Friday 5 August 2011

UFC Undisputed 2010


UFC makes a grand return to the console, now with a greater line up of the hardest fighters, improved graphics and harder hits. Has UFC 2010 been able to surpass it's predecessor and blow other MMA fighting out of contention? Gloves and 'roids' at the ready, lets go!


As most will know, UFC (Ultimate fighting championship) is a sport which consist of a octagonal fighting ring, with a 2 meter high metal fence, 2 barbarically huge men, 1 ref, 3 minute rounds, a fistful of adrenaline and wheelie-bin full of testicular fortitude. This game is almost as brutal as it's real life counterpart, you can almost feel every punch, every kick as they slam straight into an opponent. There are 3 main ways to win in UFC; points, knockout or submission. From my experience, you will never make it to points... Or even the second round in some cases. Fights are fast, moves are powerful and rounds are long; this makes fights generally quite short and when players are mismatched, almost instantaneous victory can (and probably will) be assured.

UFC doesn't seem to pride itself too much on it's story. I played two modes which can be 'kind of' associated to what could be concerned as a story. The initial was an arcade style story progression, you know, beat one guy, move onto the next, progressively gets harder until you get to the final 'boss', who is generally hard as nails (could probably take a chainsaw to the face and live). But my god was I not ready for this final guy... I played for what must have been 3-4 hours trying to beat this guy, but nothing I did worked. I occasionally got him on to his ' woozy gray screen of immanent death' but he always survived and would pull an irreversible submission on me.... It really boiled my potatoes...
The other story mode was more like an MMO, or at least felt as long and pointless as an MMO... You start out with a character with no skills or abilities or anything.... I mean the guy probably gets the trainer to tie his shoes with the general lack of gumption he has about him. You then spend countless hours training your guy, learning stuff, buying stuff, improving stuff, stopping him from declining in ability whilst combating fatigue; It's an endless cycle of events which never seem to conclude or improve at an sort of pace... This mode is strictly designed to make the game appear longer, I personally got very bored with this and soon sacked it off after playing a full season with fractional improvement.


If anyone has played UFC 2009, then you will know what I mean when I say 'clunky controls' or 'button mashers paradise' and you'll be glad to hear... this is pretty much exactly the same with some slight improvements. The instruction booklet instantly become your bible as a beginner, as the in-game instruction and 'tutorials' are abysmal. There are moves set out for whilst your character is grappling and clinching (or hugging), most of which involve the use of the right thumb stick. Maybe it's just me, but i can never see the pattern for moving it correctly, I could be as accurate as possible, gently moving it as instructed or go wild on it as if i was a five-year old swinging on the stick and get the same result. I personally found the best method is just to punch and kick, with that you have at least some chance of knocking them out and winning... It's either that or spend your evenings memorizing 2 pages of combos.

It seems to becoming the norm now that all fighting games, or any game really that brags about 'customisation' has to offer it to the MAX. Do we really need to be able to adjust nostril size or what colour Pinky-ring our fighter wears... in this reviewers opinion, no... we don't. But then again we don't want the option of too little. UFC has gone slightly more in the favour of the first but has not gone to the lengths that 'fight night champion' has, for which I can be nothing but grateful. Again it's fun to make characters of yourself and your friends, but when the controls are as fidgety as they are, it detracts from the fun and becomes a mad bash for buttons. A dog with the controller in it's mouth is the key to success I find. But in fairness, there is a lot given for customisation, I personally couldn't stand to pay that much attention to a small feature of this game, but those who love the MMO style storyline will probably love this feature and rightly so.


Some aspects are kept very true to UFC, the characters all wear the attire you see them in on the TV, rock music is prominent throughout the game ( which i welcome with open arms), Lots of Ed Hardy clothing (adding to the douche bag appeal) and all the signs, designs and logos are true to their real sponsors; which I find really helps to immerse the player into the game environment. Graphics are nothing too special but they are in order with current gen graphics and flow well considering how much contact there is with the characters. As for environment.... Not much can be said, they have designed a few classic UFC fighting arenas, a training gym and that's pretty much it... wow... Oh and the arenas have fans, not that it was not going to be expected.

Score Breakdown:
Visuals –7-8 /10: They cannot be faulted, they are up there with what anyone would expect from a fighting game, especially one as young as this. Environments are as seen on the TV and again, nothing special, but nothing below expected standards; I can't really fault this or be amazed as it just feels like it lacks but also delivers...
Presentation – 5/10: Feels slapped together from the remnants of the first UFC game, similar layout, similar stuff. Some parts have shown improvement, like the menu designs, graphics and transition between options within the menu. Other than that, Not much new to the table.
Sound: - 7/10: Steady and safe music, most of which you hear at any UFC fight. Voice acting is standard for a fighting game, not too impressive but at least we have a nice bit of talent for the introductory sequences.
Gameplay – 6/10: Single player is pretty boring, repetitive and until a point, not very challenging, until it becomes unbeatable.... even on easy.Multiplayer however offers some interesting gameplay and tests who has read the instruction manual. It gets to be, dare I say it, fun on occasions but nothing any good game would get jealous over. Sorry UFC but you're just to plain in this creative gaming world we live in.
Overall – 6.5/10: You could do a lot worse than play / buy this game, that said, this game's only winning point to me is the multiplayer value and even that gets old pretty quick. So do all your friends a favour, keep picking Brock Lesner, beating the crap out of them until they get tired of loosing and move onto something better like playing with your G.I. Joes or something.
Craig

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