EA Sports UFC is without a doubt the most pretty and graphically stunning mixed martial arts game on the market. However outside of it truly taking advantage of the next gen consoles, the gameplay and content is sorely lacking.
Now for those new to the series, this might actually be a decent entry point. You have brutal moves, slams, kicks, and an array of wrestling moves. If you want combat violence, you could do worse than this game. That being said, for veterans of MMA games, such as EA MMA, UFC Undisputed 1-3 this game may feel like a giant let down.
The game boasts a roster of over 100 fighters and online fighting and uploading videos. It also has very complex controls but a scheme that is accessible to a lot of more casual gamers. The problem is, that is essentially all it has. A lot of the fighters feel the same to control despite their martial arts background and the classes lack their extra polish. Gone are the standing jumping submissions from previous games, or the clinch into submissions.
Despite the complex controls, which to best describe, you would have to do the gym and tutorial to go through all the different type of modifiers, buttons, and stick flips to describe each move, the game package is very basic, almost minimal to what previous games have done before. To put it simply, short of its pretty packaging and flash, the substance feels like it was rushed and very much "First game in a new series" style.
I find no excuse for this. This isn't the PS2 or 3 where developers are really learning new tricks for modern games, this is the successor to the UFC franchise and with EA MMA under their belt, it is bizarre how the content and gameplay is stripped down rather than improved across the boards.
The career mode is equally stripped down from previous games. You create a character, after training, you enter The Ultimate Fighter. Personally, I think the intro section of the game has the most potential. It is fun coming to the ring, being drafted into a team, and watching as people from your team cheer you on as you enter the Octagon. Tragically I feel like they could have done more with that in terms of immersion.
Once you win, congrats, you're in the UFC! Throughout the entire career mode, you don't get to make any choices, such as move up in weight, who to fight, and unlike every MMA game except UFC Undisputed 1, you are stuck with just the UFC. Understandable sure, but having Pride in their last game, or in EA MMA running around in 3 different organizations in your quest to become world champion, its underwhelming how linear your career is.
Unlike previous games where you could focus your training into specific areas to slowly build your fighter, you can max out specific stats quick while running through the same 5 basic training events. This is a pro and con, in a lot of ways I like it, for a submission specialist I don't have to wait 20 fights before I can be a master submission person. The con to training, you are stuck in the same gym, no touring around the world working with different masters. Its a generic UFC gym that you don't really get to experience every piece of.
The great thing about Career mode is it doesn't feel like one giant UFC advertisement being shoved down my throat. Unlike UFC Undisputed 3 where each video again, seemed to be hyping the UFC, these videos seem to be more about the sport as a whole. The flip side is there is really no presentation or immersion that makes me feel like I am having a UFC career to the extent of previous games. Being a reigning champion and holding the belt for years, I don't feel like a bad ass.
This particular game took off just a bit of the polish in previous games to boost the ego and immersion. All fights are UFC PPV matches. Only main events get a walk to the ring, no real commentating about how I or the fighter I am fighting has been doing in our previous fights, and I don't walk to the octagon with the belt. Even in UFC Undisputed 3, there was an event hype for championship belts. It's these little things that make the gamer feel immersed in the life of being a world champion rather than showing up, a belt around my waist when I win, and then nothing.
At the end of the game, if you do well, you get a set of videos congratulating you for entering the hall of fame. But that's it. I didn't feel like I earned it, despite only having two losses to my record. Again, polish can go along way. Lack of polish makes the gamer feel like their reign has no impact on the sport or world around them.
Another factor in the Career mode, is it boasts about your career being tied to a longevity meter. When you take enough hits in your career, its over. That being said, as my career went on, and I wasn't taking hits (most my matches ended with me submitting my opponents in the first half of the first round) the meter still fills up almost unnaturally the more fights I go into. I can't help but have a sneaking suspicion despite they claim "your career will end when you take too much damage" what they were really saying was "If you do really well, you can get 40 fights in. Well just disguise it as a longevity meter of you taking punishment over time." It really felt like false advertising.
Other things: The new submission system is in no way my favorite. Yes it is tactical, and it is not bad to be honest. It is actually kind of stressful. You have to move both sticks if your on offense, and the right on defense. It's one problem aside from just how jarring it can be, is it takes up the whole field of view so actually watching you lay your submission in is moot. When you do watch it though, it is fun watching the ground game turn into a wrestling battle of wills as they change positions against each other until one person finishes his lock.
Lastly the matches in a lot of ways lack a lot of the tactical natures of previous games. That isn't to say you can't have a gameplan vs gameplan. Far from it. Also there is nothing like a good war in this game just like other MMA games. However not once did I find myself slipping in and out, working the body, trying to hold off punishment to slow my opponent down in the late rounds so I can get my submission in harder at the last minute. That fight chemistry just didn't translate.
Overall, EA Sports UFC is the most beautiful fighting game on the market. I am not going to lie, every single thing graphically is amazing. However unless you're new to the series, an MMA diehard, or a person that is a sucker for playing combat games online and with friends, it is really hard to recommend this game with a full price tag on it. Despite it's pedigree of previous iterations, this game is very basic and square one. It almost feels like, dare I say, "tech demo" for a future franchise. We as gamers deserve better.