When I had the opportunity to see a trailer for Undisputed last January, I was very impressed because what I’ve missed since EA decided to put Fight Night on hiatus, or at least pause it, to focus on UFC, is a boxing game per se. It’s a sport that works very well as a game, but a genre that has been forgotten. Fight Night Champion was released over 13 years ago and now comes Undisputed from Steel City Interactive, and I was incredibly excited to finally be able to play the final product.
Did it go as well as you expected? Well, yes and no. It’s a really good boxing game, but it has its problems. Since the preview 21 months ago, there have been tweaks with updated punch animations and balance changes to the fitness system, as well as adjustments to get the right feel, moves and characteristics for each fighter, and last but not least, a career mode has been revamped.
But aside from the Early Access changes, what is Undisputed? This is a simple boxing game that aims to convey the feeling of real boxing. There are no flashy animations, over-the-top characters, or a nonsensical story mode. Punches carry weight and the possibility of being knocked out is just a few punches away, no matter how dominant you were. I like being aggressive in games like this, but Undisputed doesn’t allow you to just stand around and hit without remorse. Your boxer’s stamina decreases with each punch, and as the meter gets lower, your punches slow down until it eventually feels like you’re trying to fight in a puddle of syrup. Not only will your own punches be affected as your guard will be weaker and it will be easier for your opponent to break through, but the boxer will be so tired that his movements will become sluggish, making it harder to escape if necessary.
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The box system is primarily controlled with the right analog stick. If you move left you get a left hook, if you lean left you get a left jab, if you bend down you get an uppercut, and so on. Holding down LB/L1 directs these punches to the body, and all of this can also be done using the usual buttons (Y, X, B, A on Xbox) for a more old-school feel. Blows to the head hurt more, blows to the body tire opponents in long fights and, according to the developers themselves, there are more than 60 different hits. They also claim to have the largest lineup of licensed boxers in history with more than 70, including old favorites like Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano with current boxers like Canelo Álvarez, Tyson Fury and women like Claressa Shields and Cecilia Brækhus.
Everything about boxing itself is great and Undisputed is the boxing game you’ve been waiting for. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. By far the biggest problem is the poor animation of the encounters that take place in the fight itself. When you defeat an opponent, it doesn’t matter where in the ring you do it, because in the takedown sequence, where the referee counts, the wrestler is always in the middle of the ring. A punch to the jaw to make the opponent fall on their butt and hit the ropes? The next second the referee counts for someone lying in the middle of the ring. Also, it seems like there are only three or four different animations when someone tries to get up, and in my first 15 KO victories, the opponent tried to get up the same way maybe 13 times after the referee counted to nine and collapsed then together upon arrival. to 10. The same thing happens in the breaks between rounds. One fighter sits and nods to what the trainer is saying while the other sits and breathes heavily over and over again. It’s too monotonous, which is also due to the inferior commentators. I’ve heard several phrases many times, and unfortunately that also applies to the career mode, which is otherwise great.
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As you rise through the ranks, many of the fighters on the leaderboard are created by the computer with made-up names. This isn’t a problem in itself, but there is no voice dialog for these generated names, meaning it’s very confusing for commenters to know who they mean when they speak. “He has longer reach” or “He won the round easily” mean nothing to me if I don’t know whether they refer to me or my opponent. Luckily, that’s the only thing I can complain about in the game’s main mode.
Here you create your own fighter using a complex character creator before hiring a trainer, manager and trimmer. These also accompany you during fights and are visible in your corner of the ring. The higher you rise in the rankings, the more money and better staff you can hire. To earn this money, you can accept an offer from your manager (better managers get a higher percentage of your income but give you a better chance of climbing the rankings through better battles) or negotiate a better deal yourself. Once you’ve decided on an opponent, it’s time to choose a gym for training camp, where higher quality gyms are more expensive but offer better training bonuses. Each week before the fight, you can choose to train a specific thing, such as jumping, to improve your speed and endurance. However, it is important that you maintain balance because if you train every week, your boxer will be exhausted the day of the fight. It’s possible to rest and recharge for a week, but if you rest too much, you won’t be in peak physical condition.
You can also play Prize Fights, which are three different fights on three different difficulty levels. They rotate every week and depending on how well you do, you’ll receive a point and end up on a leaderboard alongside others who have completed the same battle. This week you can play as Sugar Ray Robinson against the man with the same nickname, Sugar Ray Leonard. If you prefer to play online, you can do so with or without leaderboards.
Undisputed is exactly the boxing game I’ve been waiting for for over 13 years. It looks fantastic, has realistic damage and plays well thanks to the excellent and complex controls. Unfortunately, there are a few minor repetition issues in the animations and commentary, but if you can look past that, I see no reason not to take off your boxing gloves and punch someone (even the World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall) in the face. Great job, Steel City Interactive.
