Knockout League - Arcade VR Boxing Reviews

I bought it as I read a few reviews saying it was a good workout. They were right! And it's a load of fun. Fighting opponents is a pattern recognition game, but you still need to do a good deal of punching, dodging and blocking. The training is actually the part I like most, probably because I bought this game with the idea that I would use it to make my workouts fun rather than fighting. It even keeps track of how many calories you burned, although I am not sure how accurate it is. I was surprised to see that the game would actually figure out from the speed of my punches whether I was putting any power behind them. So if you just want to casually place your hands in the right spot just to get the game to register that you "threw a punch" you are out of luck. You actually have to do the work. If you want to play it without causing yourself injury however, read a bit about shadowboxing, in particular how to pull punches, as if you don't try to stop your arm before you fully extend it you might hurt yourself. Anyway, I wholeheartedly recommend this game. EDIT 16 AUGUST 2017: Devs added new workouts, Reflex Alley being the one I find most fun. This has now become my favourite VR game from a fitness point of view. Aside from fighting against NPCs on the ring, here are the workouts you can do: 1. Speed bag (can do it with weighted gloves if you want to up the game) 2. Dodge drills 3. Block drills 4. Focus mitts 5. Reflex Alley. The Reflex Alley will throw random objects at you, rather than in a pattern. It differs from some of the focus mitts drills since the workouts are never the same. You have a red glove and a blue glove and you need to hit water balloons. There are red and blue water balloons – ideally you want to punch them with the correct hand. You also get thrown a basket ball, which you are supposed to block and a weight which you want to dodge. The mode throws everything in the mix and there are 3 difficulties to choose from and an endurance mode. I own Box VR, and with the introduction of Reflex Alley in Knockout League I basically have no reason to play that other game as Knockout does the same thing and does it better (and does more things).

This game is as close to Punch Out as you will probably ever get in VR. It is great fun and very exhausting!

Knockout League is a boxing themed reflex VR game. Note that I said it is a boxing themed VR game and not an actual boxing game. This is where a lot of the dislike of this game comes from. So let me get this out of the way right now: If you want a realistic boxing simulator buy 'Thrill of the Fight'. If you want something a bit more 'arcade-y' but still mostly boxing, get 'Creed: Rise to Glory'. If you just want a good VR game in general and you're okay with a boxing theme, then get Knockout League. I own all 3 and I feel like all 3 have their own virtues. Anyway, the basic premise of Knockout League is that it's kind of a fictional boxing league and I say 'kind of' because depending on the fighter it can be anything from pretty close to actual boxing to nothing at all like boxing even remotely. The game is very reminiscent of the Punch Out!! games on Nintendo, but ported to and designed specifically for VR. And this works. It works really, really well. It's important to understand the basic flow of the game: You wait for your opponent to launch an attack. You then react to the attack by dodging in the proper direction or timing your block. If you do it right, your opponent is stunned and you speed bag on their face. If you do it wrong you take damage. And that's it. You don't throw feints, you don't move your guard around, you don't try to sneak in jabs. It's a scripted fight and you have to follow the script. Again, this is Punch-Out!! in VR, not actual boxing in VR. If you're okay with that then this is a very good game. If you aren't okay with that, buy a different boxing game. There are 9 fighters and each has a normal mode and hard mode. The hardmode cranks up the difficulty not just by giving your opponents more damage, but by making them faster, making them better at disguising tells, and sometimes outright giving them new attacks. There is a scoring system based on keeping your multiplier up by not getting hit, which provides a good amount of replay value by encouraging you to compete for higher scores. Additionally, there are training mini-games which are fun in and of themselves. So all in all, for the asking price I think the game has a pretty good amount of content. Overall, this is a fun game and feels professionally done, unlike a lot of other VR titles that feel an look thrown together and half-finished. The soundtrack is also pretty good, with songs that range from just okay to actually really good. The visuals are crisp and work well. About the only downside I see is the lack of a need to throw actual punches outside of one specific fighter and one specific training mini-game. Otherwise you'll mostly be speed-bagging on your opponent's face and taking the time to actually throw a proper punch with proper power behind is counter-productive. But again, that's why I said this is really more about being a good game in general than being a good boxing game. If the game made it so all you had to do is block or dodge and just took care of countering and damaging the enemy for you it would still be a good game.

Tried it for a few minutes. Went through the training, then got knocked out after a minute or so with the first fighter. Very good graphics, feels like a VR first person version of Street Fighter or something. I really wish it was possible to set the starting position in each fight, the default one fits my playspace very poorly and makes the game hard to play.

If Thrill of the Fight is Fight Night, Knockout League is Punch Out! And that's a good thing. The atmosphere is very well-done, especially for the first real VR generation of games. There are only a few opponents, so you're not going to play four circuits and Mike Tyson like Punch Out, but the training modes make up for it in spades. Reflex Alley by itself is worth every single penny this game costs and is a fantastic workout. The other training modes are also decent and have good replayability. I still haven't beaten more than two opponents, that's how much time I spend in Reflex Alley. It's definitely in my Favorites list.

Wasn't for me. It's just reacting to timed events in exactly the right way. Very immersion breaking to dodge a punch but because you didn't dodge the way the game wants you get hit anyway. Same with throwing a random punch. It's like it didn't even happen unless the game says now is your time to throw a punch. It's escentially a timed button mash without the buttons. Never was my cup of tea and swapping timed button pushing for timed physical movement doesn't help. I was looking for something more freeform. But it seems to be a pretty polished title and if you like that type of game play then you may like it. From the reviews many do.

Be aware! Besides the nice feeling of nostalgia this game is getting me severe dyspnea and chest pain. My heart rate rises to 200 and I need to rest after each fight. I love it. :)

[h1]Updated review with latest content update[/h1] Below the line is my initial review, here my new thoughts after having fought all enemies and tested the new 'Fitness' update: All 4 enemies are great and since the re-balancing feel a lot more fair and at the same time some attacks have become more challenging. Some fights can be difficult, but still feel fair at all times. The difficulty ramp is still here, but it got nerfed a bit, while the last enemy has gotten harder (which I appreciate as in the initial release he was too easy/weak). The developers have now implemented an alternate grip for the gloves which make them more similar to the default grip for Vive controllers in Thrill of the Fight. This allows a much more natural grip to punch the enemy. This change came after some community feedback, so they definitely do listen to the things posted here on the Steam forums. The latest content update has brought 2 mini-games to Knockout League: Focus Mitts and Speed Bag. Focus Mitts: my favorite new mini game where you have to land jabs, hooks, uppercuts in certain sequences as well as dodge attacks in the harder difficulties. There is easy, medium, hard and a stamina mode available right now. In the stamina mode you're only allowed to do 3 mistakes before losing. This mini game is exhausting in a good way. Great addition to the game! Speed bag: this one hasn't excited me that much. You have to punch a speed bag with a certain speed, either with your left, right or alternating both hands to score points. Again, there are 3 difficulty settings and one free punching mode. Not that exciting after one go. I wish they'd gamify that mode more. [b]Conclusion[/b]: I can still recommend this game to anyone looking for a Punch-Out like boxing game. If you want a more realistic boxing game, I still recommend Thrill of the Fight like in my initial review. Both games have their places and I enjoy both. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you played Punch-Out in the past? This game is Punch-Out in VR! My first impression after having played through the tutorial, beat the 1st and 2nd enemy, and failed against the third enemy twice: fantastic game, achieves what it wants to do (Punch-Out in VR), highly polished visuals, very active combat. If you expect to get a realistic boxing game, then this isn't for you (there is an octopus as an enemy...an octopus!). But if you enjoy a pattern-recognition based arcade boxing game that requires you to pay attention, be quick on your feet/block reactively, then this game is for you! If you want a semi-realistic boxing game, then Thrill of The Fight may be a better game for you (can't recommend Kunlun Fighting, is significantly worse than Thrill of the Fight). This game and Thrill of the Fight stand in two separate game genre's even if they superficially seem to belong to the "boxing" genre. Knockout League allows you to dodge, however, you also have to counter quickly to get a hit in. The game doesn't require much space as it wants you to dodge sideways rather than backwards. You can also block enemies' attacks by timing it. If you block too early, you won't be allowed to counter back. This makes the game a lot more exciting! Currently the game's difficulty level is ramping up quickly and it is unlikely that you will be able to beat all enemies in one go. This is actually a good thing and you'll notice that with repeated matches that you simply get better and better to read the enemies' actions beforehand and overcoming such a challenge is always satisfying. There are still a few minor bugs I've encountered that are already mentioned in the early access page above. I can recommend this game to anyone that liked Punch-Out, likes more active VR games and people enjoying challenging fights. (This review will be edited after playing more of the game and if content patches change up the game significantly in the future)

I bought this game at full price. No regrets. It's exhausting to play, but really fun. It is very much like Punch Out for the Nintendo Wii which is obviously heavily takes inspiration from. Don't go into this expecting straight up boxing. Much like Punch Out, it's pattern recognition. You recognize what's happening based on the enemy movement and react accordingly, whether that's dodge in a certain direction, block or attack. You can only attack successfully at the appropriate times. The opponents are varied. The difficulty level is to the point where most will need a good amount of attempts to beat any enemy after the first, learning and getting better each time.

[h1]Punch-Out!! in VR. Get ready to burn calories[/h1] *Reviewed on the HTC Vive* Let me preface this by saying I've been taking MMA for 5 years, including boxing & muay thai. I still have to take breaks between sessions & fights to wipe off all the sweat. Knockout League is probably the most polished VR boxing game to come out, yet. The game looks gorgeous. I can max out the graphics options, even on a GTX 970. With 9 varied opponents & 3 tiered training modes, it has a lot to offer. Each opponent has a different strategy, so throwing 1-2-1-2's won't win the match; neither will a tricky offense, unfortunately. Being patterned after an arcade boxing game comes with its own pitfalls. Your offensive game exists primarily blocking/slipping/bob&weaving your opponent's attacks, then countering with a 6-10 hit combo. When you're sparring in real life, anything more than 2-3 strikes will only tire you out. A competent opponent would cover up, counter, or step out of pocket, by then. It also doesn't have the strategic depth that I was hoping for with feints, parries, set-ups, etc. Bob & weaves can be tricky, and VR tracking also can't effectively tell the difference between a light/probing punch and a power punch. That last point is a limitation of VR, in general. My criticisms belong to a niche - minor nitpicks that could make a great game even greater. I think this belongs in every VR gamer's collection.