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In its first attempt as a video game in nearly a decade, UFC Undisputed delivers in many ways with its deep roster, intuitive control scheme, career mode and its UFC style presentation. This game is going to be as close a gamer can get to being inside the octagon other than training to become an actual MMA fighter.
- Gameplay/Controls -
This game cannot be played with just using striking or grappling, you must learn to master both in order to become a complete fighter in this game. Striking is done based on what face button you hit, along with whether or not you change levels with the “L†and “R†buttons. Punching for example has two levels, just pushing the face buttons on your controller will allow you to punch your opponent in the face. However, if you throw punches while holding the correct “R†or “L†button, you can throw various punches to the body. The same control scheme applies for kicking, except you could change to three levels, with leg kicks, body kicks and head kicks.
Takedowns could be attempted by using the right analog stick along with the correct “R†button, once on the ground, you can attempt submissions or use ground and pound. Moving on the ground or changing positions while on the ground by using the right analog stick, submissions are a lot harder to pull off then using the ground and pound. It is easier to become a top notch striker then it is to be a submission master, but becoming a submission master will help you dominate opponents a lot easier.
-Graphics-
The game looks amazing from a visual standpoint, from the look of the fighters to the ring announcer to the referees to the ring girls. Most of the characters look close and realistic when compared to their real life counterparts, even the octagon looks similar to the real thing. When strikes connect, you can see the fighter wincing in pain and the skin rip open when cuts are formed through the fight. The blood looks pretty realistic and when it splatters on the mat, it stays there for the length of the fight. The arena’s that the fights take place in to look pretty similar to each other, with Madison Square Garden and The Staples Center being the two main arenas for big time fights.
-Sound-
The sound is of pretty good quality as well, starting with the intro music the UFC uses before each fighter is introduced. Michael Buffer’s introductions are exactly like they do at every UFC event and each referee uses his signature way to start a fight. The true highlight comes from UFC announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, who call the action similar to the way they do at every UFC event together, which is great because they recorded many hours of content for usage in the game. The crowd is pretty good as well, cheering when the action is solid and jeering when the fight is slow and/or boring.
-Roster-
The roster for the video game includes Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga, Antoni Hardonk, Heath Herring, Cheick Kongo, Brock Lesnar, Justin McCully, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Eddie Sanchez, Tim Sylvia, Cain Velasquez, Brandon Vera (Heavyweight & Light Heavyweight Versions), Fabricio Werdum, Houston Alexander, Ryan Bader, Michael Bisping (Light Heavyweight & Middleweight Versions), Tim Boetsch, Stephan Bonnar, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin (Light Heavyweight & Middleweight Versions), Wilson Gouveia (Light Heavyweight & Middleweight Versions), Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson (Light Heavyweight & Middleweight Versions), James Irvin, Quinton Jackson, Keith Jardine, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Tito Ortiz, Mauricio Rua, Anderson Silva (Light Heavyweight & Middleweight Versions), Thiago Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Almeida, Kendall Grove, Martin Kampmann (Middleweight & Welterweight Versions), Chris Leben, Thales Leitas, Jason MacDonald, Damien Maia, Nate Marquardt, Drew McFedries, Yushin Okami, Amir Sadollah (Middleweight & Welterweight Versions), Mike Swick (Middleweight & Welterweight Versions), Evan Tanner, Thiago Alves, Matt Arroyo, Kyle Bradley (Welterweight & Lightweight Versions), Josh Burkman, Marcus Davis, Jon Fitch, Matt Hughes, Anthony Johnson, Josh Koscheck, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, BJ Penn (Welterweight & Lightweight Versions), Diego Sanchez (Welterweight & Lightweight Versions), Ben Saunders, Matt Serra (Welterweight & Lightweight Versions), Sean Sherk (Welterweight & Lightweight Versions), Georges St. Pierre, Mark Bocek, Rich Clementi, Mac Danzig, Nate Diaz, Effrain Escudero, Frank Edgar, Spencer Fisher, Kenny Florian, Hermes Franca, Tyson Griffin, Roger Huerta, Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard, Joe Stevenson and Thiago Tavares.
That is a mighty roster that is filled with most of the top fighters who have passed through the UFC in some form or another is recent years. There are a few let downs though, with the first being no Randy Couture in the game and that Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader are only available from the Gamestop release of the game, but they can be downloaded after ninety days from both the PSN Network and X-Box Live.
-Game Modes-
There are three game modes in this game to play, those game modes are exhibition mode, career mode and UFC Classics mode.
Exhibition mode is playable with either one or two players, where is player picks there own fighter and they battle in three or five round fights.
Career mode is deeper than any other career like mode in any combat sports video games, like WWE Smackdown vs. Raw, TNA Impact! and EA Sports Fight Night. You start off by creating your own fighter and decide which weight class to put him in (lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight weight classes). From there, you build your fighters stats and fighting abilities through training sessions and sparring sessions. You then accept fights with other little known fighters (mainly made up fighters) on event under cards until you build notoriety, then you start fighting the big names in your division until your seven year career comes to an end. You can also accept offers to fight on short notice and take promotional roles, like doing photo shoots, radio interviews, autograph sessions and event appearances.
UFC Classics mode is a single player mode that allows players to relive twelve past exciting UFC fights, where you unlock special video highlights of past UFC fights if you complete the goal. Those fights range from Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar at UFC Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale to BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk at UFC 84.
-Final Word-
If you are a fan of the UFC and play video games, then UFC 2009: Undisputed is the video game you have been waiting for. This game could possibly be compared to the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw video game series in that the game could attract non-MMA fans to the game, which the WWE video game series has with non-wrestling fans.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
