Review
June 18th, 2014 By Dean Howard
UFC is powered by IGNITE Technology and according to EA Sports, this powerful engine is able to capture as close we can get to experiencing the raw strength and power of real UFC athletes battling for domination in the Octagon. We got a hold of EA Sports UFC to see if it truly does live up to EA's boastful hype, read on to discover what we learned.
Players develop bruising and cuts as the match progresses, with sustained injuries getting worse the more damage they take to those locations. This visual indication is a great way to capitalize on a fighter, as persistent attacks to a cut eye brow, or cheek can eventually lead to your victory. Just remember your opponent will also be looking to do the same.
A great starting point for those unfamiliar with UFC fighting mechanics is to go through the tutorial, where you will learn much of the basic striking, defense, takedowns, transitions and submission moves. Unlike other fighting games, there is a learning curve to EA Sports UFC and simply button mashing your way to victory isn't going to cut it. Those already familiar with previous UFC iterations including EA Sports MMA titles will find the controls to be very similar, including the stamina gauge which helps you to conserve your energy through the rounds and hopefully gain a second wind.
We really enjoyed the improved striking controls on EA Sports UFC, the button commands where tight and intuitive allowing us to string together strikes, defense and counter attacks very quickly. Once you select a fighter from the roster of athletes. You are then presented with the match settings which vary from Venue, Difficulty, Round Of length and Difficulty. Once the game starts to load, you will be giving random fighting quotes and game tips to keep you intrigued before Bruce Buffer makes the announcements introducing the two fighters. Visually IGNITE engine really does add a major graphical improvement to EA Sports UFC, with players and the overall environment looking great, though there was a few technical glitches here and there, but nothing too obvious to distract or slow down the fast action pace of the game.
From the moment you walk through the tunnel towards the cage, the energy is electrifying from the buzz of the crowd to the voice of Bruce Buffer UFC's official announcer. EA Sports made sure to meticulously capture the magic and intensity of the event by polishing everything from the referees, the Octagon sponsors, trainers, fighters and even the beautiful half time Octagon girls, giving UFC an authentic look and feel. Even the commentary voiced by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan is on point, pulling you into the intense battle by letting you know when a fighters cut eyebrow or bruised abdomen is getting worse.
Once the introductions are over, now the fun really starts. As we mentioned before UFC isn't a walk in the park button mash type of game, so be prepared for a challenge no matter what difficulty level you set the game on, prepare to fight even on Easy mode. Depending on the your opponents style of attack, you could find yourself knocked out or in a submission before the first round bell. Our play through experience has led to various outcomes each time from winning to losing in a manner of different ways that range from Flash KO, to TKO to KO. The striking is clean and precise and again you can't just go crazy with attacks as you will deplete your stamina quickly making it easy for your opponent to counter strike or easily take you down.
EA Sports UFC now features single and double leg takedown's while transitioning and guard passes now require you to know which way you want to go and what position you want to end up, for example taking someone's back or full and side mount.
If you end up playing against a ground specialist type of AI opponent you may find the controls to be a little wild, especially if you don't know what you are doing. There are loads of ways to takedown an opponent and while on the ground, there are tons of vulnerable positions to ground and pound your opponents, softening them up for the win.
One good thing about EA's Sports UFC is the ability to always turn things round to your favor. You can seize an opportunity to reverse an opponents attack by getting yourself out of trouble. Pulling off Flash Knockouts does feel awesome if a little surprising at times against certain real life opponents known for their strong chins. Striking opponents is fast smooth and fluid, but submission can be a bit of a challenge, especially when it comes to starting a submission or defending against one. Submissions really does depend on your fighters stamina vs your opponents as well as their submissions stats.
We particularly enjoyed UFC's career mode, where you get to experience what it feels like working up the ranks from an unknown fighter to an Ultimate Fighter in order to make it among the roster of the UFC. Once you win the Ultimate Fighter contest you'll then be catapulted into the UFC to fight in undercard matches until you build enough popularity amongst the fans. As you continue to win fights in the UFC, you will also earn XP points and Evolution points for your level, which you can use to level up your stamina, punching, different moves and submissions skills.
The game keeps a close track on your overall career damage and as you continue to evolve as a fighter it records the damage your fighter sustains during each fight affecting the overall length of your career. The game also keeps a close track of all your fights, recording how many times you have won or lost through KO, Submission or technical decision. Beyond this EA Sports UFC also keeps a record of your time spent fighting, takedowns, favorite submission and significant strikes landed and taken during bouts.
As you start your career mode, matches are typically undercard events until you build enough recognition and popularity to the PPV and main events where you will then have to fight the top ten fighters in your chosen weight class. Before you accept a fight offer, you are giving a glimpse of your opponents winning and losing stats and fighting style before your training begins. You're then taken to the gym to start 3 training exercises to build up your fighter’s stats. Each training session does vary from striking, ground wrestling and defense, which appear randomly making the session fun and engaging. Apart from training and allocating Evolution points, you can also set up Gameplans, each with a total of 5 skills that cover striking, ground and physical attribution. Gameplan helps you to further customize your fighter against certain opponents in the ring, such as a knockout specialist or ground expert.
Fighting online is where you put your skills to the test against other players. We really like the seamless transition from fighting offline to online and discovering new opponents to challenge is a very simple process. The amount of current online fighters is displayed on the screen including their weight class. Once you select a weight class to fight the server will search for an opponent and away you go.
Conclusion
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| Buy EA Sports UFC Today |
For UFC, MMA fans out there we recommend this as a must have and for those wishing to learn more about the sports or simply look for a realistic fighting experience.
Despite everything we say in this review, we simply can't say it better than the Ultimate Fighting Champion Legend:
“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” – Bruce Lee
Score 4/5
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