Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition lets you live out your dreams: to be the star of a training montage.
Not that it’s new to this Championship Edition, made to make use of the extra power and features brought to the table to PSVR 2. With improved visuals and vastly improved tracking its original PSVR counterpart, though, running drills is better than ever before. But of course, the real draw of Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition are its fights.
Based on the hit film franchise, Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition features not one but two storylines for you to play through in its story mode. In addition to its original story, Rise to Glory, there’s now a new Legacy path to follow as well, inspired by the events of the latest movie Creed III. Don’t get too excited though, as neither campaign is particularly long – chances are you’ll be done with both in less than three hours.
Still, it’ll prove to be an entertaining – and tiring – three hours. You’ll make your way through a sequence of fights, your opponents getting ever more fierce as you progress, but before each you’ll take part in a training session. In these, you basically have to complete numerous minigames as fast as you possibly can. You might have to swing your arms as if you’re running on a treadmill, punch targets displayed on a training dummy in order, or simply punch a punch bag repeatedly as fast as you can. And after all your efforts, your performance is graded with a star system.
The boxing here is the star of the show though, being realistic enough to be an entertaining depiction of the sport, but also giving players some leeway in order to elevate the fun. Making your way to the centre of the ring by swinging your arms as if you’re strutting is a nice touch, and so is having to touch your opponent’s gloves to kick things off. And key to it all is the improved tracking offered to players via PSVR 2. Swing your arm and you’ll see it recreated on-screen pretty much instantly. For a game like this, it’s transformative. Is there the odd inconsistency? Sure. But for the huge majority of the time it works perfectly.
Like the real sport, this is a game all about studying your opponent and looking for openings. If they have their guard up, for example, it might be worth getting in some body blows. Or you might want to bait them into attacking you, blocking any incoming strikes before releasing a fierce right hook on your opponent’s newly exposed jaw. It’s very physical, requiring you to be quick to dodge or block and unleash a ton of punches in order to put your opponents down. Ultimately, it’s likely to be your stamina here that determines the outcome of a fight.
Outside of Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition‘s story mode, there’s little else but to fight against the CPU or other players online as one of many characters from the franchise. Is that much of an issue? Probably not for most. This is the type of game that you’re likely to jump into for a quick bout or two, and there are enough fighters and arenas here to make that fun in the long term. We can imagine for some people it would make a good exercise regime. You can have fun and a workout at the same time – what’s not to love about that?
There aren’t many boxing games around, unfortunately, and so while Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition isn’t perfect, it’s a must-have for fans of the sport. But even PSVR 2 owners wanting a game that will give them a good workout should check it out, thanks to its demanding physicality. Whether you’re completing a training montage or going toe-to-toe with imposing opponents keen to knock your block off, this is a title that entertains, and exercises, in equal amounts.
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition Review – GameSpew’s Score
