When I first heard that EA Sports was doing another game in their Fight Night series my expectations were extremely high. When I finally got my hands on the demo for Fight Night Champion, I was impressed yet disappointed at the same time.

First things first, the game looks great and very realistic. The boxer's moves are very fluid and the new 360 degree camera angles really help you get the feel that you are watching a real boxing match. Being able to see the damage pile up on your opponent as you pound him for a few rounds is very satisfying.

The new full spectrum punch control has its ups and downs. The new punching scheme makes it easier to throw certain punches, but it appears to have made the game much more easy for gamers to let their boxer throw an outrageous number of punches per round. One positive is the new controls make it easier for first time players to pick up the game and get into the ring. This might upset more old school Fight Night players, but should help bring more of a casual audience to the game.

The demo plays very fast for a boxing video game. The lack of a realistic stamina meter allows the player to throw punches at will without having to worry about their fighter tiring in the later rounds. This makes the use of bobbing and weaving and other defensive schemes tough to pull off.

The demo did not provide a playable version of the game's new "Champion" mode, but it did include a trailer filled with information.(most of which we already knew!)

In the end, the Fight Night Champion demo was fun to play. Hopefully the stamina meter problems appear worse than they actually are with fights only going 4 rounds in the demo.  The final verdict on this game will not be known til it hits store shelves on March 1st.

Check out EA's tips for the demo below:

(Props to EA Sports for this vid and the tips)