Undisputed Review (PS5) – Can you believe it’s been over thirteen-years since the last Fight Night outing from EA Sports?
Seemingly usurped by modern UFC outings, the Fight Night franchise has gone completely dormant for over a decade, leaving boxing fans yearning and craving another taste of that sweet science.
Undisputed (no, it has nothing to do with those old THQ UFC games!) signals the resounding return of authentic video game boxing, with all the sweaty men and crisp-sounding haymakers you could ask for.
Forged by Steel City Interactive with the backing of publishers Deep Silver, does Undisputed do enough to warrant a renaissance of boxing games, or does it suffer a first-round knockout?
Undisputed Review (PS5) – An Underdog With Bite
An Underdog With Bite
Developed by Steel City Interactive and backed by veteran publishers Deep Silver, Undisputed garnered eye-wide attention when it was unveiled as something of a spiritual successor to Fight Night.
Boasting chin-busting presentation qualities, brutal feedback, and hypnotic abdominal-rippling body shots that’ll certainly ensure boxing fans quiver in satisfaction as they feel the thunderous impact of a left hook to the liver coarse through their controllers.
The hype surrounding Undisputed is unmistakable, but now it has to hold up its dukes and meet Fight Night in the center of the ring.
Even though Undisputed puts up a promising and admirable fight, it does fall considerably short of its forebear’s majesty, battered, bruised and knocked unconscious in the 9th round of a mostly one-sided contest-but at least it still hung in there and took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’ until its gas tank gave out and found itself looking up at the lights.
Your eyes won’t deceive you, Undisputed is lacking in game modes and options. There’s a career mode where you predictably take a created fighter to boxing prominence, a quick fight option where you can get scrapping straight away, Prizefights for some daily challenges to participate and complete, and an as-expected competitive online component so you can face-off against worldwide competition.
A Courageous Contender
The career is where you’ll create your boxer and take him or her on a journey from a tournament situated inside a dingy bar, to the hallowed WBC arena where your path towards an undisputed champion is paved.
Unfortunately, the career mode is bare-bones, systematically roping you through pre-fight activities, contract signings and the fights themselves with no drama or dynamism to speak of.
Your singular priority is to win every single fight in front of you while staving off injuries, and then continuing onto the next fight where you’ll do largely the same. Even the training regimens are simulated and diminished by the absence of an interactive element. Without cutscenes or the incentives to invest time in the career mode it becomes dull to keep persisting with.
Undisputed’s roster packs in both contemporary stars, as well as the legends that paved the way for the modern sweet science stalwarts.
Standouts like Deontay Wilder, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury accompany a crop of British standouts like Terence Crawford and Ricky Hatton, along with legends like Frank Bruno, Joe Frazier, Roy Jones Jr., and Tommy Morrison. They even threw in World’s Strongest Man’s giant stack of porterhouse steaks Eddie Hall as well.
Noteworthy absences include the likes of Anthony Joshua and Lennox Lewis, so you might be dismayed by some of the omissions, but with 70 fighters there are enough well-rounded inclusions for Undisputed to be forgiven-though the Heavyweight Division is rather flat and made up of a few big names and a smattering of legends, which makes it disappointingly undersized.
For a new IP, Undisputed hauls in a commendable foundation for which to build itself for hypothetical sequels, and while it would’ve been nice for there to be more meat on these punchable ribs this time, the priority for this new boxing title appears to be focused towards the look and feel of Undisputed, which is where the true zest of this latest boxing contender can truly be felt.
Blood, Sweat Smears And Tears
In the ring, Undisputed handles its business with sweaty aplomb. Fighters meet in close proximity to throw down, grunting and gasping as they exert their fullest efforts into each and every shot. Combos land with ferocity to the head and body, and while sweat will flick off your head, the body ripples ominously after a lethal blow, so you gotta cover up and keep your body parts moving to avoid getting knocked down.
Every shot feels dangerous to pull off in Undisputed, especially a walloping haymaker that’s so awesome to feel the essence of through your controller, that you’ll feel compelled to keep landing them. Similarly to Fight Night, momentary flashes signal devastating counter strikes, and you best defend yourself competently while keeping your eyes fixed on that stamina bar, or you might find yourself victimized by a devastating hook, haymaker or uppercut that floors you.
The sensation of getting rocked in Undisputed produces a Brain-addling impact where the sound starts ringing and your best option is to play defense until this moment passes. Meanwhile, the aggressor will look to find the best punch to put you down with, and when it lands it’s time to answer the ref’s 10 count.
Knockdown can look and feel visceral with blood spatters splattering the screen and an instantly replay to quickly remind you of the gratifying shot you just landed. The referee will count you down until you get your rump back up and continue on. Sometimes your opponent won’t stay down no matter how much punishment they endure, and maybe your best chance of finishing them off is for the ref to stop the contest because your opponent’s face starts resembling a bleeding strawberry.
Boxing rounds tend to last for 3 minutes and go on for up to 12 rounds depending on the match rules. You won’t be concerned on the amount of time you have remaining in each round though, as you’ll be concentrating on ensure your opponent’s body crumbles to the mat and incapacitated enough so that he or she doesn’t answer the count of 10.
When the round closes though, the bell will sound and there will be a logo wipe across the screen, after which your fighter will be seen sitting and recovering in the corner. This wipe is an unnecessary inclusion, as you’ll often hear punches being thrown whilst it appears, and without a formal break-up of the action, it kinda feels censored like we’re not meant to see the rounds end organically.
The Right Site For A Fight Night
Contender status might be where Undisputed hangs its gloves, but there’s no denying that it looks the part of a fully immersive boxing presentation. The venues come alive with lights and a truly captivating grandeur that ignites you with an enthusiasm to exchange rubber in the ring.
The main event-level feeling of each arena is truly impressive to behold, and there are an array of locations for bouts to take place in such as the hallowed WBC arena, several regal theaters, tightly-packed gyms and seedy bars.
Todd Grisham of WWE and UFC fame joins boxing veteran Johnny Nelson to call the action. They both do a good job with their lines calling the action, but they do repeat themselves to such an extent that you may want to switch the commentary off.
Undisputed’s music selection resorts to tough-guy rap that doesn’t sound good at all, you might as well make a recording of those face-breaking knockdowns during gameplay and listen to those instead.
Much like the determined underdog facing the resplendent and almighty champion, Undisputed gets its licks in trying to carve its own legacy over the old Fight Night franchise, but ultimately suffers defeat due to a disappointingly crummy career mode, a decent if patchy roster, and some in-ring kinks. Still, Undisputed impresses with its blunt-force combos and its attempts to rock its competition with heavy unrelenting blows.
The in-ring action of Undisputed is what shines through, and this is what you should savour the most, along with all those attractive venues and presentation qualities.
Thankfully, the in-ring action here is satisfying enough to keep you engaged for a while. Undisputed is deserving of your attention and you’ll be glad to give it a go if you miss the Fight Night games, just so long as you don’t enter the fray believing it’s championship material.
Undisputed will be released on October 11th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC
Review code kindly provided by the publisher