Undisputed is a new game dedicated to boxing, created by Steel City Interactiveand it’s something that so many fans of this combat sport have been waiting for. Yes, because the last game that featured this beautiful sport is Fight Night Champion released in 2011, 13 years ago.
The developers wanted to bring a title back into the ring simulative that puts boxing and his own at the center of attention technicality. Not to mention the fact that there are also a lot of licensed wrestlersincluding women, who you can use to prove that you are the true champions, both in single player and multiplayer. Is this a perfect game? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad title, or a starting point anyway. We talk to you in more detail about Undisputed with this review of ours.
We return to the ring
One thing that Steel City Interactive wanted to make clear right away is that this Undisputed is definitely a title that it is intended to be simulative. It is not an arcade, and for this reason it speaks to a niche of players who are passionate about this sport. However, this does not mean that it is excessively complex, but it is clear that if you want to play Undisputed, you must know at least a minimum amount of how this sport works, given that not too much information is given on the points system, differences between technical KO, KO, or victory by points.
So once you pick up the pad and start Undisputed, you’ll immediately start with a tutorial meeting (which you can also skip) which will teach you the basics of combos and how to punch lightly, punch hard between uppercuts, hooks, straight shots and jabs.
One thing not to be underestimated, as always in simulations, is the defense. You can’t think of just attacking, to knock your opponent to the ground, because he will decidedly complex. So they will be there differences between coverage to faceal body and the dodge. The latter will be particularly difficult to use as they anchor your boxer to the ground, but if you can learn when to use this technique, you will become practically untouchableespecially when you come up against boxers that have a small stretch.
Is that all? Absolutely not. Undisputed also has a stamina systemaccompanied by heartbeats, small arcade elements and a decidedly realistic damage system. This saps energy for every punch delivered, and if you tire your boxer out too much, you’ll start to see this bar lower forever.
Every single blow must be delivered precisely and must hit, even if you collide against the opponent’s defense, it is always better than missing, especially since you would make yourself vulnerable to any counterattacks, which could knock you out. Next to that bar you will see yours heartbeats who seem to be there just like element of flavourbut in reality it will make you understand how much you are pressuring your boxer to perform actions that will tire him.
Adrenaline and bruises
Despite this, it is clear that they must be there some elements a little more arcadegiven that as much as Undisputed wants to speak to fans, it must be able to speak to all types of players. For this reason “adrenaline” was implemented.
When you manage to hit your opponent well and start to overwhelm him with your shots, the stamina will become blue and will be surrounded by lightningthat is the indicator that now is the time to strike. The reason? No stamina will be consumed. There is obviously another side of the coin: since, hypothetically, you will give many hits to your opponent, when the stamina bar returns to normal, you will have a small penalty. This is because if the adrenaline does not make you feel pain and makes you push yourself beyond the limit, once this moment passes, you will feel a minimum of tiredness, just like in real life.
If we have now told you about something decidedly arcade about Undisputed, it’s time to move on to realism with the damage system. We know that in boxing many of the blows that are given go to the head. Both because so it’s easier to KO your opponent (without taking anything away from the punch to the liver), and because the opponent’s face will become so swollen that he will no longer be able to see. A bit like in Rocky IV: «I see three»in reference to Ivan Drago.
But instead of “hitting the middle one,” as Paulie advises Balboa, it would be better avoid hits. For this reason, defense plays a fundamental role in the title created by Steel City Interactive. Especially the facewill be divided into right swelling And lefttogether with any cuts that your boxer might have. You will realize the state of your athlete between one round and another, where you will be able to see bars being filled. Your goal is to don’t let them overfilltaking advantage of the aforementioned defense. Obviously even a well-placed body blow can knock you out, but in that case it will be so direct that there is no need – at least as Undisputed is structured – to have bars as in the case of the face.
The game modes
Undisputed offers three game mode:
- Speed dating
- Career
- Online dating
In the first case we only see the choice among licensed boxers (or those possibly created from you), so you can have a quick fight. We will be able to choose where to have the clash between invented or actually existing stages. If, however, we wanted to prove that we are the best in single player, then we will have to choose Career. Finally obviously, to clash with other people, then we will have to select online meetings.
Obviously the most complex game mode is the Careerwhere you can take on the role of one of the many licensed boxers or create one from scratch. There creation of the boxer is quite standard, and offers everything that a character editor should proposewithout really standing out at all. In any case, that’s fine, since this isn’t a game where character creation is the center of attention.
One thing that has been added is lo boxing style that you will want to adopt which without wanting to get too technical can be summarized with:
- Balanced: you attack from a distance using the reach or up close with very strong blows;
- From a distance: you focus a lot on moving around the opponent and then striking only when you are in the right distance, similar to Ali;
- Up close: very risky but very satisfying as you wait to land a devastating blow without having to move too much, a bit like Canelo;
- Striker: the aim is to attack, and defend very little, in order to be able to finish matches quickly.
Each of these will give gods perk and gods malus to your boxer, how to have more or less stamina, power, resistance to blows.
Once you start your career on Undisputed you will have to participate in various amateur tournamentswhich will slowly take you to the top of the boxing world. But a single boxer is nothing. For this reason you will also have to choose several staff membershow trainer, manager, who will take care of you on the corner all of which will be helpful in avoiding injuries, getting you the best matches, and improving your performance in the ring.
Each will have features where they excel and others where they will underperform, so you will have to choose those who are most suited to the your playing styleso as to have a greater chance of climbing to the top step of the world ranking. And no, even though boxing is also an Olympic sport, the Olympics were not included in Undisputed.
Pad in hand
One thing we feel like criticize at Undisputed is the so-called command queue. Simply put, it is a queue of commands that once started cannot be stopped. This is especially annoying when you knock someone out, because once they come back up, you will give a miss which will cause you to consume stamina unnecessarily. Or it’s something that’s preventing you from avoiding a shot you’re seeing go off. I mean, it really is something annoying for an already heavy gameplay.
Yes, because regardless of the weight category, due to the developers’ desire to make every blow felt, you can also feel the heaviness of movements and often feels like moving a tank even if the boxer in question is known for being quick. Despite this, the sensation of the blow accompanied by the animation of the opponent’s skin that it suffers is decidedly satisfying, on the contrary it makes you worry about the state of health of your boxer. All accompanied by a excellent sound.
Visually satisfying
The developers of Undisputed wanted to give priority at “important things” regarding the graphic aspect of the game. In fact you can see that the models of the ring and the boxers are really well made, while regarding everything the rest it’s slightly more meagerbut that doesn’t mean it’s “bad”, on the contrary, the end result is very good.
As already mentioned previously, the animations they are really excellent, and perfectly capture the movements of the fighters in the ring, even if sometimes it is difficult to understand why certain things happen, such as, for example, why the second blow does not reach the body, if the first one was successfulbut all in all the result is very good.
In conclusion, we can say that Undisputed above all speaks the language of boxing fans. This doesn’t mean that it can’t involve more casual players, who perhaps just want to take on the role of their favorite boxer and fight, or recreate historical moments in sport. It must also be said that it is a title that wants to fill the hole left by Fight Night, and bringing a sport back to the ring which remained distant from the world of gaming for a long time, too long.
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