Spring 2014 sees the arrival of MMA on the next-gen consoles of the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 as famed developer EA Sports brings out their first UFC game since purchasing the license from THQ in 2012. They had previously released EA Sports MMA in 2010 but this did not feature UFC licensed fighters and having these included will be one of many changes and upgrades we can expect for this eagerly anticipated release.
EA Sports UFC Preview
The specific division that has developed this game is EA Canada who have plenty of experience with this type of game having spent ten years on the Fight Night series of Boxing games and with their belief that MMA, and specifically UFC, having a more global appeal than its older distant cousin they will be confident of making a game that will appeal to both casual and hardcore UFC gaming fans with in depth gameplay, online and career wise, and immersive gameplay thanks to EA’s new game engine.
The game engine used for this upcoming title, as well as the already released FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25 and NBA Live 14, is named ‘Ignite’. This engine contains a Human Intelligence framework that allows characters controlled by the artificial intelligence to “think like real athletes” and change tactics mid-match, so your Ground and Pound tactic will not get you through your matches like in older MMA games. You’ll need to change your gameplan around if you’re looking to progress through the in game career mode and with more than 100 licensed fighters, including Johnny Hendricks, Robbie Lawlor (both of whom were involved at UFC 171 recently), Rhonda Rousey, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, scheduled to be released for the game there will be plenty of life in this game to keep you playing offline alone for a long time.
The control system makes the game easy to pick up and play too with the right analogue stick controls for punching and kicking on EA Sports MMA out and a more standard approach of using buttons to deliver blows in. The punches and kicks can be expanded by using a combination of directional inputs on the left analogue stick and strike modifiers allowing combos to be performed as well as signature moves. The game will feature all of your favourite moves such as armbars, leg locks, Superman punches and many more moves. To celebrate this we have an MMA Bingo card for you to check off the moves used when playing EA Sports UFC or when watching your next fight courtesy of free bingo site www.butlersbingo.com. Download the MMA Bingo card here and play MMA bingo.
The game is clearly simple to pick up and play for novices but there is so much depth in the fighting system players will be learning new things continually, while the submission system will be a challenge for new MMA gamers and players that have played either EA’s previous offering or any of the Undisputed games from THQ. To escape a submission you have to move the right stick in any of the four main directions and the player attempting the submission has to match these to make the move stick and if the attacker keeps this going for long enough the move goes into another phase, of which there are five, and once all have been completed victory is assured.
Completing these submission moves against a computer opponent powered by the Ignite engine will be tough enough, but playing online with Xbox Live or Playstation Network against actual people, especially seasoned pros, will add to the difficulty, and thus longevity of the game. Nothing concrete has been announced about the online offerings for the game but the rumours flying about are that EA will offer similar to their MMA game from four years ago with different ways to earn belts and rankings while competing in tournaments, leagues and ladder competitions.
No matter what is offered either online or offline the EA Sports UFC game looks to be, by far, the best UFC game ever created and that it will be the heavyweight champion when it steps into The Octagon this Spring time.
