Post by iw5000 on Jul 4, 2014 11:01:36 GMT -5
EA Sports UFC.
My review.
Anyone playing it? It came out in mid June this year. If you haven't played this series, it's best described as MMA fighting simulator. I want to say it's the seventh or eight in the UFC series? Dating back many moons ago to the original game UFC Tapout. The rights to this game were bought out by EA Sports in 2013, so a year was skipped. So the prior version was the 2012, UFC Undisputed 3, made by THQ.
What's new? -
So let's start here. How does this 2014 version compare to the one in 2012? What's new? What's changed? I can start with this. EA's takeover of the game feels a bit 'stripped down' compared to UFC Undisputed 3. Not much. But it seems like a few less of everything. A few less features. There are less fighters, with around 100 compared to 135. The create a fighter seems a bit less in terms of what you can make. The campaign solo play seems to have a bit less fluff and junk in it too. There's also no Pride Fighting Championship rules. On the surface, this would be a negative to the game, but as you will see in a bit, it's going to turn out to be no big deal for a few reasons. Plus, there are some new features in this game. Like the 'import your face' feature, letting you put your own face onto a created fighter.
What is the biggest addition to this game, that makes the slightly less features no big deal? Graphics. This game is gorgeous. Insane graphics. A person walking by might think its the real thing. I am playing on the Xbox One and it's awesome. Especially compared to the Xbox 360 2012 game. It's night and day better. The level of detail is scary good, to the point that some times, you almost feel you are watching a real match. Feet press on the mat. Skin moves. Sweat. Blood. Muscules move when punching. Skin flexes when hit. All much better than before. This is a home run all the way and to be a bit blunt, the insane graphics can initially hide any flaws in this game. It just looks that good. This also carries over to the fight presentation format. It captures the UFC....VERY VERY WELL. At least in terms of a 1 v 1 fight. Entrance, presentation, Bruce buffer, crowd noise, Joe Rogan and announcers, and obviously, the feel of the actual fight.
Graphics aside, what is in this game?
1. Fight Now Mode - 1 v 1. You pick a fighter and go against any of the 100 AI opponents (or a friend) or ten created fighters.
2. Career Mode - Make a fighter, and start at ground zero in the Ultimate Fighter Show. You work your way up through the ranks.
3. Challenge Mode - Learn how to fight and do challenges.
4. Online Multiplayer - Go online and fight against other humans.
5. FighterNet - View your fighter's stats. Tons of stats here, much like CoD.
6. Create a Fighter - Keep your stable of fighters here.
So here's where i am going to put my warning into this review.
I bought this game the day it came out. Let me state out in the open, I have come close not once, but twice in taking it back to the store for a trade in. It can be maddeningly difficult to play. It has a very steep learning curve. But the problem imho, isn't what you would typically expect with the learning curve. That is, learning the tons of button combos. It's not just that. The difficulty lies with the lack of explanation in the overall concepts of HOW you are supposed play. And learn.
When they say fight 'simulator', they really do mean fight simulator. And 'where' you learn is crucial. This second observation is crucial. A person's first instinct when they get this game is to play the solo campaign to start at the bottom, and learn how to play it/fight. This would appear to logical. It's not. I think this is wrong. Why? You start with a no skill fighter. You win training matches and build points to buy skill sets. Fun in a career sort of way, but maddeningly frustrating because this game is horrible to learn when you have a crap-azz fighter. How do you learn good combos, when your fighter can't throw them?
Here's the key to making this game work. Initially, stay away from the career mode. There is a temptation to go make yourself and start a career, but don't. Two. Go to the Create a Fighter...BUT... make an absolutely trash fighter. Like lowest skills in every skill set. Make him look like someone you don't like, whatever. Call him Joe Bum. Three, go to the 1 v 1 mode and play against this 'Joe Bum' opponent with a good fighter like Anderson Silva. Then spend a few hours beating the crap out of the other guy. There's going to be some trial and error, but you'll be able to pull off ALL the combos and moves, as you'll be successful doing them. You can see what you are doing. Once you KNOW how to do them, then later you can learn how to pull off the stuff under stressful conditions. Obviously, early on, stay away from Multiplayer.
I can't stress the above enough.
What will you find out? It's a deep game.
A complex game. Obviously, there are a ton of button combos. X & Y are your left and right hands. A & B are your left and right feet. Those are your four basic ways to strikes. Off of that, are probably hundreds of modifiers and moves based on how you modify those four buttons, by working the left/right bumpers, triggers and L/R sticks. There's a ton of moves, many of which are no where to be found in the game training sections. Some of these i found online, some through trial and error. Like i recently found out how to posture up when on the ground. Wow, this opens up the ground game considerably. Also found out how to elbow bash while in someone's guard. Again, opening up new angles and gameplay. Take that x 100.
Here's the real tricky part. The stamina system is a bit to simulator'ish. In real life, if you go throw five or six punches in quick succession, you get winded. This is a bit exaggerated in this game and takes it a step further to eliminate ALL button mashing. You buttom mash or grounggame-move mash, you get winded FAST. This may have worked in prior UFC games, but here it doesn't. You get punished like a beaten mule. So you need to CONSTANTLY be cognizant of this stamina bar. Everything you do has to be with an eye on this initially. If you get winded....you are in trouble. Your hands drop, you don't block well, you are exposed, you move slower, your ground game gets sloppy and you get passed. Especially on the ground.
There's another tricky part to the above. A second element which makes this game hard. You NEED to play this game like a real mma fight. The game like goes out completely out of it's way to PUNISH players for button mashing. Not only with draining stamina, but also with making unorthodox moves work slower in succession. The game as a whole, with that, moves a bit slower than before (lightweights play faster than heavyweights) You try some combo that doesn't really function in real life, the 2nd punch/kick doesn't work real well. The 3rd kick/punch...forget about it. You're toast. It's slower (plus drains stamina). You fight like this, you'll get your azz handed to you by a not so good AI opponent. Use a low level rookie fighter in career mode and fight like this, you'll be gnashing your teeth and breaking shit. That's why i made the recommendation before, avoid using those fighters at first. You are more prone to making mistakes using terrible fighters.
But you start to learn all the above......wow. The game REALLY starts to flow. It's like the game, becomes an entirely different game. You are like, ..."THIS IS FVCKING AWESOME'. You start to understand range of strikes, timing your takedowns, ground combat, when to load up your punches, and the whole 'cat & mouse' game starts to form with fighting tactics. Unlike prior UFC games, timing/positioning really is important. You can be losing, but if you catch a fighter off balance in a bad position, you can flash KO him. I've done it already. You truly are only ever one punch away from winning. Same deal with the ground game. You need to be able to recognize positions on the ground.
Suggestion.
Circling back. You need to understand the above process ('how' to play the game), with my suggestion on 'where' one should learn how to play (explained before). When you get into matches, into tense, stressful fights, ...it is very very easy to lose complete control of what you should be doing. And resort back to doing button mashing/dumb moves. Which immediately starts a downward spiral of you getting crushed. Which then makes the game feel cheap. I was there. Tossing the controller agains the wall. Do my suggestions. Here's some more tips.
1. Learn a few basic combos to start. Jab, jab, cross.
2. Learn how to defend. Initially, just use the RightTrigger. That's enough to get started.
3. Learn how to pace and find your range. Attack, defend, restore energy.
4. Then learn a jab, cross, leg kick. You pull these off, they'll feel faster and intuitive.
5. Once you get those down, mix in the above combos, but finish/end them with loaded up punches, like hooks, elbows or overhand right/lefts.
6. Feel natural with the above, then start to learn how to use targeted shots. Go body, then the head. Feint low, go high. ect....
7. Get the above down, then you start learning how to change stances, to protect bruised legs and such. Check kicks.
8. Get all the above down? You will be good to start. Then you slowly build in more exotic attacks like reverse kicks, jumping punches and stuff
9. You'll learn/find moves you didn't think were possible as you go along (like elbowing on the ground) Just add them to your repertoire as you go.
Got all that? Then you are ready to go online. But note, there's still the Ground Game and Clinch Game you need to learn. Yes, there's a lot.
Last comment. Submissions.
What to say? This has been the holy grail search for UFC video games. How to properly handle submissions in a video game. It's hard. Probably no game is ever going to capture the 'feel' of what it's like to do the cat & mouse with doing subs, so that needs to be considered when discussing how the game handles it. In the past, all these UFC games have handled the sub game by bringing about 'mini-games' within the fight, to resolve the sub attempt vs escape. My thoughts so far with this new game? It's better than before? The prir games button mashing or stick spinning is gone. What you have now is....well.....it's new. To hard to explain on here. I will say this. It's better, but right now, it's very hard to submit someone. I need to play it more to comment better on it.
The online part of the game.
I have been to nervous to try it in depth. I have played one game, but not using 'me', my created fighter to which stats are attached. I joined a match and played Mark Hunt vs Roy 'Big Country' Nelson. How did it go? FUN. No lag, smooth gameplay, no button mashing or auto-win moves....just good, fun, tactical fighting. What more can you want? In my only match, I won a split decision, 29-28. I have to say, this was very intense, right up there with other games.
If you like the UFC, love mma, ....you have to buy this. There is no real choice here. You have to get it.
My review.
Anyone playing it? It came out in mid June this year. If you haven't played this series, it's best described as MMA fighting simulator. I want to say it's the seventh or eight in the UFC series? Dating back many moons ago to the original game UFC Tapout. The rights to this game were bought out by EA Sports in 2013, so a year was skipped. So the prior version was the 2012, UFC Undisputed 3, made by THQ.
What's new? -
So let's start here. How does this 2014 version compare to the one in 2012? What's new? What's changed? I can start with this. EA's takeover of the game feels a bit 'stripped down' compared to UFC Undisputed 3. Not much. But it seems like a few less of everything. A few less features. There are less fighters, with around 100 compared to 135. The create a fighter seems a bit less in terms of what you can make. The campaign solo play seems to have a bit less fluff and junk in it too. There's also no Pride Fighting Championship rules. On the surface, this would be a negative to the game, but as you will see in a bit, it's going to turn out to be no big deal for a few reasons. Plus, there are some new features in this game. Like the 'import your face' feature, letting you put your own face onto a created fighter.
What is the biggest addition to this game, that makes the slightly less features no big deal? Graphics. This game is gorgeous. Insane graphics. A person walking by might think its the real thing. I am playing on the Xbox One and it's awesome. Especially compared to the Xbox 360 2012 game. It's night and day better. The level of detail is scary good, to the point that some times, you almost feel you are watching a real match. Feet press on the mat. Skin moves. Sweat. Blood. Muscules move when punching. Skin flexes when hit. All much better than before. This is a home run all the way and to be a bit blunt, the insane graphics can initially hide any flaws in this game. It just looks that good. This also carries over to the fight presentation format. It captures the UFC....VERY VERY WELL. At least in terms of a 1 v 1 fight. Entrance, presentation, Bruce buffer, crowd noise, Joe Rogan and announcers, and obviously, the feel of the actual fight.
Graphics aside, what is in this game?
1. Fight Now Mode - 1 v 1. You pick a fighter and go against any of the 100 AI opponents (or a friend) or ten created fighters.
2. Career Mode - Make a fighter, and start at ground zero in the Ultimate Fighter Show. You work your way up through the ranks.
3. Challenge Mode - Learn how to fight and do challenges.
4. Online Multiplayer - Go online and fight against other humans.
5. FighterNet - View your fighter's stats. Tons of stats here, much like CoD.
6. Create a Fighter - Keep your stable of fighters here.
So here's where i am going to put my warning into this review.
I bought this game the day it came out. Let me state out in the open, I have come close not once, but twice in taking it back to the store for a trade in. It can be maddeningly difficult to play. It has a very steep learning curve. But the problem imho, isn't what you would typically expect with the learning curve. That is, learning the tons of button combos. It's not just that. The difficulty lies with the lack of explanation in the overall concepts of HOW you are supposed play. And learn.
When they say fight 'simulator', they really do mean fight simulator. And 'where' you learn is crucial. This second observation is crucial. A person's first instinct when they get this game is to play the solo campaign to start at the bottom, and learn how to play it/fight. This would appear to logical. It's not. I think this is wrong. Why? You start with a no skill fighter. You win training matches and build points to buy skill sets. Fun in a career sort of way, but maddeningly frustrating because this game is horrible to learn when you have a crap-azz fighter. How do you learn good combos, when your fighter can't throw them?
Here's the key to making this game work. Initially, stay away from the career mode. There is a temptation to go make yourself and start a career, but don't. Two. Go to the Create a Fighter...BUT... make an absolutely trash fighter. Like lowest skills in every skill set. Make him look like someone you don't like, whatever. Call him Joe Bum. Three, go to the 1 v 1 mode and play against this 'Joe Bum' opponent with a good fighter like Anderson Silva. Then spend a few hours beating the crap out of the other guy. There's going to be some trial and error, but you'll be able to pull off ALL the combos and moves, as you'll be successful doing them. You can see what you are doing. Once you KNOW how to do them, then later you can learn how to pull off the stuff under stressful conditions. Obviously, early on, stay away from Multiplayer.
I can't stress the above enough.
What will you find out? It's a deep game.
A complex game. Obviously, there are a ton of button combos. X & Y are your left and right hands. A & B are your left and right feet. Those are your four basic ways to strikes. Off of that, are probably hundreds of modifiers and moves based on how you modify those four buttons, by working the left/right bumpers, triggers and L/R sticks. There's a ton of moves, many of which are no where to be found in the game training sections. Some of these i found online, some through trial and error. Like i recently found out how to posture up when on the ground. Wow, this opens up the ground game considerably. Also found out how to elbow bash while in someone's guard. Again, opening up new angles and gameplay. Take that x 100.
Here's the real tricky part. The stamina system is a bit to simulator'ish. In real life, if you go throw five or six punches in quick succession, you get winded. This is a bit exaggerated in this game and takes it a step further to eliminate ALL button mashing. You buttom mash or grounggame-move mash, you get winded FAST. This may have worked in prior UFC games, but here it doesn't. You get punished like a beaten mule. So you need to CONSTANTLY be cognizant of this stamina bar. Everything you do has to be with an eye on this initially. If you get winded....you are in trouble. Your hands drop, you don't block well, you are exposed, you move slower, your ground game gets sloppy and you get passed. Especially on the ground.
There's another tricky part to the above. A second element which makes this game hard. You NEED to play this game like a real mma fight. The game like goes out completely out of it's way to PUNISH players for button mashing. Not only with draining stamina, but also with making unorthodox moves work slower in succession. The game as a whole, with that, moves a bit slower than before (lightweights play faster than heavyweights) You try some combo that doesn't really function in real life, the 2nd punch/kick doesn't work real well. The 3rd kick/punch...forget about it. You're toast. It's slower (plus drains stamina). You fight like this, you'll get your azz handed to you by a not so good AI opponent. Use a low level rookie fighter in career mode and fight like this, you'll be gnashing your teeth and breaking shit. That's why i made the recommendation before, avoid using those fighters at first. You are more prone to making mistakes using terrible fighters.
But you start to learn all the above......wow. The game REALLY starts to flow. It's like the game, becomes an entirely different game. You are like, ..."THIS IS FVCKING AWESOME'. You start to understand range of strikes, timing your takedowns, ground combat, when to load up your punches, and the whole 'cat & mouse' game starts to form with fighting tactics. Unlike prior UFC games, timing/positioning really is important. You can be losing, but if you catch a fighter off balance in a bad position, you can flash KO him. I've done it already. You truly are only ever one punch away from winning. Same deal with the ground game. You need to be able to recognize positions on the ground.
Suggestion.
Circling back. You need to understand the above process ('how' to play the game), with my suggestion on 'where' one should learn how to play (explained before). When you get into matches, into tense, stressful fights, ...it is very very easy to lose complete control of what you should be doing. And resort back to doing button mashing/dumb moves. Which immediately starts a downward spiral of you getting crushed. Which then makes the game feel cheap. I was there. Tossing the controller agains the wall. Do my suggestions. Here's some more tips.
1. Learn a few basic combos to start. Jab, jab, cross.
2. Learn how to defend. Initially, just use the RightTrigger. That's enough to get started.
3. Learn how to pace and find your range. Attack, defend, restore energy.
4. Then learn a jab, cross, leg kick. You pull these off, they'll feel faster and intuitive.
5. Once you get those down, mix in the above combos, but finish/end them with loaded up punches, like hooks, elbows or overhand right/lefts.
6. Feel natural with the above, then start to learn how to use targeted shots. Go body, then the head. Feint low, go high. ect....
7. Get the above down, then you start learning how to change stances, to protect bruised legs and such. Check kicks.
8. Get all the above down? You will be good to start. Then you slowly build in more exotic attacks like reverse kicks, jumping punches and stuff
9. You'll learn/find moves you didn't think were possible as you go along (like elbowing on the ground) Just add them to your repertoire as you go.
Got all that? Then you are ready to go online. But note, there's still the Ground Game and Clinch Game you need to learn. Yes, there's a lot.
Last comment. Submissions.
What to say? This has been the holy grail search for UFC video games. How to properly handle submissions in a video game. It's hard. Probably no game is ever going to capture the 'feel' of what it's like to do the cat & mouse with doing subs, so that needs to be considered when discussing how the game handles it. In the past, all these UFC games have handled the sub game by bringing about 'mini-games' within the fight, to resolve the sub attempt vs escape. My thoughts so far with this new game? It's better than before? The prir games button mashing or stick spinning is gone. What you have now is....well.....it's new. To hard to explain on here. I will say this. It's better, but right now, it's very hard to submit someone. I need to play it more to comment better on it.
The online part of the game.
I have been to nervous to try it in depth. I have played one game, but not using 'me', my created fighter to which stats are attached. I joined a match and played Mark Hunt vs Roy 'Big Country' Nelson. How did it go? FUN. No lag, smooth gameplay, no button mashing or auto-win moves....just good, fun, tactical fighting. What more can you want? In my only match, I won a split decision, 29-28. I have to say, this was very intense, right up there with other games.
If you like the UFC, love mma, ....you have to buy this. There is no real choice here. You have to get it.