UFC 2009 Undisputed Hands-On

Our previous looks at Yuke's and THQ's UFC 2009 Undisputed left us eager to get our own hands-on time with the game. After all, with its impressive visuals flooring us each time we saw it, we needed to see for ourselves if UFC had more than eye candy going for it. We finally managed to get our brawl on recently, and it seems that the game based on one of the world's most brutal sports has definite potential. The control scheme will probably take some time to get used to, but UFC is certainly shaping up to be one of the more interesting fighting games slated for this year.

In our earlier looks, we saw real-world UFC fighters like Wanderlai Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson duking it out. The final game will ship with 80 fighters spread across five weight divisions (lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight). Some of the new faces we saw in this build will be well known to fight fans. As well as fighters like Chuck Liddell, B.J. Penn, Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping, Roger Huerta, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, Kenny Florian, and Joe Stevenson, there will be plenty of other UFC celebrities, including commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg; ring announcer Bruce Buffer; referees Herb Dean, Mario Yamasaki, and Steve Mazzagatti; cutman Jacob "Stitch" Duranand; and Octagon girls Arianny Celeste, Edith Labelle, and Rachelle Leah.

During our play session, we set up two-player bouts using Griffin, Jackson, former WWE star Brock Lesnar, and the two Silvas to test out the control scheme. Each of the controller's four face buttons is mapped to a different limb, making it easy to chain together basic attacks. Holding down the left trigger while attacking with any limb will modify the strike as far as low or high, while holding down the left bumper will initiate one of your chosen fighter's special attacks. These attacks will cause serious damage if landed properly, and they are also context-sensitive, meaning you won't suddenly go for a midrange spinning back fist when standing toe-to-toe with an opponent. Blocking is done by holding the right trigger to block low attacks and the right bumper to block high.

Of course, stand-up brawling is only one part of most UFC matches, with mat work being just as important and valuable a method for beating your opponents. It's here where Yuke's has tweaked tried-and-true fight-game mechanics--the right stick is now used to initiate, perform, and repel grapple attacks. To initiate a mat move, you'll need to move the right stick towards your opponent when in close range. Depending on things such as your opponent's stamina and his ability to repel your move, you'll soon find yourself on the mat, positioned over your not-quite-hapless prey. From here, you can try to pummel your opponent, or you can reposition into a submission move. For example, to shift into an armbar, we had to do upward quarter-circle moves until our onscreen character shifted into position. To get out of a submission hold, you have to perform similar right-thumbstick movements, keeping a close eye on your character on the screen to see which way he needs to maneuver to dislocate himself from his precarious position. It's a little odd at first, but we're hoping with more hands-on time the system will become second nature.

As always, we were quite impressed by the visuals UFC pumps out. And it's not just for show, either. The character models show real-time damage, which you can use to determine which body parts to continually target. Bruises will show up on ribs, and cuts will appear on faces--when you see this, it's a cue for you to continue your attack on that one spot for a possible knockout.

From our short hands-on time, it looks like UFC will offer a control scheme that will be easy to pick up but difficult to perfect. Keep it tuned to GameSpot for more UFC 2009 Undisputed updates as we get closer to the game's midyear release date.