Election Year Knockout

Review

Upon starting the game you’ll be given the choice of two game difficulty options: Casual (for those who are new to boxing games, with simplified controls and easier fights), and Classic (the way the game is supposed to be played, using full controls and harder fights). Should you wish to, you can change the difficulty at any time from the settings menu.

It’s election time and the Election Year Knockout has begun. Policies, problems and everything else is now solved through boxing matches. You begin your election campaign in the Deep South where you’ve been challenged by Jab Bush . . . he’s meek, he’s weak, but he’s no pipsqueak. Jab Bush wants to debate in the ring with you about whether cereal is a soup. The pollsters say that the young folks prefer their cereal punched into a fine paste. To settle the matter, you don your gloves and step into the ring.

Each boxing match is scheduled for five rounds, with each round lasting one minute and fifteen seconds. Your opponents each have their own unique tactics, strategies and special moves. On the bottom centre of the screen is your health and your special attack bars. Your special is the Haymaker, which you can deploy once your special bar is filled. You fill your Haymaker by landing or blocking punches.

If you manage to knock your opponent down three times in a round you will win by Technical Knock Out (TKO). If they fail to get up before the count of ten then you’ll be the winner. However, if you find yourself on the canvas being counted out, you will have to get back up. While on the floor, a Get Back Up! bar will appear; in the centre of this bar is a green area, and below that is a boxing glove. The glove will move left and right and you will have to punch the green area five times in order to get back on your feet. The speed with which the glove moves will depend on both the current position and the size of the green area; slower moves and a larger area make it easier to return to the fold. Keep an eye on your stamina; throwing punches wildly will leave you vulnerable and winded

If you find yourself struggling, you can get some hints from your corner in-between rounds. Maverick is a ghost and will help you try and figure out the opponent's weaknesses. After beating your opponent you’ll gain some voters; you can see the number of voters following you displayed on the Election Year Knockout: 2020 map screen. Also, after winning a match you will be able to give your political party a name, “The ______ Party”. There is a list of words you can add to your party name after each victory and if there’s nothing that takes your fancy then you can use Custom and add what you want. At the end of a bout there’s some Breaking News from the crew at TKO News where they’ll keep up with how your party is doing with some random news.

As you gain more voters you will also unlock new shorts, gloves and trainers. You don’t gain any bonuses with the new gear; it’s purely for aesthetics. You find new gear in the Wardrobe on the main menu screen, and while you’re in there you can customise your character’s appearance: Male, Female, Hair, Facial Hair, Bald, Body and Hair Colour.

Playing the game with the Classic difficulty will allow you to try and complete Challenges (these cannot be completed on Casual difficulty). Each opponent has ten challenges to complete, however, the first five must be completed before you can unlock the next five challenges and the EX Fight mode.

In the Settings there’s options for Audio (Music, Sound Effects and Crowd Ambience Volume Sliders), Graphics Quality (Low and High, Resolution, V-Sync, MSAA and FPS), Miscellaneous (Tutorials On/Off, Touch On/Off, Reset Game and Full Screen), and Difficulty (Casual and Classic).

Election Year Knockout is a fun game; the graphics are good and the characters and chat are great. There is quite a bit to keep you busy, but it can be a little frustrating at times. Timing is key to overcoming the opponents and I must admit I struggled against Birdie Sanders and his bloody bird with the Russian boxing gloves on! Still, I’ve had fun playing the game so far.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!