before release, the hype machine has been cranked up and almost every 360 owner is desperate to step into the squared circle with the finished version.

To praise Fight Night as nothing more than a stunning party trick would be near criminal, however. What EA has produced is, without a doubt, one of the deepest and most satisfying fighting games this side of Virtua Fighter, and one so significantly different to standard beat-’em-ups that even those apathetic to the genre may take an interest. At its core is Total Punch Control; EA’s once revolutionary mapping of punches to the right analogue stick, which has been refined to near perfection. At first, it seems unwieldy and clumsy – players will be swinging wildly and ineffectively at their opponents, but a few matches (and humiliating knockouts) later and the depth of the combat begins to reveal itself. The variety and strength of the blows are determined by skilful manipulation of the stick and experienced players will know exactly how, when and why to pull off certain punches and combos, leaving newcomers battered and bloody.

The sheer impact of a heavy blow is quite something. The fighter’s head snaps back, sweat sprays into the air and the crowd hollers with excitement. The beauty of Fight Night Round 3 is its total lack of any on-screen HUD – you have to rely entirely on body language, speed and the condition of your boxer’s face to determine how close they might be to taking a fall. Throw too many punches early on and your fighter will visibly flag, leaving his guard down and throwing weak blows. If you spot your opponent looking like this, it’s time to move in for the kill. This makes Round 3 very tactical: a human game of chess – exactly how boxing should be.

EA has managed to capture the sheer drama of a classic boxing bout wonderfully well. By understanding the key to boxing – that it only takes one punch to turn an entire fight – it’s now possible to land what’s known as an Impact Punch: a fully wound up haymaker that knocks your opponent for six. They’re extremely difficult to pull off, and can be easily parried or avoided, but if one hits, then the victim is in serious trouble. The camera pans round to a scarily realistic first-person view, seen through the troubled fighter’s eyes as his opponent rains terror on his now prone face and body. If an Impact Punch lands, it’s only a matter of time before someone hits the canvas and one of those trademark replays kicks in just to rub salt into the wounds.

Ah yes, the knockouts. After stunning an opponent with a strong punch, the crowd noise fades out and the in-ring sound effects are amplified to heighten the tension. Then it’s a game of cat and mouse – the aggressor tries desperately to land one more punch while his dizzied opponent hides and looks for a clinch (or man hug, to the uninitiated). If no solid punch connects, the fight eventually resumes as before. Landing the killer blow, on the other hand, leads to the kind of seat jumping and trash talking normally reserved for an NFL game. Even the usually quiet ones will be shouting like Ali when they hit a fight-winning blow.

While the in-ring action is superb, it’s never the same unless there’s a human opponent to humiliate. Boxing against the computer, while still excellent and featuring solid fighter-specific AI (Ali floats and, indeed, stings), feels hollow by comparison. The career mode – the crux of the offline single-player – is well thought out and structured, but after a few fights, it’ll be back to the online arena to dish out the pain.

As a multi-player fighting game, Fight Night Round 3 is truly magnificent. The finest graphics ever seen, combat so deep that we’re still stripping back layers some 100 fights in and drama that outshines most story-driven games – all wrapped up with classic EA highproduction values and topped off with a lovely layer of sheen. It’s time to get back in the ring.

Jon Denton