Over the past two years, EA Sports has looked to make the best damn UFC video game to date. Did they succeed? Find out in our EA Sports UFC review below.
There are always trolls on the internet that will complain about any and every little nitty gritty thing wrong with a game. We won’t be on here saying the game is perfect, because it is not, but we won’t be complaining about the tiny stuff.
The menus in the game are very straight forward and will lead you in the right direction. To get things started you are brought into a tutorial on how to use all of the controls in the game (I highly suggest paying attention). If you skip through that feature, then you can always go into the ‘Challenges’ mode where are able to hone your skills while earning challenge rewards.
The one thing that I really enjoyed about the EA Sports MMA game a few years back was the analog stick controls. You could punch and kick with the right stick and it was super slick — EA Sports UFC got away from this and put all of the punches, kicks and elbows on the buttons. You have a number of moves-sets to choose from depending on the fighter and the buttons you press. The submission game is tough to master at first, in fact I’m hours into the game and I’ve yet to pull off a submission. Once you lock on a submission attempt a mini-game will come up where the two fighters vie for position depending on the direction they press with the right stick. My suggestion is to practice with it before fighting the cream of the crop.
This is by far the best looking MMA game to date — from the fighter entrances, to Bruce Buffer introducing you, to the way each fighter moves around the Octagon, the feel and graphics are fantastic.
Now on to a few of the different game modes.
Fight Now
If you are sitting on the couch with a few buddies, then you will likely hit the Fight Now option. The exhibition matches are fun to fight as your favorite UFC star, or the legend Bruce Lee and bragging rights of course. If you would like to play as Lee though, you either had to pre-order the game or purchase him in the game.
You can master your craft in the ‘Fight Now’ option if you are not down with the ‘Challenges’ or tutorials. Beat your friends up in any weight class, including the women’s division. Unfortunately there are no super-fights between weight classes, unless a fighter has actually fought in different weight classes. So I’m sorry, you won’t be able to beat up Bryan Caraway with Ronda Rousey.
Career Mode
For the first time ever in a UFC video game, users will start off their career in The Ultimate Fighter. Your first match with your created player will be to get into the TUF house. You do have the option of creating your fighter, but if you’re a female player then you are out of luck, as you can not create women at all. After winning the TUF championship, you will move on to fight some no-name jabronis and eventually move your way up the ladder. It took me 18 fights before I earned a title shot in the featherweight division — at that time against Chan Sung Jung. Might I add that during the events that I fought at, Michael Bisping defeated Chris Weidman on three different occasions. Throughout my career there were plenty of video messages from the likes of UFC President Dana White, Urijah Faber, Michael McDonald and more, giving me props on my winning streak, performance bonus or how to take a loss. Unlike the first EA Sports MMA game, your fighter will not travel to other gyms to train, but will have top UFC fighters come to train with you.
With the fact that TUF is in the game and all the other additions to career mode that I mentioned, it is still rather shallow and will have fans craving more.
Online
After you have gotten comfortable with your skills, it’s time to test the waters against the rest of the world in online action. Do you have what it takes? Are your skills up to snuff? There is definitely a learning curve in comparison to either plopping down on the couch and choosing “Fight Now” when you are fighting another real life person.
There are tournaments, ranked matches which include a 10-fight season and challenge friends in the online menu. You have the option of toggling the menu for different weight classes, or keep them all checked to be surprised by a random division. The possibility of fighting against Bruce Lee is inevitable if you are in one of the lighter weight classes though.
Once you hear Michael Goldberg say, “Coming up next…” you will then know the fighter you are about to enter the Octagon against. The skill levels vary when you play and you will more than likely be able to tell right from the get go. If a real player rushes at you and throws a fury, more than likely they are a rookie — but if they stay back and wait to see what you are going to do then you could be in for a tussle.
I have found myself playing online more than any other feature in the game and have been having a blast. The thing that is extremely rare about a fighting game, is that if you are matched up against someone of the same skill set as you, then the possibility of it going to a decision is good. There are still your fair share of knockouts if you get into a slugfest.
If you win your matches, you earn points towards belts and championships. There are tournaments you can enter and earn those titles as well. Heck, take on your friends in an online battle just for bragging rights.
***
EA Sports UFC is the first in the series and can only go up from here. The company started the game from scratch and built it up to where it’s at. Some may complain that it is not sim enough or a certain fighter is not life like or some other nit picky quibble, but lets get it straight folks, this is their first rodeo and it will only get better. The feel of the game is awesome, the graphics are great with cool entrances and Bruce Buffer introducing the match-ups. Think of this as a number one contender fight, not championship gold.
Graphics: 9/10
User Friendly: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Would you recommend your friends to buy it? HELL YEAH!
