When I first got my hands on The Fight: Lights Out at E3, I wasn’t all that impressed. Playing the single-player mode during that demo, the punches didn’t seem to have much feel behind them and combat against an AI opponent just didn’t give me that intense, adrenaline-fueling sensation that a fighting game is supposed to give its players. On my second time around, however, my opinion on The Fight pulled a 180 with some hands-on time with the game’s split-screen multiplayer.
Before getting started, my opponent and I picked our fighters, the arena, and got ready to let loose. Before we did though, she showed me a key element of the game that wasn’t demonstrated to me at E3: dirty moves.
Dirty moves are maneuvers that stray from your typical punches and can deal some hefty damage to your opponent while holding down the triggers and performing motions that resemble said moves. A headbutt, swinging elbow, and the hammer (a downward elbow hitting the top of the opponents head) are just some of these attacks. The moves add a lot more depth, strategy, and a bit more frantic chaos to the game.
With the dirty moves now in my arsenal, we began to throw down. Dodging, blocking, and frantic arm-waving followed. Having another player responding properly and quickly made the game feel much more realistic than what I had experienced in E3. The animations for both fighters when it came to taking and throwing punches also seemed like they had much more weight behind them than before. They were fully reacting to the force of the blows, not just slightly wincing. The bout gave me that adrenaline-fueling fun I was searching so hard for a few months prior.
After a long and intense battle, my fighter was unfortunately knocked to the ground. I had been defeated, but I left the demo with a much more positive feeling regarding The Fight: Lights Out than I previously had. Afterward I was told that the game will have not just split-screen multiplayer action, but online as well; players will be able to beat each other up and talk smack both over the internet or within the same room. While The Fight may have first shown me what looked to be a lackluster single-player mode, the multiplayer component appears to offer a lot more fun and excitement. The game will be released for the PlayStation 3 on October 28.
