Game review: Undisputed (PS5)
The last Fight Night boxing game from EA Sports was Fight Night Champion released back in 2010 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Sadly, the team responsible for the Fight Night series is no longer making boxing games because they have to develop EA Sports UFC now.
From 2010 until 2024, there hasn't been a AAA boxing game released due to the absence of the Fight Night series. The only boxing game I played during this period was Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions based on the famous Rocky and Creed movies. Creed Champions was kind of bad, though, because it felt like a simplistic PS2 game with arcade-like controls.
Thankfully, after more than a decade, a new simulation-style boxing game has been released with Undisputed now coming out for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Not only is it realistic, but Undisputed actually includes a host of real-life boxers you can play as, too.
Some of the high-profile boxers in Undisputed include Muhammad Ali, Tyson Fury, Joe Frazier, Deontay Wilder, and many women's boxers too. However, many boxers I grew up watching are sadly not in the game at the moment. This game doesn't have legends such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, or Lennox Lewis like the Fight Night franchise used to have.
If your favourite boxer isn't in Undisputed, you can alternatively try and create them in the game's creator mode. You can choose to create either a male or female boxer, although I have to say the creation options are pretty limited when compared to the WWE 2K video games. I wasn't even able to create WWE's Stone Cold Steve Austin properly in Undisputed because the game didn't have the right type of goatee for me to choose from!
Before you get into the main menu, the first thing most players will do is participate in the game's tutorial mode. If you are new to Undisputed or have never played boxing games before, it's advised you do the tutorial to understand all that you need to do to KO your opponent.
Fight Night veterans will have to know that Undisputed has a much different control scheme to the legendary Fight Night Round 3. Unlike in Round 3, Undisputed does not require players to do complex analogue stick rotations to execute different types of punches.
Undisputed is more user-friendly because you can just use the face buttons to do hooks, jabs, and uppercuts. You can also hold down L1 (LB on Xbox) and press a face button to do body shots. In order to do more powerful punches, you should hold down R1 (RB on Xbox) and press a face button to try and knock your opponent out.
Players can alternatively use the right analogue stick to do a combination of different punches too. However, it's easier than Fight Night because all you need to do is flick the right stick in one direction to punch. The complicated stick rotation control scheme isn't included in this game whatsoever.
Boxing isn't just an offensive style of sport because you also need to know how to defend yourself. Defending in this game is similar to Fight Night because you hold R2 (Right Trigger) to block and L2 (Left Trigger) to evade punches.
Undisputed also has a stamina meter at the bottom of the screen to let you know if your boxer is getting tired. You have to make sure your boxer is fit because their punches get weaker when they get tired.
Presentation-wise, Undisputed does a good job of replicating a real-life boxing broadcast. The game adds Todd Grisham and Johnny Nelson as commentators, although they're not as legendary as Joe Tessitore from the Fight Night series. Tessitore's voice sounds more epic and exciting when you do a KO.
Speaking of KOs, there are replays here that show you how powerful your punches can be. It has a more realistic presentation compared to Fight Night Round 3 because Undisputed uses real-life sounding punches. I remember Fight Night Round 3's replays were more impactful because the punches sounded like nuclear bombs were going off!
The character models are mostly accurate, and I really like the different amount of venues on offer here. You can box in cheap-looking gyms, or even in outside stadiums that look really cool. My favourite venue in the entire game is the fancy-looking stadium in Saudi Arabia.
In terms of game modes, Undisputed includes Quick Fight, Career Mode, Online, and Prize Fights. Career mode is where you can select your own created character or even a professional fighter and build them to become a world champion.
The Career mode is quite lengthy because you start off boxing in gyms before you get your ranking high enough to box in better locations. The only thing I didn't like about the Career mode is that there are no training mini-games whatsoever. When you "train" for your next fight, all you are doing is pressing a few buttons to simulate training, which I think is kind of boring.
To make things more realistic, you also need to look out for your weight and fight prowess because your performance suffers if you don't train enough for a fight. If you get too fat and unfit, your stamina bar will decrease at a faster rate. Not to mention you also want to avoid getting injured because it can cost $10,000 or more to get surgery!
Prize Fights is just a selection of fights that you can do with multiple different difficulty settings. Most of them are based on real-life rivalries, and the fights can be tough to beat in the harder settings.
Is Undisputed a guaranteed knockout? Well, I liked most of the gameplay, and it filled the boxing game drought I've been missing since 2010. However, the game is missing many legends, and the presentation isn't as powerful as Fight Night Round 3. Undisputed is still an enjoyable game, but it's not as legendary as Fight Night back in the day.
Verdict: 8.0/10
