Thrill Of The Fight: Opponent Breakdown

For a video version of this article check it out here on our youtube channel.

Here we break down every opponent available to go toe to toe with in Thrill Of the Fight by Sealost Interactive on the Oculus Quest 2 (and PCVR). With the exception of the special opponents like the ghost and zombie. We’ll save those for another time. Each opponent in Thrill Of the Fight has different characteristics and methods of fighting. If you’re interested in the Halloween fighters in the “Extra” menu then be sure to check out our article about them.

Don’t be fooled by the intensity of the game, it isn’t a question of physical fitness alone, some strategy is also involved. Some hit hard, some less so. Some are easy to knock out, others more so. Whether you’re struggling to defeat one of them, or just starting out and wondering what is in store, there’ll be something here for you. If you’d like a more beginner focused guide check out our article on the basics, like how to hit hard and win fights. Now let’s get into it.

Choose Your Character

Sparring Partner

Sparring Partner is a nameless, overweight older guy with a bunch of pads on and a funky shirt tucked into some funky shorts. The fight against him lasts only a single round. All in all he’s really easy. He can take a few good punches, but swings the most slowly and weakly of all opponents. He makes for a good single round warm up and not much else.

“Melky" - Alexei Petrov

After a warm up with the sparring partner the first true opponent is Melky. He’s a skinny, yet still shredded, guy with a short haircut and almost complete lack of emotion. He won’t feel much like a true opponent though. He’s really just a slightly better version of the sparring partner. He’s a little harder to take down, punches a little more quickly, and punches a little harder. His strategy is pretty straightforward. Block for a little while and then throw a few punches, almost like he’s on a timer.

“Ugly Joe” - Joe Nasato

Ugly Joe looks like Rocky Balboa if he kept boxing, but never made it off the streets of Philadelphia. He’s got a lazy eye and a face that took a million punches and could probably take a little more. A classic old school boxer still in the ring. His match goes on for three rounds, and here those rounds might be necessary. Ugly Joe is much harder to take down than previous opponents, requiring a lot of powerful hits on weak points in order to bring him down. If you’re not much in practice, you may have a very hard time with him. His blocking is pretty good, and his punches are fast and fairly hard. While he does not throw insane combos like later fighters, a couple of solid hits from Ugly Joe can knock a you down pretty quickly.

Despite this, Ugly Joe has his weaknesses. He’s not particularly fast on his feet, and sidestepping him in order to get a punch on his liver or the side of his head can be very effective. His strategy is very defensive, taking hits and waiting for you to tire yourself out before counter attacking when he has an opening. He is the first real challenge of the game, so watch out.

Want to see how to knockout Ugly Joe? Well check out the video of it here with commentary.

“The Raging Reverend” - Gene Priest

The Raging Reverend, just “The Reverend” from here on, is a short angry looking guy with a head that could generate enough power for a small village if you put solar panels on it. He is the polar opposite of Ugly Joe. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses he can be easier or harder than Joe. That’s because he is fast on his feet and fights offensively. He will take swings at you before even defending himself. Where Joe is a test of careful, slow offense, The Reverend is a test of patient defense and quick attacks. Unlike Joe, The Reverend goes down very easily with a hit or two to the jaw. However, he has a counter for this, and that is this very annoying defensive block that he uses.

He holds his elbow up over one side of his head, and his other hand over the other side of his head. Normally in this situation a jab to the face is called for, but that elbow easily gets in the way, making a solid hit on the face or chin very difficult. Doing this does leave his side open, so a couple of blows to his ribcage will cause him to drop his guard and leave his head open for a killing blow. All in all The Reverend will fold to a quick and precise offense launched before he has a chance to throw any combos. When The Reverend has taken hits he is very slow to counter attack before he recovers. Having an offense that is more overwhelming than his own will lead to victory.

“Luis The Lightning” - Luis Felix

The Lightning has all of the attributes of The Reverend, but more. He’s shorter and angrier. He’s fast, and hits quickly and hard. Though he has an even glassier jaw than The Reverend. He goes down very easily. The only problem is actually landing a solid hit on him. The Lightning is the first opponent who will actively dodge punches, and he does so pretty well. Especially after recently taking a hit, he will move his head out of the way of subsequent punches. This makes landing subsequent hits to get a knock down very difficult. Still, after wearing him down a bit it’s easy to bring him down with a single, glorious hook. The same strategy for the Reverend works here as well. Hit him hard and fast. Though he will actually counter attack fairly quickly, so watch out.

“The Spider” - Charong Kitsuwan

The Spider is tall and second only to Ugly Joe in ugliness. He looks like somebody told him you personally insulted his tiny hands right before the match, and now he has a personal vendetta against you. Though despite his intimidating appearance and height he is extremely easy to take down. He has has a jaw as glassy as The Lightning’s, and he doesn’t dodge. The trick is to land solid hooks on his broad chin, but it’s a bit more difficult due to that chin being so high up. Attacking fast is really the only easy way to win. While The Spider’s defense is terrible, his offence is almost unrivaled. His hands are small but they hit incredibly hard and fast. A single hit can quickly knock you down. Attack him fast and precisely. He’s practically a stationary target, though he will counter attack if the pressure lets up. His fight can last for four rounds, but good luck getting that far without him knocking you out.

“The Artist” - Hojo Mizushima

The Artist is an extremely focused looking guy with a receding hairline and a sweet moustache. Of all the fighters he is the most interesting to have a long, artful duel with through each of the four rounds of his fight. His style of fighting is extremely defensive. The Artist relies on being fast on his feet and quick to dodge punches. Rather than attack you outright he will wait for an almost absurd length of time for you to attack him, and then very rapidly counter attack. Even when wounded his counter attacks are fast and often very strong. Should his counter succeed The Artist will not hesitate to press his advantage and commence with a fierce flurry of blows.

Fighting the Artist should be done carefully. The previously best strategy of all out offense will not work nearly as well against him. Rather whittling him down is the best way to go. Carefully maneuver into the engagement and bait him into counter attacking. Block or dodge the attack, and counter the counter while his face is unguarded. Even then pressing the advantage can be dangerous unless The Artist is on the verge of keeling over. Attacking him can be very tiring, as he is extremely good at dodging, more so than any other opponent.

An alternative strategy for a very aggressively inclined player is to do the same, but go all out on the attack when The Artist’s defenses are down. This will require either very quick blocking of his counter attacks or simply absorbing the blows and resetting the attack. This strategy requires a lot of skill at seeing The Artist’s dodges coming, and adjusting aim in order to still land a blow. Therefore it is only recommended for more advanced players.

“The Duke” - Duke Bell

The Duke is a thick dude built like a pile of bricks and just enough corn rows to not be bald. He wears a very stylish purple outfit, though maybe he would look better in red. Where The Artist is a master of evasive defense, The Duke is a master of static defense. He blocks quickly, and his big hands block a wide area. More so he is just extremely tough. Knocking out The Duke is very difficult, even with many successive, devastating hits he does not go down easily. He does not strike extremely quickly, but he does hit very hard, and can knock you down easily. That being said he takes his time with counter attacks, though he will counter attack. If left alone he will go on the offense, though again he generally takes a few slower but heavy blows rather than quick attacks or a flurry of punches.

The best strategy against The Duke is slow pressure. Keep attacking him, but not so quickly that the exhaustion becomes too much before The Duke falls down. Punch him in the face so that he changes his guard and then hit him with a hook before backing off and coming in for another run. Otherwise hit him with a hook and then follow up with a solid face hit or an uppercut. Changing the location of attacks quickly will work just as well against The Duke as any other fighter, but those hits need to be on weak points and be very strong to be worth the energy. Score enough hits and a couple of very well placed blows will knock him down in later rounds.

“Matty” - Mateo Vega

Matty is the most stylish of all fighters with a red and blue glove combo and the most tight fitting shorts of all. He’s fast and can dodge, though not as well as The Artist, and he can take a few hits, though not as well as The Duke. If he has an appropriate opening his attacks can be very fast and strong, and he will push you. His style is fairly aggressive, though he will certainly give some room to breathe. He throws combos more than any previous fighter, and failing to defend from one of them can lead to a quick knock down. All in all he is quick and combines the traits of all previous fighters, though he does none of them the best.

Due to his balanced nature a variety of tactics can work against Matty. Whatever you are most proficient at will likely be the best option here. All out offense works against him, though his dodges can make this a very tiring strategy. Careful defense is another good strategy, though a single uppercut from Matty can put you on the floor. A mixture of the two is likely the best, since he is not overly hard to knock down like The Duke. Wait for Matty to attack and then counter attack fiercely with a few strong hits to weak points. Let him dodge and then strike again when he stands straight, or back off and prepare for another attack. Letting Matty strike first can also work as this will leave him exposed for a hook to the jaw.

“Moneymaker” - Edward Price

Here he is, Moneymaker. The big boss with the tacky golden gloves, deceptively skinny arms, and what looks like a glass jaw but certainly isn’t. Don’t be mistaken, Moneymaker is as tough as they come in Thrill Of The Fight. He hits the hardest and is the most difficult to knock down. His speed and dodging ability rivals even that of The Artist. He’s the last fighter and he’s the hardest. Most of all he has no weaknesses. If you’re going to fight Moneymaker prepare for one hell of a workout and a challenge. You’ll likely need to go for most if not all of the five rounds of the fight.

Since Moneymaker has no weaknesses, just like Matty, no particular strategy is strong against him. He will dodge, he blocks quickly, and he hits the hardest of all. Most of all he is extremely aggressive. Rarely will he simply stand by and block, unless he has taken a lot of damage and needs to recover. Instead he will constantly pressure you, attacking both with single hits and combo attacks. Those combos are lethal, and come from a variety of angles, forcing an extremely dynamic defense in order to stop them. Generally you’re better off just side stepping out of the way.

Just as with Matty whatever strategy you feel you are best at is likely to be the way to go. All out offense is possible, but will require extreme endurance and the ability to quickly dodge counter attacks to work. That is likely the least viable strategy. Just like with Matty a more careful approach is the best, though with Moneymaker the slightest slip up can end up with you out for the count. Defend carefully and counter attack quickly.

Once you defeat Moneymaker, congratulations! He’s the hardest fighter in the game. If you’re a real enthusiast try them all again on the next highest difficulty, or play with the settings. Setting the force multipliers to 1x each can make for a much more stable feeling fight. Additionally turning on drift protection can keep your hooks from drifting behind your opponent’s head. These both offer a little more realism and a little more challenge. That is, if the most intense workout in Virtual Reality isn’t intense enough for you.

Having trouble sweating through your headset’s face cover? Try out new ones from VR Cover that repel sweat and are easy to swap in.

If you’re interested in Thrill Of The Fight but haven’t purchased it yet, it can be found on Steam for 9.99$ or on the Oculus store for either the Meta Quest 2 or PCVR for 9.99$. Happy Boxing!

Thrill Of The Fight is VR’s Most Intense Workout

For those that prefer an Audio/Visual experience. This article is also on Youtube.

That is a very bold statement, sure. There are a lot of VR games on the Oculus Quest 2 suitable for exercise out there. Some are crafted specifically for the purpose of exercise. Those tend to be the more boring games. Others are entertainment that just so happen to make your sweat glands cry furiously and your muscles ache. Often without even realizing it. Those are the great VR workout games.

They are the antithesis of Peloton instructors and follow-along Youtube workout videos. They are fitness that doesn’t feel like fitness. They are the future of exercise. Simply put, they are fun and don’t feel like a chore necessary for health and a long life. Thrill Of The Fight is chief among these games, if your goal is to get sweaty and sore.

Build your Body and a Skill

As Kenny Powers of Eastbound and Down once said “I’m not trying to be the best at exercising.” While the wisdom of anything Kenny says in that show is dubious at best, there is some truth to this statement. Sure feats of endurance and strength are fantastic. If a great cyclist can go 10 kilometers without breaking a sweat and in record time, well that’s both impressive and an accomplishment. If they do that purely for the sake of being able to do it better the next time, then at the end of the day there is little point to it.

Well, it’s good for your health and maybe will grant better quality and length of life. That is the implicit tagline that is filling gyms across the country. Muscles are impressive and make you feel good. Exercise causes the brain to make, and this is a point everyone should know, free drugs that make you feel good. You don’t even need to smoke or inject them. Move a little, sweat a little, free drugs locally sourced from your grey matter. A pretty good deal.

Though as with so many things VR makes this arrangement even better. Thrill Of The Fight is fun on the Quest 2 and feels like an actual fight. You get better at it, as with a cyclist or a runner, but here you also build a skill. Those skills are fighting skills. Never boxed before? Well enough Thrill of the Fight will upgrade you from being a complete amateur. You can see your progression as a fighter in every dodged punch and well placed hook. It’s easy to get into because it’s interesting, and the better you get the more you win. Just like any game that doesn’t involve exercise.

The excitement of combat is reflected here as it is in many VR titles like Battle Talent, Gladius, Gorn, and so many more. Close Quarters fighting is done better in Virtual Reality than in any other medium. It may be obvious, but this is because Virtual Reality is the closest quarters simulated reality that humans have invented. Translating a mouse click to swinging virtual hands requires some cognitive dissonance to take satisfaction out of. Swinging a real arm to cause a virtual arm to swing into an opponent’s jaw removes several levels of abstraction from the equation.

Then there is the fact that you are actually accomplishing a task. Other titles like Beat Saber and OhShape come close to this, but their goals are abstracted. Follow the rhythm, move your arms in order to chop blocks or fit yourself into a hole. These are not tasks related to anything found in real life. They are abstract and gamified in the utmost sense. In Thrill Of The Fight the goal is to win a boxing match. That’s it. Beat up your virtual opponent with your fists before he beats you up. Full Stop.

There’s technique to it as well as skill, and physical fitness plays a primary role in players’ ability to win, but the goal itself is simple and human and relatable. It is real, and everybody on Earth has at least imagined themselves in a fight if they haven’t been in one. Thrill Of The Fight does not advertise itself as a boxing trainer, but the developers do state that existing boxing skills do help achieve success in the game, and that is an extremely true statement. While the developers may not be willing to say it, here at Reality Remake we definitely are.

If you’ve never boxed a match in your life, continual playing of Thrill Of The Fight will make you a better boxer. Footwork, agility, proper form, all the things that make a good boxer will reflect in success at this game. Constant practice leads to refinement. At the very least Thrill Of The Fight will teach how to throw a stronger punch, because stronger punches are required for victory. So is strategy, thinking about how to hit and when. So is speed, and the ability to quickly dodge a punch.

These qualities are why The Thrill Of The Fight is the most intense VR workout. That is the power of an entertaining, goal oriented Virtual Reality game that requires so much physical movement. As with any other game the want to get better and to defeat challenges encourages more investment of energy and time.

Getting better at a game is satisfying, and so is winning. The Thrill Of The Fight combines this with an intense boxing match. A physical skill will show improvement, and if you’re lucky you’ll never need to dodge a punch, but enough Thrill Of The Fight will definitely help with that. Whether you intend to or not, you will end up sweating and your arms will end up sore, and you’ll love it. The desire to win, to beat the next fighter, or to climb through them to the next highest difficulty, is so strong that it pushes the player physically in ways they may never push themselves when running a treadmill or lifting a dumbbell.

Even when panting, drenched in sweat, and praying that it will be over soon, it is very hard to not go that last round and finally prove that you can knock out The Duke three times in a row and cross the hurdle to the next fighter. That power has pushed players through games since games were invented. Challenges invite creativity and a drive to win, and in Thrill Of The Fight that challenge involves moving powerfully and quickly in a way that will burn fat and calories much faster than any other Virtual Reality experience.

Science Agrees

That is an easy thing to just state and then skip over as though that proves the point of this article. Simply saying that Thrill Of The Fight is the most intense VR workout does not mean that it is, especially to anyone that has not tried it as well as all of the other intense VR games out there. There are many other Virtual Reality experiences that will give a great workout. Pistol Whip, Supernatural, and FitXR.

The aforementioned Beat Saber and OhShape. Objectively it can be said that those games generally rely on waiting for something to happen before the player responds with physical action, and so do not encourage physicality as much, but that is leaning into abstract and conceptual territory. With the proper settings Pistol Whip can be extremely intense, or a few simple arm movements and a couple of squats.

Luckily the folks over at the VR Health Institute have already asked these questions, and compiled a list of Virtual Reality games and their workout equivalents here. Thrill Of The Fight’s rating comes in at 8 to 10 calories per minute, the equivalent of rowing. It has an MET (or Metabolic Equivalent) of 9.28. Basically, the game gets you breathing really hard. While not measured by the VR Health Institute, it also gets your arms sore.

The only game to come in higher is Audioshield Modded. Unfortunately modding Audioshield is not as easy as just installing Thrill Of The Fight. Even for those willing to do so, Audioshield falls into the same trap as Beat Saber and OhShape. Players will only push themselves as hard as the game tells them to.

Thrill Of the Fight’s mechanics promote physicality, unlike those games. To win a fight early, before the last round is up, you must knock your opponent down three times in a single round. Pushing yourself to achieve this, when you have knocked them down twice and the timer is at thirty seconds, comes naturally.

Compounding the physical exertion of boxing itself is the drive to win, the desire to move higher. No stamina bar tells you when you are unable to throw another punch. Only being physically unable to throw one would stop it. In fact it is important to be careful not to overcommit to a punch and throw out a muscle. It isn’t unheard of to pull a shoulder, but still try to win the fight only using a single arm.

That is the drive provided by being faced with an opponent and a challenge. A rowing machine is easy to walk away from when you’re tired. A match you have yet to win is not.

Even though this study does not take the psychology of the game into account, second best still isn’t bad, if mods count.

But What Do The People Think?

Of course, despite these benefits, Thrill Of The Fight has not reached the popularity of something like Beat Saber, though Beat Saber is often lauded for its fitness capabilities. It is practically a meme that hours long sessions with that game will leave a player’s arms feeling like noodles. Maybe it is because Beat Saber has existing popularity, and the hardcore VR fitness community is one that is still growing. Maybe it is because Beat Saber’s integration of music and visual style is simply so much more advanced than Thrill Of The Fight. So Reality Remake took to Reddit to see if players consider Thrill Of The Fight to the be the most intense VR workout.

One thread was in r/vrfit found here.

The other was in r/ThrillOfTheFight, found here.

Here are some of the best responses. Most inspirational of all was u/Urhoal_Mygole’s reply:

This is the power of making entertainment exercise. Sure people get into fitness all of the time and turn their lives around, but with games like Thrill Of The Fight it’s so much easier to get into it. Take this reply by u/EggMcFlurry:

This comment hits the nail on the head exactly. The power of competition is so great that this game inspires exercise without even meaning to.

u/tarsus1983 feels the same way.

The response, as in any public forum, was not uniform. Though in both threads it seems that agreement with Thrill Of The Fight being the most intense was higher than disagreement. Especially, of course, in r/ThrillOfTheFight. Though the thread in r/vrfit definitely had some good recommendations for other games with high energy expenditure. Chief among which was a recommendation for Pistol Whip. As a side note, as far as exercising the legs with a similar intensity to Thrill Of The Fight, Pistol Whip is great, and so is Blaston. Even A Township Tale can make you sweat.

Conclusion

The science says that of the available games, only a modded verison of AudioShield is more intense than Thrill Of The Fight. Though AudioShield’s gameplay does not encourage pushing yourself to the limit nearly as much. Average reddit users tend to agree. The evidence of people’s lives' being changed by this boxing experience is enough. Thrill Of The Fight is chief among fitness games for its intensity. Look deeply enough into the VR fitness community and many stories similar u/Urhoal_Mygoal’s can be found. Maybe another contender will come along and take the title of “Most intense” from this boxing bonanza. Maybe not. In the meantime there’s no better place to burn a few calories, knock down a few opponents, and most importantly have some fun.

The Thrill Of The Fight by Seaslost Interactive can be purchased on the Oculus Store for the Meta Quest 2 or PCVR for 9.99$, or on Steam for 9.99$. If you like punching and want a workout it’s more than worth the price.