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For a review on the Oculus Quest in 2020. Click here.
Thrill of the Fight vs Creed: Rise To Glory. Which is the better VR boxing game?
The Best Boxing Game in Years
Thrill of the Fight delivers on a promise that boxing fans have been dreaming of ever since they first tried a boxing video game. After playing through just the first round of my first real match, I had a clear realization that an enormous amount of work and effort went into making this game.
Everything about the gameplay and design of Thrill of the Fight has been painstakingly tweaked and defined; this attention to detail has birthed an interactive experience that feels like the truest representation the sport of boxing has ever had in a video game.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that TotF was developed by one person, Ian Fitz. One man who decided to make a VR game has accomplished something that many AA and AAA development teams could never quite nail down, how to make a boxing game that is realistic but also joyfully thrilling.
I have always had a passion for boxing; not that I ever boxed myself or even aspired to. I think a bit part of the appeal of boxing and combat sports is that they have always been a great vehicles for telling human stories.
Some of my favorite movies and video games have revolved around boxing. The fights themselves are of course, compelling. Every boxing match has a dramatic story; two combatants attempting to exert their will on one another.
Then there are all the things that lead up to the fight, the motivations, the training. The confluence of events that brought these two warriors together in a particular time and place.
TotF doesn’t have a story mode, none of the hype of a big-money match or the journey of a fighter’s career. Those stories are not told here. It is that first story inside the ring that Thrill of the Fight excels in telling.
You the player will weave the tapestry of every battle with your sweat and your fists. You bring whatever limitations and gifts you possess as an individual into the game and learn how to best incorporate them into your fights, eventually settling into your signature fight style.
What you need to play Thrill of the Fight
I’m playing this game on the Oculus Quest but it’s available on most PC VR platforms. This game really excels on the Quest because there are no wires. you get to box in a totally unencumbered environment, allowing the player to move freely and really simulate the feeling of being a boxer.
The biggest hurdle when it comes to playing this game is that you will need a large play area. The required play space size is 6.5 feet by 6.5 feet. Finding the room to properly play the game is worth it though, the experience of boxing in a large ring format is so freeing you won’t see how it could be done otherwise.
Beyond having your VR headset and proper space I’d recommend having a skull cap or some kind of sweat managing headwear as this game will probably have you leaking like a faucet. The cardio workout you get from essentially shadow boxing is more intense than you may think.
Thrill of the Fight is as Close as You can Get to the Real Thing
This isn’t a game where you throw 600 haymakers at someone’s face to knock them out. It’s not a game where you can stand around and take punishing blow after punishing blow and still be on your feet.
TotF doesn’t have rigid gameplay mechanics the player must adhere to in order to win a fight. There are no gamified patterns to memorize or special combos you have to utilize to get victories.
The game is about you, the player, and your own capabilities. If you win or lose it’s all due to your physical actions. This game is a great workout when playing you will likely be so engaged and having so much fun you won’t notice how hard you are working.
The simulation of boxing is also so good that if you have real-life boxing experience, those skills will directly translate to the game. With modifiers and tweaks, you can alter the gameplay to find your perfect balance.
Even though your success in this game is absolutely tied to your abilities to physically battle your virtual opponents, the game is still accessible to almost anyone who can physically throw punches and move.
After every round, you get to rest for a minute. This adds to the simulation but is also much needed. You will get tired and at times be exhausted after a hectic round of throwing virtual leather. Collect yourself, catch a breath, and think about strategy. These moments between the rounds can be crucial.
Being fit, fast, and agile certainly increases your potential effectiveness in TotF. The more you can fight like a real boxer, the better you will do, but even someone who doesn’t possess the greatest level of fitness can find success in many of the fights in this game.
Like boxing in real life, pure athleticism isn’t the only tool a solid boxer can have. Being smart, picking your punches, displaying sound defensive tactics, are all things that will greatly benefit a player. After all the best muscle all the boxing greats had is the one between their ears.
On top of that, there is a huge range of customization options so you can make fights as easy or difficult as you please through adjustments. For true boxing purists who wishes to have the full cardio experience, you can even set fights to 12 rounds to take on that grueling challenge of endurance.
Rewarding Gameplay
One of the best things about TotF is seeing your gradual progression. When you first start playing the game you may get tired quickly, find yourself getting knocked out, or outclassed on the scorecards. Don’t be discouraged!
Similarly to a game like Beat Saber, the more you play, the more accustomed to the rhythms of the game you become, the better your in-ring results will be.
I found that tracking on the Oculus Quest for this game was phenomenal. Someone with lightning-fast hands may run into issues, I don’t box at those speeds, but everything I wanted to do was tracked and flowed almost flawlessly.
I think this is in part due to the recent Quest firmware updates. Tracking is now better than ever and I noticed that Thrill of the Fight even worked for me under very low lighting conditions, that would not have worked for any game when I first got my Quest 3 months ago.
After every match, the player can view a scorecard that tracks all the vital statistics of the previous match. The total punches throw the types of punches, percentages, knockdowns, etc.
You can spend as much time as you want to pore over these numbers trying to analyze what you could do better or admiring the absolute clinic you just put on your opponent.
The force of your punches is determined by the game. In essence, it measures the hardest punches you are capable of throwing reliably and sets a multiplier for the damage of your punches going off that assessment.
This is another option you can manually adjust to your liking if you feel your punches are landing with enough impact.
Unlike Creed: Rise to Glory and some other combat VR games, there is no use of locomotion. Every movement your fighter makes is made by you. Get used to side steeping, backpedaling, ducking, swaying. and circling your opponent.
Don’t let the sound of that intimidate you though, being more agile helps but you can absolutely still be effective while being less active. At the default difficulty, most of the opponents fight at a fairly deliberate pace. It’s active but not overwhelming.
The Complete Boxing Package
Thrill of the fight also offers up a few fun training options. There is a speed bag where you can work on your combos. The Heavy bag where you can test your power and practice your most devastating blows.
Then there is the punching dummy who has weak points highlighted. Practice the accuracy of your punches here and learn how to hit your opponent in the places where they will hurt the most.
That about sums up everything available in the Thrill of the Fight experience. It seems like a simple offering, with only a number of one-off fights and a few training options. At only $10 though you are getting quite the package.
This has become my new favorite game on the Oculus Quest surpassing Creed: Rise to Glory (I told you I like boxing!). TotF is 1/3rd Creed’s price but it provides even more gameplay hours and variety. TotF is also more repayable due to the superior realism of the fights and various modifiers.
If in a future sequel they ever add a full-on career mode I will be there night one playing it as I think that is the only missing piece to a game as well crafted as this one.
A full-on career mode with title fights and dozens of opponents would keep boxing game-loving fans occupied for countless hours while also providing a fun workout too.
As it stands right now though, Thrill of the Fight is a dream VR experience for me on the Oculus Quest. I couldn’t have imagined even 6 months ago that I’d be playing a boxing game that delivered the fantasy of being in the ring so well.
Thank you Ian Fitz for having the vision to imagine it and resolve to see it through, raising the bar that much higher for any future boxing game entries.
Are you a combat sports video game fan? Have your own take on Thrill of the Fight or other games? Leave a comment!
Thanks for the review. Cannot wait to get this up and running. Hopefully the author will keep it coming with more and more features.
I hope so too Keith, thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have!