EA’s first licensed MMA title is visually impressive, but plays as a very flat, unexciting entry into the world of UFC.
EA UFC: On the plus side
I can’t say that I’m a dedicated fan of mixed martial arts, because… well… I’m not.
I get the appeal of MMA, and the very flashy presentation style that the UFC does so well, but I’ve never been a huge fan of a sport that involves incapacitation as a core aim, simply because you are actually, physically hurting your opponent. I do understand why it’s popular, though.
Videogame MMA, though? I’m all over that, and have been stretching all the way back to Anchor’s Ultimate Fighting Championship for Dreamcast.
I really can’t fault the visual presentation of UFC. Fighter bodies glisten with sweat, drip blood and deform with every kick and punch when standing, and the use of camera angles does a solid job of drawing you into the action. That’s the benefit, I guess, of putting the team behind Fight Night onto your UFC title.
UFC’s controls are complicated, and there is a learning curve that’s somewhat satisfying once you get to grips with the fact that you may need any button, stick or combination thereof to score that crucial KO or submission. Expect to tire yourself out quickly in early bouts until you get a feel for the timing of throwing punches and kicks, let alone reversals and submission attempts. That does give UFC some longevity, as there’s some depth to the control scheme that rewards persistent play.
EA UFC: On the minus side
UFC isn’t EA’s first dance with MMA games, but it definitely has the feel of a “first try” kind of product. It’s a PS4/Xbox One only title (I tested with the PS4 code) with a fairly minimal amount of game modes. You can create fighters, put them through the Ultimate Fighter show, which intersperses real world clips with a very standard train-then-fight regime, and fight online once you’ve set up an Origin account. Everyone expected that, right?
What I didn’t expect for a game that’s as shiny as UFC is that it would be, in videogame terms, quite this dull. There’s a couple of reasons for that.
As a videogame, MMA’s always going to be tough to simulate because it’s a sport with a lot of complexity. In the standing pose EA UFC doesn’t do too much wrong, but once you clinch or take down your foe (or have the same done to you), matters become much more static and less engaging.
The animations for escaping holds look fluid when they’re in motion, but the transitions are quite static and the effect is to remind you that you’re playing a game. The submission mini-game, which uses the right stick to try to escape or block escape attempts is quite clever in this respect, but a lot of the rest of the ground game just doesn’t flow that neatly.
(no, wait, it’s all in THE GAME. Wrong series.)
Audio plays its part as well. Where the Fight Night games tended to sweeten the sound to enhance impact of moves, EA UFC does none of that. It’s entirely realistic, and sort of fits the TV-style presentation, but the end effect is that you’re drawn less into the game as a result, with not much differentiating a weak punch and a knockout blow. Instead it’s just an endless chorus of what sounds like simple slaps. I totally get that it fits the simulation style that EA UFC strives for, but it’s still not a choice that makes for gripping game action.
EA UFC: Pricing
EA UFC is available for Playstation 4 and Xbox One. At the time of writing, EB Games is selling it for $99, while JB Hi-Fi’s asking price is $89.
EA UFC: Fat Duck Verdict
I’m totally open to the concept that I may be looking for the wrong things in EA UFC. When I buy a videogame, it’s the game part that’s important to me. If you’re a die-hard UFC fan, the thrill of seeing the current cream of the crop beating each other to a pulp will no doubt have appeal. If you’re after an interesting and engaging fighting game experience, though, UFC will leave you rather flat.
The thing is that this is EA, and it doesn’t take a degree in crystal ball gazing to suggest that in 2015 it’s highly likely that there will be another EA UFC game. While veteran franchises such as FIFA and Madden often just tinker around the edges, there’s a lot of room for improvement in EA’s UFC.