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Sports games are outrageously difficult to create, so you’ve got to give credit to Sheffield-based studio Steel City Interactive for having the guts to step into the ring. EA Sports defined generations with its Fight Night franchise, but lagging sales mean it’s moved on to the more lucrative UFC license. Undisputed swings for the fences by attempting to fill the gaping void left behind, and while it could use more iteration, it’s not a bad first effort by any stretch.

In the ring is where the game shines, with a dizzying amount of stats and attributes making each boxer feel unique. Whether it’s quick hands or knockout blows, the developer has done an amazing job of ensuring everyone handles differently. This is most obvious when you create your own character and start out in your own personal single player career; you’ll lack the deft touch and sheer power of the professionals in the roster, and will need to work hard to improve your stats.

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The career mode is actually surprisingly in-depth, it’s just far too dry to remain engaging. A lot of your progress will play out in spreadsheet-style menus, as you hire a coach, cutman, and manager to oversee your success. You’ll negotiate fights, earn money, and progress to better gyms – all of which will enable you to raise your statistics. But there are difficult decisions to make along the way: too much time spent training could mean you enter the ring with low stamina – or, worse, with an injury.

While the pieces are there for a really in-depth experience, the text-based presentation lacks pizazz. We’d like to see this mode evolved in a hypothetical sequel, underlining our character’s journey from scabby apartment to glitzy penthouse and everything in between. Some minigames, both in the gym and in the media, wouldn’t go amiss – and perhaps some cutscenes to document key moments in each boxer’s career would be nice. We’d also like to see more organic rivalries emerge, as is the case in real-life.

It’s clear that the bulk of the developer’s efforts have been focused on the gameplay, and fighting feels great. Characters are responsive, and the camera pulls up close as two boxers square up. You can choose to use the face buttons or right analogue stick to throw your punches, and an extremely intelligent stamina system lends the release its tactical depth. In essence, swinging will cause your heart rate to increase, which will then directly affect your energy levels.

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So you need to be smart and look for openings in your opponent’s defence; chip away at their body to force them to bring their hands down and then target their head. Damage is divided up into more specific elements, like a cut to the right eye or a swelling on the cheek. These become your targets as the fight progresses, as you work on damaged areas to end your opponent’s fight early. The referee can intervene, so it’s all quite realistic.

Knockouts feel brutal, too, but they’re undone by a lack of drama around them. There’s only one cutscene that plays when fighters try to get back up, and so it’s another area where Undisputed needs that second round of investment in order to up the overall variety. Commentary is horrendous, too, with many of the same lines repeated over in a single fight; by the time you’re ten hours in, you’ll have heard the same sentences potentially hundreds of times.

We should take a moment to mention the roster, which isn’t complete but is still impressive. The likes of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have been body scanned, so look photo realistic in the game. There’s also other key fighters from the history of boxing, including Muhammad Ali and Frank Bruno. But there are obvious absentees, like Mike Tyson and Chris Eubank Snr. They could always be added later as post-release DLC.

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To be fair to the game, though, there’s quite a lot here. The number of arenas, ranging from grimy amateur clubs all the way through to glitzy Riyadh domes, is impressive – and the Prize Fight mode, which offers new match-ups across three difficulty settings each week, should also give you a reason to come back to the release regularly. While we didn’t invest too much of our time into the online multiplayer, the netcode feels fairly sturdy from our experience – although there’s not a whole lot of meat on this mode’s bones.

Conclusion

Undisputed doesn’t pull its punches, and it’s a tidy first attempt. While the game lacks the polish of a true champion, there’s the meat of something special here. Career mode has all the elements of a great, but it’s a bit dry in its current guise and could use a little more spectacle and variety. Meanwhile, the actual core boxing feels fantastic, but repetitive commentary and a lack of in-ring drama let it down. This is a release that’s not quite ready to contend for a belt yet, but it’s not a million miles off.

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