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UFC 2009 - Undisputed
UFC 2009: Undisputed has been a long time coming in more ways than one. For the vanguard of modern mixed martial arts it’s the first game since UFC: Sudden Impact, released back in 2004 when the sport was filling flight hangars rather than indoor arenas. For developer Yuke’s it’s a chance to be seen as a fight game maker at last, not a ringmaster of the WWE. For publisher THQ it’s a major release at a time when rumours of financial hardship – and worse – abound. And for a genre struggling to reassert itself, despite Street Fighter IV, it’s something to champion: the fastest growing sport in the world, with an exploding TV audience largely composed of gamers.
No surprise, then, that Undisputed is a grandstanding effort. UFC owner and MMA goliath Zuffa has given this game its all, from licensed music to disc-filling HD media to appearances by the promotion’s entire tight-knit family. Veteran voice of the Octagon Bruce Buffer; ‘the lovely Edith’; referees Herb Dean and Mario Yamasaki; catchphrase-prone commentator Mike Goldberg and his partner, ‘as always’, Joe Rogan: all are in attendance, captured in fine detail. So too a roster of over 80 current fighters (and Tito Ortiz, the limpet), in which the dead ringers vastly outweigh the duds. From the tale of the tape to the highlight reel, the production values here are stellar.
It’s outside the Octagon that the game betrays its youth, deriving its entire frontend package, warts and all, from Fight Night: Round 3. A minefield of loading times, it fetes the sport’s historic rivalries but fails to inspire its own, its career mode a true nightmare of menu-driven grinding, inbox housekeeping, vaguely useful sparring sessions and week-by-week stamina management. Much better are the Classic Matches, which challenge you to use the right move in the right round to win, unlocking a nicely compiled history clip in the process. The mandatory creation mode holds its own against EA’s Game Face, though it misses some obvious detail controls.
None of which really matters, of course, if the game can fight, which much depends on what kind of fight you’re expecting from a game hamstrung by a schism in UFC fandom. Some relish fights that get cosy and technical in a corner of the cage; others start jeering. As if fearful of both camps, Undisputed can be complex one moment and crude the next, the dominant ‘full mount’ position (the holy grail of ground-and-pound fighters) far too achievable against even experienced opposition. The game’s scope is commendable, simulating everything from tactical stand-ups to dirty boxing, with a button-hold modifier to let you switch invisibly between stand-up styles. Its best fights, much like those of real MMA, are riddles you either solve or sidestep with a single magic strike. But at worst, like when a submission comes from nothing more than a trigger click and mashing buttons, you’re left starting at the holes in its ground game. The cage, furthermore, has almost no tactical function, leaving Greco-Roman players at a loss.
Still, though: 80-plus fighters, most of who look and act like the real thing. That’s one hell of a base from which to build. In the short-term, Yuke’s needs to urgently address the wild west of the game’s online mode, where deliberate disconnects go unpunished and the lag can be crippling. That done, it should rejoice the fact that UFC is such a godsend for sequels, fiercely autonomous and free of the twaddle endured by other promotions, not to mention other sports. The ceremonies are simple, the sponsors know their place, and in the Ultimate Fighter TV show you have the ultimate career mode waiting to be made. Will this series tap? Let’s hope not.
No surprise, then, that Undisputed is a grandstanding effort. UFC owner and MMA goliath Zuffa has given this game its all, from licensed music to disc-filling HD media to appearances by the promotion’s entire tight-knit family. Veteran voice of the Octagon Bruce Buffer; ‘the lovely Edith’; referees Herb Dean and Mario Yamasaki; catchphrase-prone commentator Mike Goldberg and his partner, ‘as always’, Joe Rogan: all are in attendance, captured in fine detail. So too a roster of over 80 current fighters (and Tito Ortiz, the limpet), in which the dead ringers vastly outweigh the duds. From the tale of the tape to the highlight reel, the production values here are stellar.
It’s outside the Octagon that the game betrays its youth, deriving its entire frontend package, warts and all, from Fight Night: Round 3. A minefield of loading times, it fetes the sport’s historic rivalries but fails to inspire its own, its career mode a true nightmare of menu-driven grinding, inbox housekeeping, vaguely useful sparring sessions and week-by-week stamina management. Much better are the Classic Matches, which challenge you to use the right move in the right round to win, unlocking a nicely compiled history clip in the process. The mandatory creation mode holds its own against EA’s Game Face, though it misses some obvious detail controls.
None of which really matters, of course, if the game can fight, which much depends on what kind of fight you’re expecting from a game hamstrung by a schism in UFC fandom. Some relish fights that get cosy and technical in a corner of the cage; others start jeering. As if fearful of both camps, Undisputed can be complex one moment and crude the next, the dominant ‘full mount’ position (the holy grail of ground-and-pound fighters) far too achievable against even experienced opposition. The game’s scope is commendable, simulating everything from tactical stand-ups to dirty boxing, with a button-hold modifier to let you switch invisibly between stand-up styles. Its best fights, much like those of real MMA, are riddles you either solve or sidestep with a single magic strike. But at worst, like when a submission comes from nothing more than a trigger click and mashing buttons, you’re left starting at the holes in its ground game. The cage, furthermore, has almost no tactical function, leaving Greco-Roman players at a loss.
Still, though: 80-plus fighters, most of who look and act like the real thing. That’s one hell of a base from which to build. In the short-term, Yuke’s needs to urgently address the wild west of the game’s online mode, where deliberate disconnects go unpunished and the lag can be crippling. That done, it should rejoice the fact that UFC is such a godsend for sequels, fiercely autonomous and free of the twaddle endured by other promotions, not to mention other sports. The ceremonies are simple, the sponsors know their place, and in the Ultimate Fighter TV show you have the ultimate career mode waiting to be made. Will this series tap? Let’s hope not.
