EA SPORTS UFC Review

It’s Time! – Bruce Buffer – Octagon announcer from the UFC

I have been playing the UFC games since UFC 2009. The games have come a long way from when they first started. The overall system is better, graphics, contact physics in a fight and the overall tweaking that has been done in the last four years of development between two different developers. But, enough about the history of the games let’s look into the Main Event of the Evening with EA Sports UFC. (All videos I post are from the Xbox One console).

First, the installation of the game didn’t take that long. The load screens aren’t too bad and when the game loads up for the first time you get to play through the tutorial – if you’ve played the Demo this will be a breeze, and a good refresher as well. If you haven’t already played through the demo take your time with it, get a feel for the game but don’t spend too much time on it, there’s more to come.

For me, whenever I play this game, while I love to have the match-ups I’ve always wanted to see or replay, I really play this game to create myself as a fighter, the tallest, overall bad-ass I can make in a game and take the time to level him up and take on the UFC in whatever division I choose, which usually starts with Middleweight division.

A few things about the Create-A-Fighter system. This has had a great overhaul from previous games for the better. While yes, you age in the game (which is why I always start at 18 years old, it also allows me to see how I progress as a fighter).

As of this post, my fighter:
Kurt “Assassin” Sato
Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
Height: 6’6″ (I’m 5’3″)
Weight: 180lbs (I’m trying to lose weight)
Fighting out of Montreal, QB, Canada

Started as one of the Finalists from The Ultimate Fighter where I was on BJ Penn’s Team and picked dead last.  On June 29, 2014 at UFC 175 I won the contract to get into the UFC by a TKO in the 3rd Round.

Since then, I’ve had 1 Fight of the Night in UFC 237 in 31 seconds (this was also a double bonus with a KO of the Night as well), a six-time Performance of the Night – KO in UFC’s 209, 218, 237, 261, 267… Seven-time UFC Champion with a 24 Win streak that was broken as I was typing out this post. I held the belt since UFC 231. Ironically I lost it to Chris Weldmen, he submitted me. I’m not bitter, I got my revenge. *NOTE* See my final stats and accolades at the bottom of this review.

The Korean Zombie isn’t the only one that can pull off that submission.

The basic premise of Create a Fighter (CAF), you do not get any choice in your opponent. Whatever Joe Silva gives you, you have to accept it. In previous games you had at least two or three choices to work with. But, really it doesn’t make a difference.

The next step is to go through a three part training process that lasts one minute each and that goes by really quick. The better you do, the more experience points you get to level up your Fighter.

You can redo the training sessions for as long as you keep hitting retry. If you get a Blackbelt award (which is the best you can get), move onto the next one, until you are ready to fight. Word of advice, don’t skip the training sessions. Not only does it give you points to level up your Fighter, it gives you extra points to purchase fighter moves both defensively and offensively.

Pretty much you can take all the best moves from the fighters you know and love and put them into your fighter. But, it all depends on your style of play, which I’ll be getting to in a bit. By about the 36th fight in your career, if you have won consistently, you’ll have more than enough points to Max out your Fighter and buy all the moves in the game itself. The last five fights I skipped all Training Sessions and went right into the fight, I had put enough time into the game by then.

All that time in the virtual gym is paying off.

Like all previous CAF, as you fight you gain experience points. The higher level of difficulty the more points you get. However, there’s always a level cap. For this UFC, it’s Level 26 MAX level for your Create A Fighter. Which after playing this game for as long as I have compared to previous UFC games, this allows you to really make your character a beast in the Octagon.  Currently my fighter has Stand-Up at 86, Submission at 100, Ground at 100 with an Overall rating of 94. and I haven’t been asked to retire yet. *EDIT* a few hours later and another 12 title defenses for my second go at it, I’ve maxed out all my Stats. I’m currently at 100 across all three areas.

That’s what’s great about this game is that as long as you don’t take too much damage and keep on winning, the game eventually forces you to retire and enter in the Hall of Fame. You are still limited to the 40 fights in a career though. Which I can understand because after you’ve put in a sold amount of hours training and fighting you’ll need a break to start over.

I’m sure you are wondering what’s wrong with this game?

Well, besides the crazy collision physics of the game?

It’s the submission system, while better than the other UFC games… (I’m looking at you UFC 2009 and 2010 with the stupid right analog spamming to possible secure a Sub…) This one is a mini game. you are forced to use the Right Analog (R) to block the person trying to escape, while looking for your Left Analog (L) to flick in the right direction. Look at the Video below and see how difficult it is. Every submission is broken down into a five-part mini-game. It’s frustrating that’s for sure and it doesn’t seem to matter if the person is winded, bleeding from the head or has a ruptured spleen…. if you don’t hit those submission key points, you don’t get it.

Submission by Arm Bar. Rhonda Rousey would be proud.

I haven’t been able to secure a Sub on ANYONE at all in my career and I’m maxed out in that area. I was only able to submit a training partner once or twice in practice or if the difficulty was dropped to Beginner.  It’s better than it was at least.  *NOTE* Ok, I got a few submissions and it was a Submission of the Night, see it below.

What about the Women’s division? Isn’t that in the game?

Why yes, yes it is… But, not in Create a Fighter… You can only play it Online, with a Person Side-by-side, or against the computer in a regular match.  I think in future versions of the game when the roster actually fills out in the UFC, there will be that option, but until then, it’s still a Man’s world in the UFC game, no matter how progress the game actually is.

There were a few bonus’ as well if you pre-ordered the game. The master himself Bruce “Dragon” Lee can be played in Featherweight, Welterweight, and Middleweight division and has many of his signature moves, at least with his quickness and movements. See the video below for what a Pro fight between GSP and Bruce Lee:

Another bonus was the original Ultimate Fighter Champion, Royce Gracie against Anderson “Spider” Silva:

Other CAF features include: Videoes from Fighters, Dana White and others congratulating you on winning, boosting your confidence if you lose, talk about your KO’s and most are generally really excited to talk in front of the camera towards you / at you. I even had Rhonda Rousey chat me up a few times. You will also get training sessions with well known fighters as you progress in your CAF career, which is really interesting as they come with an intro video with some impressive Mortal Kombat style Skull cracking. In fact, there’s pretty much a video for everything. First Win, First Championship, First Loss, First KO, First Sub, etc. They add to the overall experience, even if Forrest Griffin does repeat himself a few times with the Winning streak Video clip… it’s funny because you can’t hate Forrest.

You also get a Superfight during your career…I fought Jon “Bones” Jones and won. It’s something that I wish the UFC would actually do, but all they do is just talk about it. They never are able to act on it.

Finally, here’s what happens when you go through the entire 40 fight UFC Create A Fighter Season that was similar to all other UFC Game formats since 2009. I leave you with my final two fights and the final videos that occur during the ending.