Fun Brawl but lacks modes and features
Let me preface this and say that I am a "hardcore" MMA fan so, im not sure if I somehow "get it" a little easier but I actually enjoyed my time with this game. I know it's been getting a bad rep but breaking it down and learning the nuance's, I find myself enjoying this game but I can recognize what it get's wrong and how it definitely feels stripped down.
The First thing that you will notice about the game is that it is beautiful. The game get's down the "UFC Feel" and Authenticy. Everything from the presentation graphics, arena's, entrances, definitely have the big fight feel that conveys on pay per view (or Fox Sports 1). The character models are very impressive and detailed, my only gripe is that their faces can look a little weird up close, especially in the faceoff scene in the beginning but other than that the game looks phenominal. The animations themselves are quite good, when the fighters make fast and loose animations it looks relaly natural and fluid. I found that stuff like takedown animations an the more technical stuff (like clinch transitions and strike evading) to look a bit robotic so the animations could use a little work but overall, I was satisified with it
The Controls are a weird one. It meshes UFC Undisputed style controls with different changes and nuances making the game seem really difficult to get used to for fans of those games. It's close enough to recognize the control scheme but everything works differently so picking up the game will definitely be confusing for people who played THQ's game. The controls end up being a mixed bag of results. I find myself being able to properly control the fighters. The striking is like Tekken (2 punch and 2 kick buttons) and grappling\wrestling is on the right stick. Striking has enough tactical elements and there are enough styles for it to be enjoyable. On the ground the game uses the right stick but oddly requires you to hold triggers while performing defensive and offensive manuvers. Overall the ground game feels really under-whelming and the transition battles are really lame, it's difficult to tell whether to defend a transition or escape and the game expects you to know which one to defend. I could go on and on but overall the controls are ok but need improvement on the ground
The main weakness of this game is the game mades, or the lackthere of. There is a fight now, which is basically play now. Fight random matches against the cpu or a friend, career mode, challenge mode(basically tutorial) and online play. I wish there were some more modes in there to give some more value and options That is pretty underwelming considering this is a $60 product. I'll be honest I haven't played much of the career mode so yeah
It may seem like im crapping on the game and it certainly has it's faults but I genuinely love playing online, the belts rankings is a clever system and battling opponents online is intense and fast paced, overall the online is enjoyable.
Basically the main draw of this game is playing with your friends or playing online and to that this game is alright. Is this game great? No it's not that great but is it bad? No, I can enjoy this game but approuch it with caution
