Undisputed from developer Steel City Interactive ends the drought for boxing fans.

The effort, backed by publisher Deep Silver, is the first licensed game for the sport since 2011, when EA put out Fight Night Champion.

Interestingly, the fact it was originally called eSports Boxing Club speaks to the game's apparent original goals. But over the course of development and early access, a career mode, some live-service sensibilities and lots of licensed goodness has joined the fray.

At launch, the game certainly hopes to match its namesake in the minds of casual and even hardcore boxing fans.

Graphics and Gameplay

Undisputed features a massive list of licensed boxers, likely bigger than most efforts in the past. It also goes deep with licensed trainers, managers and even cutmen.

This is apparent upon a single glance, with some of the sport's biggest stars instantly recognizable.

As a whole, though, Undisputed is visually impressive. It largely nails the in-ring immersion by handling must-haves like lighting, shadow work and physics quite well. Boxers gleam with sweat, which flies through the air when fighters take a hit, damage occurs and the sound design is strong.

While there are only a handful of arenas at launch, they are varied and always visually interesting. The trainers and the like closest to the right during a bout are super detailed, while the crowds actually watching the fight are sometimes blurry in order to give off a nice draw distance and sense of scale.

It all comes together nicely, especially as the game loops in some broadcast-style camera angles around the arena and during fighter intros. But there are some issues too, such as some seemingly missing audio at times and a droning crowd that doesn't always match the happenings in the ring.

Where some boxing games in the past felt more arcade-like in the sense that most pickable characters felt largely the same, that's simply not the case here.

Size, speed and other traits have a big impact on the gameplay, as in real life. That makes it compelling and important to tweak one's strategy on a per-opponent basis.

There is a stamina gauge to monitor for obvious reasons, though there seems to be more strategy baked into the idea than in prior boxing games. Players can attempt to rehab the gauge more than usual at the end of the round by throwing fewer punches, going for a clinch, or taking a knee, although there is great risk in all those approaches.

Gameplay goes beyond just a basic understanding of blocking and looking for an opening. Utilizing slips is important too, as is footwork.

In fact, it's footwork that is perhaps the most interesting thing here. Options like loose and flat-footed dictate the how and why of movement, giving players more options and control than most past offerings.

A get-up mechanic is where boxing games have seriously stumbled in the past. Undisputed asks players to line up both trigger buttons into green areas that move independently. It's certainly not the worst iteration of the mechanic ever, though it might end up polarizing for its difficulty—but that's what happens when boxers get knocked down in real life too, right?

It will be interesting to see if the overarching reaction paints Undisputed as more of an arcade-feeling offering than a simulation. Either way, the immense control over each boxter is impressive, and there is a broad, fun appeal for casual players and some nice depth to explore, too.

Career and More

The career mode's premise won't come as a shock—players start low on the ladder and must work their way up. Along the way, impactful decisions like who to hire as coaches and doctors play a big role.

There is an interesting level of strategic choice on more than just basic stat bars there, too. Going with a new manager or coach means coughing up all of the buffs earned over time together—but the upshot might be more attribute slots with a new person, albeit while starting over at ground zero.

Players also have some measure of control over fight deals. This is where more strategy and player choice come into the equation. Not properly resting between fights can lead to in-ring disasters. Punching above one's weight class or level might pay off big time, but it could also backfire. Focusing on fame instead of training, ditto.

Other notable licensing details include major organizations such as World Boxing Council (WBC) and The Ring magazine, meaning earnable championships from them.

Despite the impressive choice left in the hands of players, career mode does feel rather basic. That's not to say it is bad—but career modes in games have gone overboard over the last decade-plus when it comes to cutscenes and attempting to tell narratives. As a result, this doesn't hold the personality or tone of say, those older Fight Night games by any means.

But that was almost to be expected for a game that started named after esports competition. It's still nice to have choice and pretty worthwhile character creation tools.

Those creation tools handle not just appearances but movement and fight styles, as well as stats. And there is a mind-bogglingly big list of the latter, with players really capable of fine-tuning their creations down to little degrees in a way that is refreshing.

Beyond career, Prize Fights are where a big dose of modern replayability will come from for players. These are time-gated events with different modifiers, such as rulesets or boxers allowed and will update regularly.

Quick matches let players customize venues, rounds, and rulesets, while online ranked leaderboards create that creative environment a big chunk of the audience will crave.

Undisputed does launch with a smooth tutorial and loads of options, be it varying control schemes or other details of the experience. It runs well, though, at times, online choppiness can be an issue, which is problematic in one-on-one scenarios like this.

The game promises both free content updates and paid DLC in the future, establishing this as a base before potentially expanding upon an already impressive package.

Conclusion

Undisputed is a welcome, authentic trip back to the world of boxing in the video game sphere.

While there are shortcomings, such as the barebones career and performance in spots, they aren't anything totally out of band for a sports game making its debut, either—the game's very public progress over the years hints at plenty of future updates.

More important than anything else, Undisputed is just plain fun to play and spending even a little time with it makes it clear this was a passion product by fans of the sport.

While it does sort of win the "undisputed" vacant title by default right now, Undisputed sets the bar high for itself and anyone else bold enough to step in the ring with it.