Two years in the making, the latest title out of the EA Sports factory is UFC. With the goal of combining excellent gameplay with realistic fighters, the game seeks to break into the sports market and make quite an impact.
I got some hands on time with the game, and I almost managed to forget about Bruce Lee’s giant package in the EA press conference trailer. UFC is a complete and enjoyable experience and will be a must-have for any fans of the sport.
First up, the game offers a smart UI. This means that the tiles displaying the various game modes, fighters, etc adjust as you play the game. If you like to play with specific fighters, their faces will appear on the tiles.
UFC offers a variety of modes. Career mode kicks off in Ultimate Fighter, letting players earn their spot in UFC. The eventual goal is to get into the hall of fame. In order to do that, you will need to learn how to fight. Challenges (another game mode) can help with that, offering practice in bite-sized pieces so that players can learn specific skills and techniques to improve their overall performance.
Online play is divided into three main types: quick match, championships and rivalries. Quick match is unranked – just an easy way to play against others online but without any commitment or long-term consequences.
Championships form the core online experience. With five divisions, players take part in seasons. Those seasons consist of ten fights which can be played over any period of time. All players start in the bottom division and work their way up to the top over a series of seasons. Players can also move down the divisions, ensuring that they over time they end up playing against other people who are of similar skill levels.
Rivalries are similar to championships, but they’re more about challenging your friends. Seasons only consist of five games, making it much quicker to determine which of your friends are the top dogs.
There are plenty of profile options with a profile page that is full of stats and infographics. These can give general information about preferred fighters, as well as fighting types and details on how you tend to lose matches. This can help players determine what they should practice in the Challenges mode to be more well-rounded fighters.
At the end of a match, players can opt to send a highlight reel. If they do so, that reel will be available for others to view under UFC Spotlight. In addition to the video on demand highlight reels, everyday they will collate 10 highlight reels into a collected video, creating a top moment of the day clip.
The game will launch with 98 fighters, with an ever updating roster. Bruce Lee is one of the signature fighters, and the designers even got a cast of his head to work with to ensure his likeness was as close as possible. All the fighters are as lifelike as currrent technology allows, with even their pre-match shakes and bounces resembling their real-life actions.
But enough about modes and aesthetics, we all know that in the end it comes down to gameplay.
UFC uses stamina as its primary resource. Throw too many punches and kicks in a row, and your character will run low on stamina, making it easier for opponents to take you down and also harder for you to throw the next punch or kick. The controls are fairly intuitive with blocking mapped to triggers, attacks mapped to buttons and bumpers used to modify attacks.
Unlike other fighting games that players may be used to, it’s really hard to get an opponent’s health bar down to zero. While you can do damage, and particularly make certain parts of the body more vulnerable, it’s not a matter of just throwing a few kicks and knocking out your opponent. It’s a careful dance between players, balancing stamina and impact, damage and timing. But the game is a lot of fun – it’s a unique kind of fighting and sport game, and I think it could appeal to a variety of players in the EA Sports world.
Last Updated: June 12, 2014
Sk3tz0
June 12, 2014 at 14:01
Downloaded the UFC Demo off PlayStation Store last night waiting to go to test it out. looks fun.
The Fires of Suzaku Burns!!
June 12, 2014 at 14:01
Hands-on with the UFC fighters????……ohhhh naughty
Dutch Matrix
June 12, 2014 at 14:33
Sorry,, I have to ask: Is your avatar a boy, girl or both?
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:33
It’s a JRPG, who the fuck knows?
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:34
Lightning with a haircut 😛
The Fires of Suzaku Burns!!
June 12, 2014 at 14:33
Boy lol Ace
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:18
Nice run down ZOE, who says girls don’t like fighting games?
I remember when I popped UFC 2009 in. The learning curve was steep indeed. But the reward was ageless. In the process I garnered a new found respect for the sport. A very scientific sport but to the layman it looks like nothing more than a cock fight in the cage.
Super reward gratification when your play goes exactly down to your game plan.
My bro and I have been playing this game for 5 years now and each fight is never ever the same.
The only concern that I have is the grappling system because it never worked in the third game. UFC 2009 sold 2million copies because it was the first game to never have a HUD MINI GAME. Knowing when your opponent is tired and ready for a leg bar just came second nature.
But when I saw the EA UFC dev demo on the PS4 my jaw dropped. I have never seen such realistic animation in a game, I know, I have played countless hours on the other titles. The collision detection and animation made me go out and buy a PS4.
Off-line gamers are also rewarded with a solid career mode.
Check the control scheme.
Admiral Chief Cyber Commando
June 12, 2014 at 14:20
TLDR HAIHAI
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:24
HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:23
Sorry, all I heard was KO! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=313232965233&l=6912442185203169660
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:24
🙁
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:29
Too soon?
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 12, 2014 at 14:35
That’s what she said.
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:25
Yeah, I am a little concerned about this new ‘game’ for the grappling system. I hated the 2010 version’s SNAKE game, totally broke the immersion and made it an arcade game, not a simulator that 2009 was. Still, I am excited to have a crack at this, bring it!
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 12, 2014 at 14:29
The way Rince tells it, every game is the same. Him beating you.
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:29
Watch the video below 😛 PS: Yes, he had to down a beer after this 😉
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:30
That because he buys the Beers 😉 Long term con.
Rinceinantici
June 12, 2014 at 14:31
Pah! Then why are you so reluctant to down them after? tehehehhe
FoxOneZA
June 12, 2014 at 14:18
UFC aka The Man-Hug simulator.
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:21
Ronda Rousey would like a word 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 12, 2014 at 14:28
I’m more interested in how to turn a breath mint into a weapon. Safe cracking is just training & jumping off a cliff is not exactly rocket science.
Anon A Mouse
June 12, 2014 at 14:32
Throw it in you opponents mouth and let him choke on it. It’s also not really rocket science you know.
FoxOneZA
June 12, 2014 at 14:39
But can you jump off a cliff with a horse?
Alien Emperor Trevor
June 12, 2014 at 14:51
A real horse? They’re quite heavy.
Dutch Matrix
June 12, 2014 at 14:49
Take breath mint from pocket/mouth.
Wipe your arse on it.
Shove down opponent’s throat.
Watch him die in agony…
Walk away with a fresh minty feeling to your arse.
FoxOneZA
June 12, 2014 at 14:39
Hmmmmm 😛
Dutch Matrix
June 12, 2014 at 14:45
I played UFC for all of 30 minutes. The first time my fighter pinned a guy to the wall and stared into his eyes like he did, I got REALLY uncomfortable. I’m not a homophobe. Far from it. I just cannot get into male/male homo-erotic stuff…
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 14:54
One needs balls in their sport 😛
oVgeeeeee Comet Drop
June 12, 2014 at 15:21
This is still the best KO ever recorded.
Rampage Jackson, the dude from the A-TEAM film
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b93_1352741280
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
June 12, 2014 at 18:25
Gentleman’s moustache? Tats? Wait.. Is that a digital representation of me?