I might be in the minority here: I actually miss the days when the market was filled with licensed titles. Sure, the vast majority of them were subpar at best, but there were always those two or three licensed titles that would either be really well-developed or would be from a franchise you loved so much you’d like it regardless of its quality. You don’t see many movie-based games being released for consoles nowadays. Creed: Rise to Glory is an exception. This PSVR game (also planned for an Oculus Rift release) takes an obvious premise (VR boxing) and throws in an appealing coat of paint (Rocky) in order to provide, by what I could experience during an E3 hands-on, the potentially best VR boxing game out there.

I fell in love with this demo shortly after the game started. The reason was simple: I was greeted by Rocky Balboa himself (Survios is still trying to sign Sly himself to voice Rocky in the game) and introduced to a training segment while the Rocky theme song was being played on the background. I have no words to explain how epic this training session was. The Rocky theme song is so motivating it makes you want to give your best shot while training. I was already sweating like a pig due to the training session alone: Rise to Glory surely makes you burn some calories.

After the training session, I was introduced to the game’s main mode: one-on-one fighting. My adversary was a cartoonish, overtly stereotypical Irish boxer (red hair, green shorts). The moment the fight started, I noticed how good the controls in Creed were.

You see, I know a bit of boxing myself. I practice Muay Thai every now and then. I tried replicating some of my favorite boxing moves whilst fighting Mr. Irishman and to my delight, it worked. Jabs acted like jabs should, uppercuts were difficult to perform but effective, putting my arms in front of my face acted as blocking, and properly avoiding a punch resulted in an opportunity to counter attack my adversary with a barrage of slow-motion punches. With the exception of the (welcome) last bit, everything felt realistic enough and extremely fun to play. The game also made me burn a ton of calories! Who said videogames can’t be a healthy hobby?

My session of Creed: Rise to Glory didn’t showcase anything downright revolutionary, but it managed to deliver what I was truly expecting from a game like this. I wanted to play a fun VR boxing game and that’s what I got. Not only was Rise to Glory actually fun, but it also made me sweat as if I were actually sparring in the gym. All I need to know now is how long the game will be, how deep its career mode will be, and how much it will cost. Survios has the chance of delivering the best boxing game for the PSVR and that’s what I’m hoping for.