What I Want to See out of EA UFC

Contributor: Connor Dillon

Here at Undercard, I’m considered the video game guru (not that I work on them or anything, I just play them fanatically) [Ed. Note: I’m willing to challenge Connor for this crown whenever the punk would like.]  I’ve played EA MMA and all three UFC Undisputed video games. Out of all, the one that came off the best to me was UFC Undisputed 3.  [Ed. Note: EA MMA was my favorite.].  It had the depth of selection for strikes, ground movements, and tactics, as well as decent graphics and a smooth slip-and-counter system. The striking system was one of my favorite features of the entire MMA game genre, as I could have at least three different strikes for each limb, usually more than that. I often play it for hours on end because, why not? That said, there were several things I took issue with: the length (or lack thereof) of the campaign, the difficulty in building up a character’s skill vs building up a move set in campaign, glitches that would leave me at the whims of an AI, the submission system, and some portions of the controls for the ground fighting.

However, THQ owned that, and anyone familiar with the video game industry knows that they went under and sold all their assets. Before that though, the UFC and EA bought out the partnership from THQ and now EA has the rights to make UFC video games. Now, in general, EA is the devil. No, not in general. They are the Devil. Their constant takeover of small developers then shut down and firing of employees, the death of series under their watch, and their belief that money is better than gamers’ opinions can be insulting. One thing I can admit, they know their games (*sometimes).

One video game they got mostly right was EA MMA. While its graphics were kind of cartoonish in comparison to the more realistic graphics in THQ’s Undisputed series, they were top notch and interesting. They had walkouts, songs, good voice work from people like Bas Rutten, and an easy to use grappling control system. Things they messed up on include the voiceovers for some of the foreign gym owners in Japan and Brazil, the stamina system, the two separate submission systems, the striking system, and the cast of fighters being limited. The voiceovers that were messed up seem to have an integration issue within the game, either the file wasn’t fully rendered properly or there wasn’t enough studio time to get quality voice work done, but that’s a small issue.

The size of the cast was something that didn’t bother me too much, outside of some funny issues where one or two fighters wouldn’t be in the weight class they actually fought in. The stamina issue just seemed odd to have, and was difficult to keep an eye on and control. The submission system was one of the worst issues I had with the game; I could get a leg or arm and press buttons to get the submission and actually watch the submission at work, whereas I had to take myself out of the game to attempt a choke submission and even then it was very difficult to get, as the controls for chokes weren’t very intuitive. Above all other problems was the striking system. There was no depth to potential move sets, hands were held at odd angles, if you became gassed it looked like you were throwing dumbbells at a very, very slow pace. To knockout someone, you had to have extremely high striking ability and get the hurt before unloading like crazy, and even then you were more likely to get a TKO than a KO. This drove me away from EA MMA and into the open and deeply satisfying arms of UFC Undisputed 3.

So what would I like to find in the new EA UFC videogame? What follows is a list of my top three wants in EA UFC, explanations included:

• A deep striking system. I want to be able to slip & counter, use a “back” kick, a push kick, a head kick, a straight punch, a hook, an uppercut, a special punch, and counter strikes (this goes for both sides right & left). I’d also like to see integrating strikes against the cage, like Anthony Pettis’ Showtime Kick. This may be a feature, as the recent Xbox One reveal had this exact move from in-game (apparently it wasn’t a render). This is very exciting.
• An intuitive, fluid, and extensive ground system. I liked being able to use many reverses and movements on the ground like Undisputed 3, but sometimes it was difficult to get the joystick to move at the right angle for it to be accept. Maybe a mash-up between the easily used EA MMA ground controls and the complex systems used in the Undisputed series.
• A strong career system. I want a career system that gives me the time to grow a fighter and build up the move set that I want, rather than force me to join a camp and only give me two “moves” to work with per fight. I’d also like for the individual player to choose when to retire, which would mean a system for deteriorating skills/attributes to the point you can’t compete at the top-level like you used to. I’d also like to see something like EA MMA’s career path that let you choose regional leagues to fight in, and a demotion like activity where you could be cut from the UFC or another organization after enough losses and have to earn your way back in, a la real life.

I feel like if there was a way for EA to do these three things right, they could attract plenty more common fans and introduce the UFC to a broader base of consumers.

-Connor can be reached @connorhavok.