When the demo for UFC Undisputed 2010 first came out, I downloaded and enjoyed it immensely. The fighting mechanics were, for the most part, pretty solid, and I actually ended up playing it to death. It came as no surprise then, that the full game, was largely much of the same.
For those unfamiliar with what UFC is, it’s Ultimate Fighting Championships, and it’s basically a less-holds barred, more “real” fighting franchise than WWE. Men of varying sizes, shapes and muscular definition enter a caged octagon and proceed to beat the living crap out of each other – it’s entertaining for a while, but it gets old quickly.
Again, that was my feeling when playing the game. There are a variety of available game modes, from the storyline mode where you create your own MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) star and gradually progress him through the rankings until he becomes champion of the world, to the Ultimate Fights mode, where you replay famous matchups from the past, and aim to achieve certain objectives that actually happened in the match. There is definitely a lot to do in UFC Undisputed 2010, nobody is arguing that.
The problem that arises, however, is that there is simply not enough variety in the game. Every fight you aim to beat your opponent in one of five ways: submission, TKO, knock out, decision or doctor stoppage. Essentially, however, they all boil down to the same thing: beat your opponent up until you win. This is the essence of the game, and unfortunately, there really isn’t much else to it.
The story mode is bland, chronicling the rise of your created character from beginner to champion of the UFC, but there is no emotional investment in the character. The character creation options are pretty robust, but they lack the most important thing, which would allow the user to feel a connection to their creation: heart. To me, my guy was just another pawn for me to control, and while I had fun beating people up with him, I didn’t really care if he won the championship or not. It didn’t help that the majority of your time in career mode will be spent in stats laden menus, deciding whether to take a rest week (fatigue and conditioning down), or training, and if so, what? Will you go for one of the many specialisations, or the general cardio, strength or speed? To me, there was far too much messing around deciding what to train and when, than fighting, which is why we all play games like this.
When you do actually get to experience a fight, the experience is hampered by a number of factors. Firstly, you may notice that as soon as your second fight, the commentators start to repeat themselves. I know there are only a limited number of pre-recorded phrases, but when they are exhausted after one fight, that is unacceptable.
The next obstacle you will probably encounter is the sheer lack of diversity in your fights. The AI is so strong that even when playing at the lowest level, you will probably find yourself resorting to the same tactics to secure the win. For example, if you ever get grappled by your opponent, you can write that round off, as you will be lucky to escape his clutches. And if you get weakened enough on the ground, and he goes for a submission attempt, be prepared to physically hurt yourself in an attempt to stave him off, and most likely still fail anyway.
Maybe I should blame a lack of studying the tutorial videos and demonstrations. But then again, they are long, boring and practically mandatory in order to have any idea how to play the game. After watching each move three times, you will probably feel confident enough to play the actual game, and not waste any more time. The controls are rather complicated at first (hence the lengthy tutorials), but once you get the hang of them, you will be able to compete semi-competently against opponents.
By opponents, I mean AI opponents, set to the easiest difficulty. Try go online and find a human opponent, and you will most likely be pounded into little bloody spots on the canvas within the first round.
If you feel like getting this game, for example if you are fan of the first title, or a UFC fan in general, then you should ideally go for the PS3 version. In addition to having five “Ultimate Fights” included as exclusive videos, including a savage beatdown by the front cover star Brock Lesner, there are also a number of exclusive characters that you can play as. I only regret that the videos can only be watched from within the game, and not in a more sensible manner, as the bonus content was on God of War Collection: Through the XMB. Watching from within the game is a pain, as the video controls are terrible at best, and there is a lot of pre-match blah blah blah to skip before it actually gets good.
As I’ve said already, it’s a decent game, it looks good and plays well, but the lack of variety and menu-heavy career mode ultimately kills it. It’s good for a quick brawl, and knocking your opponent out with a well-placed uppercut to the jaw will never get old, but for long-term value, I’d look for something else.
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