Undisputed Career Mode Impressions: Off to a Good Start

The long awaited career mode update (V.7) is finally here. After months and months of waiting for just a sliver of information, the folks over at Steel City Interactive dropped the news and then followed up with the aforementioned update in less than a week.

Now that it’s downloaded and I’ve given it a quick go, let’s get into what’s going in with Undisputed’s career mode.

This article focuses solely on Career Mode and NOT gameplay.

Undisputed Career Mode First Impressions

What I Like

Career Mode Setup

Unlike career modes within games like EAFC and Madden, I found myself enjoying the plethora of options when it comes to setting up your fighter and all that surrounds getting started in the world of boxing. The fighter customization options, especially those customizing your fighter’s look are really well done.

The death is in the details and there are more than enough to keep your fighter unique (apart from hairstyles). I particularly enjoyed the customization options for gloves, trunks, and boots and how they’re not set in stone — meaning that you can change them for future fights.

Furthermore, once you create your fighter there’s an excellent tutorial to help guide you through areas of the game like picking the team around you that’s going to train you (trainer), negotiate fights (manager), and patch you up (cutman). I like the balance Steel City has implemented in this regard as you pick your team on a contract basis (3/5/7 fights), which gives you some variety to your save should you want to switch your team up.

Amateur Tuneups

You can imagine my surprise when the game throws you right into an amateur tournament where you can test your skills, level your fighter up, and even earn some coin. While not perfect, this is a great way to get in some rounds before the fights really count and your legacy/career is on the line. Even the venue gives amateur vibes with the locals enjoying some drinks, billiards, and generally having a good time as you step into the ring.

Menus

Often going under the radar, menus can have a huge impression on how enjoyable a career mode experience is and so far I’m enjoying how easy it is to navigate the menus in Undisputed. Add that to a pretty solid tutorial and I’ve found it very easy to get where I need to be in order to find the information I need.

What I Don’t Like

Need The Ability To Download Created Fighters

It doesn’t matter if it’s NCAA Football or eFootball, licensing has become extremely important to sports games over the years. For an initial roster (considering the game isn’t fully released yet), Undisputed does boast an impressive list of fighters, but hear me out, what if we had the ability to download rosters and share them? This would take the pool of fighters to the next level considering each weight class has ~50 fighters.

Needs More Hair Options

While I enjoy the various physical characteristics you have to choose from when creating fighters, I did notice the lack of hair options to choose from. While this is probably low down the list of areas that Undisputed’s career mode needs to improve upon, there are times when I’ve come up against fighters that look like they go to the same barber as me.

Need More Amateur Fights/Sparring

As much as I enjoyed the amateur tournament career mode throws you into, I can’t help but wonder why there aren’t more amateur bouts to partake in before turning pro. In boxing, even the elite fighters rack up the amateur fights before making a living off the sport, but in Undisputed’s career mode you can only get, at best, four amateur bouts under your belt before you’re forced to turn pro, which leads into my next point.

Needs Mini-Games For Fight Camp

We’re spoiled these days with all-access to fighters in the weeks/months leading up to a fight. Seeing professional athletes, especially fighters train as they prepare for an upcoming fight is something I’ve always enjoyed seeing. Watching them work the mitts with their trainer, jump rope, or even hit the speed bag are the reminders I need that reinforce the old boxing mantra of “you don’t play boxing.”

So why exactly isn’t that replicated in Undisputed? What’s the point in having a trainer if you’re only going to interact with them via some notifications. I’d love for Steel City to incorporate some mini-games into career mode such as working the mitts. Having your trainer call out combinations for you to pull off with your fighter would be a fun way to add some depth to this mode. Even something as simple as hitting the heavy bag would break up the monotony this mode suffers from at times. Once you turn pro you shouldn’t be limited to just fighting.

Bottom Line

Building a career mode from scratch is no easy feat and while there are plenty of areas in which Undisputed’s could improve upon, there’s still a solid foundation to give us some enjoyment while still holding out hope for future enhancements. I’d wager career mode took a lot of resources away from the gameplay side of the house, so seeing what comes with the next update will be worth keeping an eye on. There was a small update to iron out a few kinks but overall this is a very promising start from Steel City.