The game has all the standards we've come to expect from the series - exhibition matches, online multiplayer, the 'legacy mode' where players build a boxer from scratch - but with the brilliant addition of the title's single-player champion mode. Players take full control of the fictional fighter Andre Bishop from his days as a lowly jail-house brawler to the greatest fighter of all time. The five-hour journey seamlessly blends challenging matches with well-acted cutscenes, and, while the story is jigsawed together from decades of boxing flick cliches, for once the fights have meaning.

From no-holds barred prison rules to amateur bouts, matches are fought and won based on the player's place in the story. A cut above the eye in the first professional match sends the player reeling, while breaking a fist in a championship match means either continuing southpaw or risking the title. It all culminates in the final fight, with an endurance test on a par with Rocky's bouts. And when a cutscene reveals that your Don King-like promoter has fixed the fight, there's no greater feeling than one-punching the opponent in the 12th to void all bribes.

Along with the much-needed drama, EA has also finally updated total punch control - no more frustrating half-circles for uppercuts, no more quick-angle jabs; just one flick and your punch is delivered. It initially seems like a dumbing-down, but the new system stresses tactics and strategy, rather than the timing of the player's opposable thumb. Fights flow quicker and boxers' movements are smoother; button-mashing is gone, and a bad defence can land the player on the canvas just seconds after a win seemed in the bag.

It all adds up to easily the finest boxing video game ever created, a treat for true fans of both the real and the fictionalised sport.