While sports games make up an incredibly popular genre among gamers worldwide, boxing games have been something out of an outlier. There aren't many strong, realistic boxing titles out there, and the games that do exist leave a lot to be desired.
This isn't the case for Undisputed, though. The title is one of the strongest boxing games out there, featuring satisfying, largely realistic combat, a wide range of iconic boxers to choose from, a decent system of stamina management, awesome arenas, and more. But the game does feature something of a learning curve, so this article contains 10 beginner tips for Undisputed.
10 Prioritize Punch Accuracy
The sport of boxing has various criteria that judges use to determine which fighter is winning a given match. While Undisputed is still in Early Access, it seems that, as things stand, the judges tend to favor punch accuracy, rather than fighter activity.
While players may want to try to KO every opponent, this just isn't realistic a lot of the time, especially if they want to learn how to fight defensively. So, focussing on punch activity is a great way for players to ensure that their standing on the judges' scorecards is favorable, no matter how hard they might be trying to end the fight.
9 Don’t Rely On Opponents’ Telegraphs
A crucial part of boxing is being able to read one's opponents, especially how they telegraph their strikes (if they do). A telegraph refers to movements a fighter makes before throwing a punch - if fighters can learn how to effectively read their opponents' telegraphs, then they can often predict what punch their opponent is going to throw before they throw it.
Telegraphing in Undisputed isn't all that sophisticated as of yet (and other boxing titles like eSports Boxing Clublack realistic animations, too). So, players shouldn't focus too heavily on how their opponent is moving or anything that might appear to be a telegraph - this can actually be misleading.
8 Activity Isn’t Everything
As mentioned previously, the judges in Undisputed seem to favor the accuracy of punches landed over activity fairly heavily.
Like in real boxing, activity isn't everything. Punches thrown aren't the same thing as punches landed, after all. Players shouldn't expect to win a match for being more active, when their approach to the match, while keeping them active, isn't actually effective. Instead, players should be looking for ways to land the more damaging blows to their opponent, defend themselves properly, and keep control of the ring for as much of the fight as they can.
7 Don’t Focus Too Much On Perks
As is fairly common with sports titles, Undisputed features a range of perks that different characters have, which are intended to increase the effectiveness of certain punches, give different buffs (the Second Wind perk gives players a temporary boost to stamina efficiency and punching power after being knocked down, for example), and so on.
However, some of the perks in Undisputed frankly don't seem to have much effect. For instance, players can play as the iconic boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, who has a perk that is supposed to make his uppercuts more effective, but, as things stand, his uppercuts don't seem significantly stronger than any other blows the boxer can land.
6 Relying On Visual And Audio Cues Might Let You Down
The most skilled boxers tend to rely on their eyes and ears to gauge how a fight is playing out. For example, they might hear their opponent let out a grunt when hit with a power shot, or their opponent may wince when they land a devastating blow on them.
Players should be wary not to focus too much on cues like these in Undisputed. For the most part, what little cues there are can be misleading, or there might not be any at all (which is something the game needs to improve if it doesn't want to be forgotten). Instead, it's better for players to try and fight as effectively as possible, regardless of what their opponent is doing, and stay the course.
5 Volume Is Key
While one-punch KOs are a reality in boxing, especially in the heavier weight classes, they're fairly difficult to achieve in Undisputed. This is understandable, of course; the game probably wouldn't be much fun if players could knock their opponents out within 30 seconds of a bout starting.
Nevertheless, most of the success players seem to have in Undisputed comes from cumulative damage and consistency throughout a 12-round fight. Players should focus on maintaining a good volume of punches rather than trying to land a huge knockout blow, because it might never come.
4 Ignoring The Commentary Is Sometimes Best
To make the title feel more realistic, Undisputed features commentary by Todd Grisham and Johnny Nelson, two highly-established combat sports commentators.
And, while this definitely adds to the immersion that players feel, Grisham and Nelson's commentary often doesn't seem to reflect the trajectory of the fight, which is something the title desperately needs to improve. Paying too much attention to the commentary in Undisputed can often mislead the player, making them think they're winning when they aren't, or vice versa. So, players would generally do best to disregard or tune out the commentary whenever possible, or at least take it with a grain of salt.
3 Practice Makes Perfect
While Undisputed is remarkably beginner-friendly for how technical of a sport boxing is, it's still not all that intuitive when players first pick the title up. Learning the game's combat system doesn't take much time at all, and players will have a markedly better time with it once they've put in the time to actually learn what works and what doesn't for their playstyle and character.
As such, players should expect to practice the game's combat when they first start playing Undisputed, learning how to throw power punches, dodge and weave, and more. It's absolutely worth it for the gains that their efforts will yield further down the line.
2 Learn Opponents’ Patterns
Being able to effectively read one's opponent is the cornerstone of any accomplished boxer. And, while telegraphing in the game isn't all that reliable at the moment, one thing players should absolutely look out for is their opponents' patterns and strikes that they favor.
Learning what to expect and what not to expect from one's opponent makes it far easier for the player to exploit opponents' weaknesses and any holes that they might have in their defense. This is even more important for players using a counterpunching style to learn and completely changes how the game feels to play.
1 Keep An Eye On Stamina
Stamina management is so important in Undisputed. If players throw too many punches, they'll run out of stamina - it's that simple.
And, while stamina can be regained, players that have run out of stamina are essentially sitting ducks for their opponents, at least in the short term. Undisputed is basically all about striking a balance between maintaining a good, consistent volume of strikes while not going overboard and running out of stamina in the process. This is probably one of the most challenging aspects of the game, but nailing it is well worth the effort.
Undisputed is available via Steam Early Access on PC.