UFC 2009 Undisputed Review

Posted on 29. May, 2009 by Johnn0 in Games, Reviews

Yukes Future Media Creators the developers behind the Smackdown vs Raw titles has been given the task of bringing the world of Mixed Martial Arts to us PS3 brawlers, a difficult task when you take into account the source material. So has Yukes managed to recreate the intensity of the UFC?

The amount of depth needed to fully achieve a real representation of the world of MMA would be a daunting task for any developer and I am happy to report that Yukes has mostly achieved this with a game that has plenty of depth to the fighting mechanics.

This does have a down side however as the controls can seem a bit overwhelming during your first couple of minutes of play. Characters have a two techniques assigned to them that determine the moves that you can perform. Kickboxing, Boxing and Muay Thai are your vertical techniques and Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling are what your character uses when on the mat or when trying to get an opponent on the mat.

When in the regular standing position the face buttons each control a limb with L1 & L2 used as modifiers for high and low attacks respectively. Blocking is done via the R1 & R2 buttons high and low as per the attacks so all peachy to there, where it does get a little more in-depth is when more advanced techniques are used. Flicking the left sticks makes your character ‘step’ in that direction which can then be linked into combo’s. Flicking the right stick up or down with the right timing will trigger a counter-clinch which then puts you in an advantageous position over your opponent.

This is why being on your back is a no no

Now where the game gets really complicated is when characters are on the mat, the face buttons still control strikes and the types of strikes available change depending on your position. While on your back with your opponent sitting on your chest beating seven shades of **** out of you getting out of that situation is vital and to do this you need to use transitions and this is where things get a little less straight forward.

Transitions are basically the changing of positions on the mat to either get yourself outta trouble or to get into a better position, trying to do this without practice can be frustrating at best as the controls require more finesse here than in any other fighter i’ve ever played. Moving in a diagonal and semi-circular direction on the right stick will trigger a minor position change while holding the R1 button while moving the right stick will attempt a major transition which can move you from flat on your back to being in complete control.

What makes this complicated is that there are a lot of factors to take into account. The movement required is based on the position you are in at the time and can be countered by your opponent so getting out of trouble against a skilled player can be more than slightly annoying at first and it does take quite a while to come to terms with the technique required here.

The upside of all this is that UFC has incredible depth and all of it is technical and purposeful once you do come to grips with the fighting mechanics there is a lot of fun to be had and you will find yourself taking your opponent to the mat in an attempt to get a good ol’ fashioned submission victory.

Getting out of this takes some work!

The game modes available are nothing spectacular but by no means lacking, you have the choice of Exhibition, Career, Classic Fights and Online decent enough in my books. Exhibition mode lets you jump into the ring as one of the 80 real life UFC stars in the game from heavyweights to lightweights and everything in between. You can pick from the likes of Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Georges St-Pierre and the “Ice-Man” Chuck Liddell, there is no shortage of fighters to choose from here.

Playing the Classic Fights mode offers you the opportunity to recreate some of the most famous UFC fights with completing the task unlocking a montage of the actuall fight. This mode could use some more matches to recreate as the amount of challenges available is a little shallow.

The online mode is what you would expect with you being able to easily jump into a ranked game or set up a custom game. We did experience a bug or two when joining a quick game where the character selection screen made us choose a character 3 times before we went into the match, however this only happened once and is not that major anyway. When it comes to online performance against international folk there was an expected amount of lag, but the good news is that the game is fully playable although you will suffer a knock down or two.

The majority of your time though will be spent in the Career mode. There is a ton of depth to be found here, so lets start at the beginning. Starting a new career will begin with creating your fighter, options here include Height, Weight Class, Technique and Sills with a fair amount of customization options to aesthetically alter your character. Its all pretty standard stuff and there is nothing really new here. Once you have created your digital brawler you go to your first fight, to prove yourself worthy of being in the UFC.

Take your Fighter to the top

Career mode has you start out as a bit of a weakling with all your stats very low. There are 3 main areas you will need to focus on to improve your fighter, firstly there is physical conditioning you will need to spend time on increasing strength, speed and cardio (stamina) these are done via the training option on your calender. Secondly you will need to improve your skills – which is a pretty big list – this is done by sparring, once you have completed your sparring session you will received points that can be allocated to things like Submission Offence or Submission Defence.

Thirdly you will be invited to training camps held by Martial Arts schools, from this you can choose which Martial Arts style you want to learn more about. When in these sessions you will be given tasks to complete and if completed you will receive points which go towards your overall skill in whatever discipline you choose e.g: Kickboxing or Judo. When you have enough points you will move to a new level and unlock new moves for your character.

While doing all this you must monitor your stamina and you will need to plan training, sparring, camp sessions as well as rest around your fight schedule. As you participate in training or competitive matches your overall stamina will drain and needs to be replenished, this can only be done by resting. So to maximise your fighter it is critical to manage yourself properly because going into a fight with 20% stamina is almost guaranteed to get you knocked out.

As you take your fighter from unknown to title contender you will receive offers to take part in photo-shoots for sponsors or to make a training video all of which take time out of your training schedule and is another aspect that must be managed. The career mode is a very in depth mode and it can become quite tedious and I found myself skipping training and simply resting until i got to my next scheduled fight. I’m not saying it is bad, i’m just impatient.

Realistic hit detection adds to UFC's charm

The amount of depth in UFC 2009 is excellent but the most niggling factor for me is that character movement is sluggish, if you have ever seen a UFC fight you will notice that those guys fly around the ring where as here the movement is similar to the Smackdown vs Raw games where characters feel bulky. Also, knock outs come too often, I have never had match go to decision, not once.

On the presentation side of things UFC is in the upper echelon of its genre, character models are solid and take damage beautifully, characters will get sweatier and cuts will open up and bleed. What really makes UFC so solid graphically is that animations and hit detection. Punches can actually glance of characters and well timed strikes land with an almost tangible thud and sometimes triggering the ‘rocked’ effect. Rocking an opponent will make the camera zoom in, slow down and desaturate so that you know that now is your time to unload on your opponent.

Blows land with audible impact as the crowd reacts realistically to what is happening in the ring and it adds a lot to the feel of the fight. Commentary is also very well done with commentator audio that is not intrusive and it actually sounds like you are watching a fight.

Conclusion

UFC 2009 is a great new entry into the fighting genre for THQ and Yukes and kudos must be handed out to the development team for taking the time to figure how best to bring the UFC to consoles. The game is not perfect, knock outs are too frequent, ground work is tough to get used to and character movement feels laborious at times and the career mode can become tedious.

But if you are willing to stick it out then you will find a gem of a fighting game that rewards technique, skill and patience.