With Floyd 'Money' Mayweather possibly making a permanent withdrawal from the bank of boxing and the tartare takeaway preferences of 'Iron' Mike Tyson now a thing of the past, the problem the pro fight game currently has is a lack of characters. Conversely, this is likely to be the last issue for EA's new arcade boxing title FaceBreaker, which has had its over-the-top personality built around those of its action figure style pugilists.

The game includes thirteen cartoon prize fighters to select from, twelve selectable and one hidden, each the product of some of the more warped parts of the developers' minds. They include Voodoo, a 300lb witch doctor who likes nothing better than rubbing in his superiority by using his ample posterior on your face; Romeo, a Latino Lover whose matador moves are intended solely to make women amorous and men jealous; and Steve, a chubby nerd who has invented his own martial art, called Ninja Boxing, that he perfected in his own private dojo, which also happened to be his parent's basement.

If this isn't enough for you, and especially if you fancy the opportunity to see your own face, or that of someone you know, being broken, EA have also included a similar system to the one in their recent Tiger Woods titles, which allows you to put your own mug in the ring. Take a shot of your face and you can then place it onto the body of any fighter in the game before using the options to customise different parts of your appearance such as hairstyle, facial hair and in-ring outfit. Once you've finished your masterpiece you can even upload it onto the EA Sports World website to share, or download other people's efforts to include in your own game.

As a counter-punch to the jaw of anyone expecting FaceBreaker to be a shallow workout in visual superficialities, the game is trying to tip the scales right on the weight limit between simplicity and depth. The control system brings some tactical thought to the fray with its mechanics, which when combined with the pace of the game means that anyone pulling on a pair of gloves is going to connect with their fare share of punches. Using a range of defensive moves, such as parries, blocks and dodges, together with some effective bobbing and weaving, will create openings for you to work your opponent's body and head with a range of light attacks and haymakers. Every time you land a shot you'll increase the level of your fighter's 'breaker' meter, which is split up into different sections, each of which allows you to pull off an increasingly powerful special move. With fights won by achieving either three knockdowns or a single knockout, it's up to you to decide whether you get a lead in the contest by cashing in your breaker amount early to pull off a Bone Breaker or wait longer to be able to hit one of the more devastating Ground Breakers, Sky Breakers, or the ultimate lights out move, the Face Breaker, which can only be attempted when you've completely filled the meter.

By its very makeup, FaceBeaker is the type of game that has to have chances for multiplayer fun - and the Couch Royale mode allows you to get a bunch of up to six friends together in your living room and customise rules to set up your very own fight club just the way you like it. Alternatively, if you're on your own, the Brawl for it All mode is the name of the main career mode, which involves taking on other fighters for increasingly prestigious belts as you work your way up the ladder in the boxing world. If all this gets to be a little beneath you then the Showboat option gives you the opportunity to really taunt your competitors by taking them on with one hand literally behind your back.

FaceBreaker certainly has all the ingredients to put a new face on boxing games and perhaps even break new ground - is the finished article plays even half as good as it sounds then boxing and fighting game fans will be in for a real treat.

FaceBreaker is due for release on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on 5th September 2008. The Wii will also be getting its own unique version of the game called, Facebreaker K.O. Party, the release date for which is still to be confirmed.

Previewed by James Hamblin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).