Review: Creed – Rise to Glory
If you think Creed: Rise to Glory is a feel-good movie about a porn star battling his crippling Viagra addiction, then you’d be sadly wrong. I’d also recommend you speak to a sex therapist as you’ve clearly got one thing on your mind! If, however you are keen to find out more about the PSVR game based on the Rocky spin off movie Creed from 2015, then read on.
Everyone who has followed me over the years, be that through podcasts or reading my reviews, will know how impressed I am with virtual reality. As someone who has pretty much seen all there is to see in the gaming world over the space of 40 years, I can honestly say that VR is a total game changer if you’ll excuse the pun.
I’m surprised there haven’t been more boxing games which take advantage of virtual reality. I love the Rocky franchise, so I was really excited to play Creed: Rise to Glory and see if it packs a punch. No, I’m not going to apologise for that one! For all you Rocky completionists I did write a retro review about Rocky on the Sega Master System which you can check out here.
The game follows the movie quite closely as you quite literally step into the virtual shoes of Adonis ‘Donny’ Johnson. There is the official music from the movie and Michael B. Jordan reprises his role using his vocal talents. All of this adds a nice layer of authenticity to bring the game to life. Although you meet a virtual Rocky Balboa who helps to train you, unfortunately Sylvester Stallone’s voice doesn’t feature. Still, it’s cool coming face to face with Rocky as he holds pads up for you to hit.
To get the most out of the game you will need a pair of PlayStation Move controllers. These represent your hands and are of course used to punch and block. They work fairly well most of the time, but like a lot of other PSVR games I’ve played they can be inaccurate. This is more a criticism of the aging retrofitted technology rather than the game itself. With the announcement of PSVR 2 and controllers specifically designed for the new system, hopefully issues like this will become a thing of the past.
You start off in the gym where you must train before each fight. Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a proper Rocky game if there wasn’t a training montage. The training doesn’t impact on your skills in the ring, but it’s a nice way to get you warmed up before a bout. The training includes a number of different events including treadmill running (swinging your arms as fast as possible), hitting numbered targets, dodging a speedball, and of course punching a slab of meat.
When the time comes you step into the ring and fight against the various opponents which culminates with the fight against “Pretty” Ricky Conlan. There are 7 different fighters to face in the story mode which can be completed in about an hour. Yes, this is fairly short, but too be honest, I don’t think I’d want to play a game like this for hours and hours. Plus, it cost me £7.99 in a sale so I can’t complain.
The boxing itself is a lot of fun and I found myself working up a decent sweat throughout my playtime. One of the things I did enjoy was when you are knocked down in a fight. You have an out of body experience as your spirit gets knocked out of the ring. You must frantically swing your arms as you get back to the ring and your body as you try and beat the 10 count.
Once you complete the main game, there is free play to face off against the likes of Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa (in his prime) and Ivan Drago. You can also replay the training and there is an online mode. I tried this mainly to get a trophy, but it wasn’t great if I’m honest.
The Good
- A fun PSVR boxing game which makes good use the Rocky licence.
- You get a decent bit of exercise whilst you are playing.
- Can be picked up fairly cheaply
The Bad and the Ugly
- It’s quite short, but that isn’t necessary a bad thing.
- The PlayStation Move controllers are ok but can be inaccurate.
- Make sure you have enough space around you as I did end up punching the walls a few times mid-fight
Overall
If you’re a fan of the Rocky movies and have PSVR then I would highly recommend Creed: Rise to Glory. It captures the essence of the movie Creed and despite the Move controllers being a bit fiddly, is still a lot of fun. It’ll get you off the sofa and you’ll get a bit of exercise as well. I personally feel like £7.99 is a good price point for what you get, so if you’re a fan of the franchise and see it on sale you could do a lot worse.
Review by Chris.
