Superb and fresh start on a genre that had not previously been properly explored.
In playing this game for the 10-15 hours or so that I've been able to put in so far, I went in looking for one thing as far as this year's release goes: gameplay. MMA is a very complex and diverse sport and in order to do what UFC Undisputed 2009 was set out to do, reinvent and rework the gaming approach to the sport while including all basic disciplines, the gameplay itself had to be utterly and definitely the primary focus of this game and all other details secondary. From my experience, this was the true, and it shows.
The initial learning curve is rather high, which I think is a very good thing for a game that claims to have such depth. The "Tutorial" mode is a must for anyone sitting down with the game for the first, and you may find yourself revisiting it after playing for a while and generating a better understanding for how each move and situation applies in real-time gameplay.
The game really attempts to cover it all. Each fighter employs one of three stand-up disciplines (Boxing, Kickboxing, Muy Thai) and one of three ground disciplines (Wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, Judo). The controls for each are similar, but they all serve different purposes in-game, and really do ultimately feel different. It's a lot to learn at first, but while it's easy to become intimidated at the tutorial itself (which, while may have you wondering "how am I gonna remember all of this?", really doesn't teach you everything by a long shot), do not get discouraged. Let yourself learn the basics that you can teach yourself to succeed in some exhibition matches with your favorite fighters, and then really dive in and learn the game in-depth in the Career mode.
While the Career mode has a number of shortcomings, in my opinion this is forgivable for this year's release. The intent of this game was to rework the gameplay and they have done it. However, the career mode, if nothing else, really serves as a great way to learn the ins and outs of all of the details of each discipline in the game. Because of the impressive depth in the amount of standing strikes and ground positions/transitions, it would be very daunting to attempt to learn it all at once. Forgivingly, the career mode takes you by the hand and slowly walks you through.
You begin your career, as expected, with a limited toolbox of strikes and ground experience. While "training" and "sparring" will improve your attributes and specific skills, the real learning comes from training camps that you can elect to attend with specific trainers, who will train you on your standing or ground discipline depending on which you choose. However, you won't be exposed to all that much at first, and the game really forces you to get the hang of what your fighter "knows" before you learn more. As you play and start to win your fights, you'll find yourself relying on certain strengths that you become comfortable with, and you will begin succeeding in the training camps as well. Then you will find yourself graduating to the "next level" at a specific discipline, at which time you will have new strikes or ground positions/transitions at your disposal, the convenience of which will be immediately apparent. Since you have already become comfortable with the basics at this point, including these new moves in your next bouts will feel near-effortless. After a while, you will find yourself using dozens of strikes, holds, and transitions depending on the situation you find yourself in during a bout. Perhaps the most satisfying experience with the game is just after a fight, when only then do you notice that you have just managed to pick your opponent apart on the feet and you've been taken down only to reverse your opponents position and transition to a full mount where you win by ground and pound. And then you realize that you didn't have to think too hard about any of it; it really felt natural.
After your fighter becomes very skilled and you're beating everyone in your weight class, the career mode becomes rather tedious. Your fighter will simply keep getting better and your fights will keep getting easier, and you'll get sick of going through menus and putting sponsor decals on your trunks and checking canned emails of the same responses over and over. It's also hard to ignore that by fighter remained 27 years old through the many years of his career and never aged at all. This is about the time that you'll want to start a new career with a different set of disciplines, or take your fight online and put yourself to the real test: human opponents.
I was very excited as well as nervous for this release. As a big fan of the sport of mixed martial arts, I was very hopeful but also skeptical that this game would deliver on its promise to cover all basic aspects of MMA and really feel natural and balanced. Thankfully, the game does all of this. While the career mode feels like somewhat of an afterthought, THQ has nailed the gameplay, and now has the time to sit back and iron out the extras. While UFC Undisputed 2010 has already been announced, it's easy to come up with a wish list for the next game: a more developed career mode with aging and retiring fighters, including the cage in the gameplay (holding an opponent against the cage to secure a takedown, ground and pound against the cage), and LESS MENUS. Regardless, this game has me officially excited. I can't wait to see where the series goes next.