As a seasoned boxing game enthusiast with over two decades of virtual pugilism under my belt, I must say that Undisputed has truly captured the essence of the sweet science like no other game before it. The depth of its mechanics, from the 60+ variations of punches to the intricate management of stamina, health, and block meters, is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Independent game developer Steel City Interactive faces a challenging task, as they must outperform EA’s critically acclaimed boxing game, Fight Night Champion, often regarded as the best boxing game ever made. Indeed, Undisputed is the first officially licensed boxing game in more than a decade and it holds its ground against tough competition. Despite being an underdog, Undisputed puts up a strong fight.
“Fighters have a lot of detail to them and the lighting and sweat look great.”
The impressive visuals in this new boxing game, Undisputed, truly showcase a decade’s worth of technological progress since the last licensed boxing title. To put it simply, these are the best graphics ever seen in a boxing game, although that’s not saying much given the last one was released in 2011. However, Steel City has managed to create an astonishing level of realism with Unity engine. The roster of over 70 fighters looks remarkably like their real-life counterparts, even capturing intricate details such as Canelo Alverez’s tattoos and every detail on Connor Benn’s fully tattooed body. As the fights progress, the fighters sweat profusely, and the lighting within the game’s 20+ venues is nothing short of breathtaking. In summary, Undisputed boasts the most realistic graphics ever seen in a boxing game, meticulously depicting the likenesses of its extensive roster of fighters.
Just like graphics, animations play a crucial role in Undisputed, and I’m thrilled to report that it delivers excellently on this front as well. It’s no easy feat to depict intricate body-to-body contact with elaborate arm movements without the awkwardness of clipping or frame distortion disrupting the experience. Fortunately, most actions in Undisputed appear natural, with combo punches and swift footwork skillfully avoiding that eerie uncanny valley feeling. Fighters accurately adjust their body for uppercuts and realistically pivot their feet when preparing for a heavy punch aimed at a KO. Whether you’re switching between stances in combos or blocking with strategic jabs, the movements maintain a sense of authenticity and realism.
Distinctive combat styles and peculiar actions are showcased by renowned fighters, while less recognized ones lack individualized animations.
Although not all fighters exhibit their distinctive postures and idiosyncrasies, many prominent ones do. Regrettably, a fighter’s distinctive fighting style doesn’t extend to their entrance or post-match conduct. For instance, Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t kneel in his corner before fights; instead, he adopts the standard animations shared by other fighters when they’re not actively boxing. However, the graphics and animations are what truly make this experience for me, as they capture the authenticity and intensity of a real-life boxing match.
While graphics are important, they’re not everything in a game, and it’s the modes where Undisputed might leave some players wanting more. The game offers Quick Match, Career, Prize Fights, and both Online Ranked and Unranked modes. Prize Fights are unique weekly events designed to push your skills to the limit. Unfortunately, there’s no way to transfer the rewards from a successful Prize Fight to your Career Mode. The only compensation is a spot on the leaderboard, some bragging rights, and trophies/achievements for exceptional skill displays.
In Career Mode, you have complete control over the management and statistical aspects of a fighter, which includes real-life fighters as well as your own personalized character.
The game Undisputed doesn’t strive to replicate the narrative and presentation of Fight Night‘s Career Mode. Instead, its Career Mode focuses on providing a realistic simulation of a boxing career, with minimal story or flair beyond the actual fights. The mode is text-based, lacking voice acting and immersive training mini-games found in most sports games. However, once I understood that it wasn’t aiming to be like other titles, I found enjoyment in its offerings despite its limitations.
The character creator offers an extensive array of options, enabling you to thoroughly personalize your character’s face and distribute their stats flexibly.
In this game, Undisputed, the character creation tool is remarkably flexible, enabling various body shapes and facial traits. Check out what I’ve made to see the terrifying or stunning creations you can build. The game offers numerous adjustable body part sliders along with an assortment of distinct hair styles. It’s clear that fans won’t be let down by this character creator. As anticipated, you can customize all the stats for your character and choose their stance, gloves, shorts, taunts, and walkout music. The options for gloves, shorts, and shoes are disappointingly limited, offering fewer than 10 choices each, so here’s hoping the studio expands the selection post-launch.
After developing your character in Career Mode and successfully navigating the initial tournament, it’s now time to recruit your team of three staff members for some serious battles ahead. Earning money from victories in fights, you must skillfully budget these funds to cover staff salaries and medical costs. Staff with exceptional abilities command higher wages, much like top-tier gyms that provide greater stat boosts during training come at a premium. I found this financial juggling act quite engaging, satisfying my management cravings typically fulfilled by other games’ Franchise Mode. Additionally, both your fighter and manager will gain levels following each ring encounter.
Practice sessions help hone your fighting skills, build physical fitness, boost energy levels, and enhance various statistics prior to an upcoming bout.
In addition to finding enjoyment in the delicate balance between maintaining my fighter’s weight management and ensuring fight readiness during weekly simulations, it’s common to encounter situations where you need to wait a few weeks or months before reaching the required sharpness or weight limit to participate in a fight. This adds an extra layer of realism to the game. The waiting periods for injuries can be even more frustrating; you either have to endure longer recovery times, or choose to pay a medical fee to have your team attend to you immediately, provided they’re skilled enough to do so. Unfortunately, my cutman was affordable but ineffective, leaving me with unhealed injuries and depleted funds. Despite the lack of aesthetic appeal in these Career Mode activities, fans of management simulations will appreciate the intricate dance between money, training, and staff management that Undisputed offers.
During a fight, there’s always a risk that different parts of your body could get hurt. This might lead to expensive medical bills for treatment.
If you mishandle these crucial aspects early on in your career, there’s a high risk of ending up with a less successful career path. It can be disheartening to shoulder medical bills from injuries sustained during past matches, which only increases the importance and urgency of your professional decisions. However, despite winning a title in Career Mode, there are no unique features that make it stand out compared to other game modes. This lack of distinction makes Career Mode seem less special and valuable than it could be, with the same commentary team and cutscenes as other modes.
It turned out that I couldn’t access the game’s multiplayer features during my playtime because it was within the pre-launch window rather than the beta phase earlier in the year. Players who participated in the beta had varying experiences with matchmaking, reporting occasional lag and ghost punches as issues. However, this review focuses on the current version of the game, so I can’t comment on the online servers at this moment. The online modes offer swift matches, tournaments, ranked matches, and even let you terrorize other players with your custom characters if you wish.
“You can sway your head backwards to narrowly avoid heavy punches.”
In essence, let’s delve into the core aspects of any fighting game: the gameplay dynamics. The punching moves in Undisputed are categorized into four main types: body, straight, uppercut, and quick jabs. Remarkably, these basic punches have been extended into more than 60 unique variations, taking into account footwork, angle, and combination. This diversity is enhanced by the ‘strong’ modifier, which can be applied to any punch using the right trigger for a powerful knockout blow.
I like how, not only can your head and body be damaged over time, but your block as well. This is another little realistic wrinkle that helps adds authenticity to the experience. You really cannot rely too heavily on any one stance unless you want that part to get fatigued early on in the fight. The way the individual parts of your fighter get drained is balanced quite well, encouraging players to stay on their toes switching up their offense and defense to spread around the damage just like the real sport. This attention to detail regarding individual fighter parameters translates to the strategy involved with picking your opponent. For example, if your Career Mode fighter has weak blocking and strong body stats, it may be wise to choose an opponent that doesn’t typically wear out the opponent’s block with rapid jabs.
As you use up your energy and get hurt, your speed and punching power gradually decrease, making your movements slower and your hits weaker.
In simpler terms, managing the energy of different aspects during combat adds an enjoyable strategic depth to the game “Undisputed“, making it feel more like a simulation-style fighting game. However, sometimes punches can slip through even when properly blocked, which can frustrate as it negates your calculated risk and reward attempts. It’s not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen occasionally. Additionally, players have noticed that the fighter is tightly connected to the opponent, making the fights feel like they’re on a fixed path with limited freedom of movement. Although you can dodge and sway, doing so affects your ability to throw punches simultaneously, which feels restrictive in the game “Undisputed“. Despite coming close to delivering an authentic sim boxing experience, this limitation on punching while dodging or swaying is particularly noticeable.
In terms of value per dollar, “Undisputed” is a decent boxing game that can appease fans of the genre who miss EA’s “Fight Night” series. Unlike EA’s acclaimed series, it lacks the captivating storyline found in its Story Mode. However, “Undisputed” offers an enjoyable Career mode with engaging management aspects. The game is particularly noteworthy for its stunning graphics, being the most visually impressive boxing game to date, and boasts a roster of 70 licensed fighters. Whether “Undisputed” justifies its $59.99 price tag is questionable, but it’s a strong contender for boxing game enthusiasts, offering a satisfying experience until a more formidable competitor enters the ring.
This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
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2024-10-08 14:41