UFC 2 Review Roundup

EA Sports UFC 2 launches today on PS4 and Xbox One. It's EA's second attempt at the UFC license, and critics have spent time with the game and have dropped their verdicts.

We've collected several reviews from different outlets around the Internet, and you can check them out below. Each outlet's review has been posted with a score and short excerpt.

If you want to read more reviews and get a wider view on the critical reception, you can head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

• Game: EA Sports UFC 2
• Developer: EA Canada
• Platform: PS4, Xbox One
• Release Date: March 15, 2016
• Price: $60

GameSpot -- 7/10

"The core appeal of UFC 2 is fighting online (and you will find the toughest competition there) along with the career mode which, despite its various shortcomings, is a decent way to spend a few hours if you want to simply hop from fight to fight and test your mettle against the world's greatest fighters. After all, the standing combat is so accomplished, and the changes made to make grappling more accessible, ensure you're almost guaranteed to have a good time. Some issues drag everything down, particularly the lack of intuitive feedback, and the barebones tutorials, and a dry career mode, but EA Sports UFC 2 is a welcome improvement on its predecessor that shows this series is going in the right direction. It's just not a number one contender quite yet." -- Richard Wakeling [Full review]

Examiner -- 5/5

"With enhanced visuals and improved gameplay, EA Sports' UFC 2 is the mixed-martial arts game you've been waiting for. While the host of improvements alone would have been enough for a solid sequel, the addition of the Ultimate Team mode makes it a game that every MMA fan should play once in their life. It also creates a more than interesting quandary this year at the EA Sports camp later this year. How do you top a game that does so many things right?" -- Patrick Hickey Jr. [Full review]

Polygon -- 8.0/10

"It's easier to forgive EA Sports UFC 2's shortcomings when the game's fight action is solid, understandable and enjoyable. Even if some of its components are more difficult than others, the streamlining and simplification of takedowns and transitions is a pivotal change that frees the game without making it pointlessly easy. It would be nice to see this philosophy applied to submissions and dazzling attacks, but my victories in UFC 2 still felt honest and earned, and I came away feeling a mental connection to the fighter I would most want to be." -- Owen S. Good [Full review]

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EGM -- 7.0/10

"UFC fans have few places to go for an MMA simulator, so we'll end up celebrating the love EA is giving our sport, with the hope and dream that enough iterations will eventually nail it. Until that hypothetical day arrives, we're forced to make do with a gorgeous fighter that is at times graceful in its striking but still a dense, often clumsy way to grapple someone unconscious. It's like a reverse Ronda Rousey." -- Jeff Landa [Full review]

GamesRadar+ -- 3/5

"Like its Notorious Irishman, UFC 2 can delight and offend in equal measure. In its best moments, it offers a brutal, refined take on MMA that fans of the octagon will eat up. Conversely, it can also leave you colder than Holly Holm in a Miesha Tate sleeper; content feels lightweight and standing offence can be patchy. With more fully fleshed-out modes, the inevitable sequel could be a real contender, but for now, UFC 2 will have to make do with being an occasionally entertaining also-ran." -- David Meikleham [Full review]

Attack of the Fanboy -- 4/5

"The first attempt at UFC for EA Sports was respectable in 2014, but thankfully the sequel manages to improve on it. Career Mode is back and even better this time, though a little lacking in content, but UFC Ultimate Team helps make up for that. Knockout Mode even adds somewhat of a party game element, which really helps to make EA Sports UFC 2 a fun experience by yourself or with friends for anyone who is either a fan of UFC or just can’t wait for a new Fight Night game." -- Dean James [Full review]