Thanks to Steel City Interactive and Deep Silver boxing fans can rejoice as we have finally been blessed with another boxing game. I’ve been super keen to sink my teeth into this title because at the moment there are no current boxing games and I’m stuck doing the “Stand & Bang” mode on UFC 5 which, don’t get me wrong, is great but it’s not boxing and it’s not authentic to boxing. So needless to say, let the bell ring and let’s get into this.

Undisputed is what we have all been asking for throughout the years and wanting a new boxing title. Undisputed is dropping day one with 70+ licensed fighters from iconic legends like Muhammed Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson or if you want someone a little more modern you could use the likes of Tyson Fury or Terence Crawford. There is a great selection of female fighters built into the title as well so there is no shortage and I’m sure there will be more coming in future updates.

If you are looking to let off some steam, explore the roster a little, find your favorite fighter, and don’t want to spend too much time, then you have the option of using “Quick Fight.” This game mode is great for getting used to different fighters and their techniques and brushing up on your skills with different combinations before jumping into online or career mode.

I’ve never personally been one to spend too much time in character creation mode. I do respect the people who sit in there for hours fine-tuning their fighters and the attention to detail one can put into the creation means you could make the fighter look like a look-a-like to you. I was a little lost with the tattoo section of the creation menu but everything else was super simplistic to use, and if you are like me you can quickly select what you want and bounce back out of the mode. I know a couple of people who would spend hours in their fine-tuning.

I decided my created fighter was not going to make the cut in the career mode so I went for a licensed career which lets you put on the gloves of one 70+ licensed fighter put into the title from release. I went to someone a little different for the professional career with Eddie “The Beast” Hall. I love how involved you could get at the start of the career by being able to hire your coaches and cutmen, if you don’t know what a cutman is they are more or less your medical team so between rounds they will check you out.

You start your career as an amateur and do a round-robin-based event so you fight, and then get into the actual championships where you can fight your way into getting a belt. I liked how you had the option of what fight you wanted to take, and then being able to negotiate from there to get a bigger purse from the fight or even adjust things like how long the training camp would be. I spent the most time in this game mode as the whole plan is to become Undisputed which so far I’m doing well.

If you like doing more of the quick fight option and just want to kill some time, then you also have the option of jumping into “Prize Fights” and they’re not quite like a normal boxing match, these are time-limited events that there are three different fights and three different difficulties which are intermediate, pro, and the hardest with undisputed. There are some conditions on how the point scoring system works in this game mode and unless you are getting the knockout there is no promise you’ll win the fight based on points. These are good little fights if you want to kill some time and challenge yourself a little more.

There is something about jumping online in these sorts of titles and finding an opponent to stand in the ring and box the living hell out of that is quite therapeutic. Online is broken down into two options which are quick fight and ranked fight, or you can create a custom lobby if you want to invite some friends in to have some fun. There was one thing I could fault about online and that is that Deontay Wilder is a huge META and seems to be the one everyone goes to for those big knockout swings, he seems to beat anyone he versus and being a reviewer I need to test this META and can confirm you become GOD tier when using Deontay.

I also had issues with random connection dropouts in the middle of matches which was a little frustrating. There were slight bugs when you knocked someone onto the canvas and would randomly stop the fight and go into the animation before you allowed the ability to pick yourself up which was not as bad as the connection issues.

There is a tutorial you can jump into when you first launch this title which I would highly recommend doing to get used to the controls and combos involved in the games. The controls take a little bit of getting used to being able to fight two different ways, from out of the box you can use X and B for left and right hooks, and then Y and A for jabs, and holding them together for things like uppercuts or if you want to you can use the right analog stick to make the same moves, but to me, this felt a little different and could not get as involved in these moves.

You can change the controller setup to make it as comfortable as possible. Once you have done a couple of fights and figured out some combos that work for you then you will slide straight in.

There is something about hearing the crowd roar and punches hitting with the commentary team amping you up at the same time. I will be the first to admit hearing the grunting coming from the fighters got a little old super quickly. There was some nice subtle music in the main menu but that is not where you want to hear the noise, it’s the arena and the developers did not disappoint with this.

There is something about throwing a huge right hook and hitting someone in the face, watching spit and sweat go everywhere, and throwing enough right hooks to bust their faces open and watching the blood drain down their face. With the current power of gaming, this has all been made available for all the developers, and Steel City Interactive did not hold back on what they did with this title from the character models and down to the lighting in the arenas, everything looks fantastic.

The one thing I will fault and I’m not sure why they do this, but I want to see the referee in the ring whilst I’m fighting not just vanishing and then showing up if they’re gonna call the fight. The replays the developers put into this were fantastic and seeing that beautiful shot in slow-mo replay made me one happy boxing fan.

Thank you Steel City Interactive and Deep Silver for bringing boxing back to gamers and immersing us into the world of boxing. Undisputed has filled that void super well with a great roster of fighters to sink your teeth into and who knows I might see you in an online match soon and you never know you might be the next Undisputed.

Written by: Hayden Nelson