As a satisfied PS VR owner who played the heck out of SPARC, after I was finished I was left wondering what other one-on-one sports could work in virtual reality. Boxing or any type of fighting title in general seemed like a logical choice with some even begging for ports of some poor PS3 MOVE enabled boxing games. While there already is the excellent one-player arcade game Knockout League, developer Survios was aiming for something more grand and realistic with Creed: Rise to Glory.
Set in the Rocky movie universe, Creed: Rise to Glory is a licensed first-person boxing title that involves using the MOVE wands to throw punches and black. Rise to Glory’s single-player campaign lets you play as Adonis ‘Hollywood’ Creed, training and and working your way from back-alley gyms to sold out arenas fighting progressively better boxers. But, by the end of my first round, Creed had me doing something that no other boxing title before ever made me do, which involved asking many questions.
These questions involved simple control issues like why can’t I back up and block simultaneously, or why am I click turning in a boxing ring instead of strafing or circling my opponent. I was also confused by as someone supposedly trained in the sport, why does my stamina bar completely drain after just throwing a few punches and recharge only when standing still. These issues led to some of the strangest boxing matches I’ve ever seen, but once you’ve grown accustomed to Creed’s unusual design quirks, it certainly is a lot of fun.
Every fight is preceded by a training montage minigame at your local gym which you can also use at your now leisure. You can use this to practice and try to conquer the global leaderboards, and then from there it’s on to the actual fights where you square off against your next opponent. The controls, especially the aforementioned stamina management, will take some time to get use to, but eventually you’ll be bobbing and weaving like a pro.
Be prepared to work out a complete body sweat while playing as gameplay requires full body movement. Creed will test your physical endurance, so you can expect many sore muscles the next day. This all adds to an incredible sense of immersion once you enter the ring and you convincingly become Adonis Creed in that moment.
Graphically, I can see some people taking issue with the lower resolution, but everything from your opponent’s to the environments, and even the music and sound effects, are all infused with the same high level quality you’d come to expect form Survios. Once you’ve pounded all of the seven AI into submission on all three difficulty levels, you can take your fighting skills online in 1v1 cross-platform PvP matches. This way you can show your friends and the world what you’re truly capable of.
Overall, Creed: Rise to Glory is a visceral experience that isn’t without its flaws. You can’t expect to drop into your first match and be fluent in its obtuse control scheme or fighting mechanics. If you give it some time though, you will learn how to play this exhilarating new boxing title and before you know it, you’ll be out of breath and pulling off some incredible moves. Creed: Rise to Glory may not be among the greatest PS VR titles, but it’s a must-own for fans of boxing and anything Creed/Rocky related.