izigame.me

My rig: Valve Index and Rift CV1 (tested the game with both), Asus Strix OC RTX 3090, i9 10900K (10cores/20threads, 5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, Win 10 Pro.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147196744
The gorilla-like Mech does look great
Maybe something positive first: Performance is amazing. I'm getting solid 144 fps Index res 500% with Ultra in-game settings (but you only got 2 settings, shadows and antialiasing). Index res 500% is an insane res of 45 million pixels per frame combining both eyes - and my RTX 3090 can rarely do that - apart from in simple games like Beat Saber and Space Pirate Trainer.
But Underdogs is a very simple Quest game: the arena is very small, all persons are in flat 2D and opponents have few polygons. In-between fights, the story elements are in flat 2D like a cartoon.
The game is fun though, even if the graphics are very dark and muddy. In many ways you can recognize Racket: Nx. You're in a similar small arena in Underdogs - but instead of using a racket to hit a ball, you now have big Mech arms/fists and hit for example dog-like robots.
Racket: Nx is a bright welcoming feel-good game, while Underdogs is very dark and muddy. It's hard to see details in Underdogs because the game is so dark - but the darkness also hides the low-quality phoneVR graphics (Quest 2 uses the Adreno 650 phone gpu, part of the XR2 SoC). You'll get no more opponents and no bigger arenas than a phone gpu can handle - then again, I do appreciate the solid 144 fps with res 500%. I tried to go down to 80 fps and 90 fps, but the 144 fps really make this game come alive - because you move and hit quickly.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147196423
You get nice dynamic shadows and 144 fps, but this really is a Quest game
Movement seems inspired by Gorilla Tag - you kinda grab the ground with your knuckles to move forward - it works fine for VR veterans like me who never feel any motion sickness, but you may need some VR legs for this game - which is a major difference to Racket: Nx, where you stand still in the center of an arena.
There is no support for Index finger tracking, which is saddening, but controllers do work perfectly.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3147197401
It's not really a colorful game like Racket: Nx, but I did find some nice colors here :-)
As written, the game is annoyingly dark and muddy with lcd (=Index), and I did appreciate the colors with the great old Rift CV1 and oled. The game looks great with oled using the Rift CV1, you will not miss out on much. I got solid 90 fps with Rift CV1 ss 2.5 (27 million pixels per frame combining both eyes). CV1 nearly had too much bass for the headphones, while everything was perfect with Index speakers - feels like the dev thoroughly tested sound and music with the Index speakers. Overall Index res 500% in solid 144 fps is the optimal solution for this game, also due to the big Index fov - but Rift CV1 still shines a lot too with oled. To get the game working with Rift CV1 (or other Meta hmds), just set OpenXR to Meta in the Meta Desktop App - you do not need to use Virtual Desktop or SteamLink to get optimal performance.
This is a rouge-like game. You advance until you die, and then start all over again. It's very repetitive - and of course you did much the same in Racket: Nx, but Racket: Nx felt more like a tennis match in space. I don't think Underdogs should cost $30, instead $15 would have been better for this very simple and repetitive gameplay. It's a good boxing simulator though, you'll get a nice workout - my rating for now is 7/10. Racket: Nx is 9/10 to me.
In case some are wondeing: "Is this a 1:1 Quest port?". No, it is not. Quest uses 45 fps with reprojections, PCVR supports up to 144 fps with the Valve Index.
Furthermore, according to the dev:
"The PCVR version has higher fidelity across the board - more detail, no LODS, better percision. I hope to be able to crank things up even more over the next few weeks so people with high end PCs can enjoy even better shading, comic-book illustration resolution, etc. I'll be posting about it when I know exactly what I can and can't get working there, but I suspect some will be post launch."
And of course much super-sampling can be added to the PCVR version, increasing both antialiasing and 3D depth perception (=you can see distant objects more clearly using high levels of super-sampling).
Btw, looking for more VR Mech games? Then Vox Machinae really is light-years ahead of Underdogs, but these are very different games. Many seem to think Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is a bad game, but pushing Index res 400% graphics become truly amazing, and way beyond Underdogs:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/pb5yhu/wolfenstein_cyberpilot_looks_awesome_herere_some/
Underdogs would win for the best boxing and workout though ;-)