If ever there was a more sensible move than getting PS3 punch-‘em-in-the-face-‘em-up Fight Night Round 3 a week before our office Christmas break, I’d love to know what it was. Aside from offering some pretty epic – and exhausting – multiplayer larks, it also probably stopped myself and Jay beating each other to a bloody pulp in real life too. Anything that stops festive office fisticuffs is worth every pound you could possibly pay, although I’m sure other folk around here would possibly disagree.

This is, of course, the PS3 port of the nifty 360 version of the game that we were all playing a good few months ago. Littered in for good measure are a number of boxers both past and present, a career mode in which you have the option to create your own megastar, the choice between analogue stick and face button control styles and an exclusive ‘Get In The Ring’ mode that puts you literally in your boxer’s boots for some first-person jousting.

Starting with the latter seems ideal, as this is not only where the PS3 version differs most from the 360 version, but it’s also a mode that got an insane amount of attention during our time with the game. Boxing from the first-person perspective takes a while to get the hang of it you’ve been used to the classic viewpoint from alongside both boxers, but after a while it becomes second nature and actually rather good indeed.

Part of the reason for this is that it actually brings a whole new angle to the gameplay. During your fights your boxer’s vision will slowly become blurred and bloodied, making it difficult for you to judge distances and defend properly. In doing so it adds a whole new tactical level to proceedings, making you visibly aware of where you’re getting clocked and giving you the chance to remedy the situation before it gets too late. It’s certainly a more difficult way of playing the game, but it brings the experience up to a new level of involvement and enjoyment and is well worth the effort.

It’s also rather ace in multiplayer mode too, although local play splitscreen kind of gives the game away a little. Despite this, myself and Jay had a number of superbly fought bouts that went right to the wire, with each of us learning and adapting to each other’s tactics the longer the fights went on. Fight Night games have always been excellent fun in multiplayer mode, and with Round 3’s healthy balance between punching power, stamina and vulnerability you really do have to think on your feet when up against a human opponent.

Alas, the same can’t really be said of your AI chums. Most of the time, even on the hardest difficulty setting, you’ll find that you can come out swinging haymakers and do enough damage to fell your foe in time to avoid stamina issues. This is rather a shame and makes the game rather unrewarding in single player modes, which no doubt hamstrings the overall experience.

This includes the career mode, which itself feels like a missed opportunity. Starting with a rather basic rookie effort (in our case a brilliant Mr. T look-alike!), you progress through various stages of your career by choosing from a selection of fights on offer and completing one of a choice of three training exercise minigames in between. Initially it’s quite exciting to see your boxer improving his attributes and taking down a whole number of opponents, but the longer you go in the more of a drag it becomes.

This can be attributed to a number of things, although the lack of any WWE-style story padding and a lack of a meaningful sense of progression through the ranks are probably the main issues. Now, when I say WWE-style story padding I don’t mean boxers running in to interfere in other matches, getting involved in complex love triangles and discovering that they are in fact super heroes on a mission to save North America from evil foreigners, but some rivalry-building interviews, weigh-ins and showdowns would have gone a long way. The 360 version of the game fluffed at this by having a rather silly press conference scuffle later in proceedings that has been cut from the PS3 version, but a bit of drama here and there would not have hurt and would surely make your rather generic rival somewhat more memorable.

The other problem the career mode has is that the whole progression feels very vague. The mode is divided into a number of chapters that see you building a popularity metre up through winning fights, with a rivalry or title match coming upon filling the whole bar. This means that you’re never quite sure who your main rivals are, where you stand in comparison to other fighters or how close to a title fight you are. Confusingly, you seem to be able to completely wipe the floor with your main rival a couple of times only to discover that, despite all this and your unbeaten record, he somehow seems to have become champion before you.

Outside of this, the game features are pretty much like-for-like with the 360 version. Online modes allow you to take on opponents in ranked or unranked matches and are pretty much lag-free and great fun. There’s a classic ESPN mode that gives you the chance of reliving some of the great rivalries between messrs Ali and Frasier, Gatti and Ward and a selection of the other licensed boxers whom include Manchester’s own Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton, Roy Jones Junior and the late Diego Corrales, who sadly passed away in the period since the game’s release in a traffic accident.

They each look pretty much spot-on too, with the visuals being a match for the already-excellent 360 graphics. The boxers mark up and swell in such a way that it almost gives you sympathy pains, and blood, sweat and saliva sprinkle and spray around the ring with every punch. The arenas also look the part and are tremendously atmospheric, although the crowd tend to use the same animation over and over again and don’t really cheer and roar as much as you’d hope. The commentary grates a little as well, with Joe Tessitore offering a selection of comments that repeat so much you start to think that maybe it’s him and not the boxers that is getting a few too many punches to the cranium.

Still, it’s all good fun. The control system transfers well to the Six Axis pad and the analogue sticks are sensitive enough to enable you to get used to all sorts of different combinations. Pulling the stick right back, for example, will wind up a brutal haymaker that will issue forth once you push the stick in a forward direction, whilst short forward taps of the stick will throw out the jab. Movement, weaving and protecting are all achieved via use of the shoulder buttons and analogue sticks too, and although at first you’ll find it a bit tricky to get the hang of the combinations of buttons and directions needed to dodge and protect as you wish, it soon becomes quite natural.

Fight Night Round 3 is a decent game despite its faults, and one that is thoroughly enjoyable even when taking into account the horrific loading times the PS3 versions seems to have. It’s true that the single player aspect leaves a bit to be desired both in-ring and out, but as a fighting title that needs a little more use of the noggin than your average beat-‘em-up and something that gives you a satisfyingly crunchy feel to your boxing exploits this is as good as it can get. Save the pennies, put the gym membership and boxing gloves away and give your aching face a much-needed rest, this is as satisfying a boxing experience as you can have without the loss of teeth and permanent headaches. Bonus all-round, really!