UFC Undisputed 2010

Was it a coincidence that I was listening to I’m Not Afraid by Eminem when I played throught UFC2010 for the first time? I think not! Let’s be honest, that last UFC game was ehh…perhaps THQ ran those accents to the ground, but I’m sure they would like for us to relax because they didn’t go back to that in the latest Undisputed…in fact, THQ wasn’t playing around.

After years of sub-par UFC games dating back as far as the Dreamcast days, last year’s effort from the one-two punch of Yuke’s and THQ (already well established from their WWE games) proved to be a pleasant surprise for fans of the Mixed Martial Arts genre. What could so easily have wound up as a one-off now appears to have evolved into an annual franchise.

But what does UFC 2010 bring to the table that wasn’t there 12 months ago, other than a few new faces? After it, the developers don’t have the same luxuries that professional wrestling usually provides them with, such as a quirky new match-type to add every year. Still, making something exciting from a sport with a pretty static rule set has never been a problem for EA when it comes to Fight Night.

What seems to have been the motto with UFC 2010 is bigger and better, with additional modes, plenty more moves and plenty of tweaks to the existing content from the original game. There are over 100 fighters to choose from, across five different weight classes (including former WWE champion Brock Lesnar, A-Team movie star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and the fantastically named and equally fantastically bearded Kimbo Slice), and if that wasn’t enough, you can even create your very own brawler with which to rule the cage.

There are two means of creating a fighter. You can either build one from the main menu of the game, or create one for entering the Career mode of the game. Fighters created from the main menu cannot be imported into Career, which can prove particularly frustrating when you’ve spent ages perfecting your look, only to find you’ve got to run through the entire process again afterwards. The reverse isn’t true however, as Career fighters are available for selection in all modes (though naturally weakened until you’ve made progress with them).

Like last time out, Career Mode is based around a calendar. You choose an opponent, and then spend the weeks building up to the fight training, sparring and attending camps in order to increase your stats and learn new moves. When fatigue sets in from the training, you take a week off to rest. The likes of training and sparring can be performed automatically, though with sparring and the camps also allow you a physical work-out with the controls. Balancing your training is also necessary, in order to prevent your stats from decaying.

New to the calendar is the Game Plan option, which will also affect your training and attributes. Using this option, you can tell your trainers what type of fight you’re hoping to have at the next show, be it a quick battle or a long drawn out brawl. There are a few different plans to choose from and each will affect you in a sensible manner. It then becomes your responsibility to stick to the plan when you get into the Octagon.

Another neat twist is the ability to choose when you turn pro in your career. Until you make that decision, you’re able to have multiple amateur fights against opponents of varying difficult, while also getting in some early training and determining just which setting is right for you. Once you choose to turn pro, you then have to pick a difficulty setting and stick with it through to retirement.

At first, you’ll be battling template created fighters in lesser organizations, before eventually stepping up to take on the real big boys of the UFC. It would have been nice to see an inclusion in this mode allowing a player to enter the Ultimate Fighter reality show in an attempt to get your spot, but perhaps that’s something being cooked up for 2011.

Away from the career, Exhibition and Classic Fights return, with the latter not only letting you recreate or change history, but also giving you individual tasks to perform within the fight in order to earn bonuses. New modes on offer include Title Mode, where you face a ladder of opponents (your choice of 8, 10 or 12) in an attempt to win a Championship belt. Once all opponents are defeated you’ll be crowned champion, although if you lose you can opt for a rematch as many times as is necessary.

Completing the Title mode once unlocks Title Defense, which ultimately follows the same fight-after-fight pattern of Title mode, the only difference between that you’re the one now defending the belt, and one loss means game over. In addition, you’re also presented with awards depending on your performance, which are converted into points to spend in the game’s store. Store items include new Creation Mode items and options, as well as trading cards for your in-game collection.

Missing from last year’s game, but rather usefully on offer here is the Tournament mode, which allows you to set up knockout (no pun intended) competitions within a division. You can set the brackets, play or skip fights and even choose whether to have damage from previous rounds carry over to the next one. Meanwhile, Event Mode lets you set-up and play your very own UFC Pay-Per-View events, setting the card and either watching or playing through all of the matches. There’s even an option to download new event cards online.

Ah yes, online, UFC 2010’s main area point of controversy. Each new copy of the game comes with a code, which must be entered in order to allow access to all online functions of the game. If you buy the game pre-owned or rented, then it’s highly likely you won’t have a code, and therefore the online options will be greyed out until you buy access to them. The thing is, if you don’t enter your code before you boot up the game for the first then, then then the first thing that happens after pressing Start at the title screen, is a message appearing to state that there’s new DLC is available.

That new DLC turns out to be the Online Access. Therefore, anyone with a first-hand copy who was unaware of the situation could feasibly find themselves paying for the DLC when they didn’t need to. Okay, one could argue that it’s the own fault of the player for not reading every scrap of information on the net or in the box, but how many people these days actually read manuals? Even the box itself doesn’t seem to give any information regarding the need to unlock the online play.

Once you do gain access, one way or another, there’s the general mix of ranked and private bouts, along with a new online training camp mode. This can be integrated with the career mode, allowing players to level up their characters with the help of friends, or simply act as a trainer to others. While there have been some mild synchronization problems at the start of online bouts, fights tend to run smoothly, although it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the community becomes populated with cheap move spamming and moans from would-be strikers being forced into the ground game.

Being able to balance both main disciplines, striking and grappling, is key to making progress in the game, both on or offline. You’ll face fighters proficient in varying styles and it’s important to be able to utilize and defend against both. Thankfully the rather lengthy tutorial mode returns, bringing with it a host of visual and practical tips to help you learn the controls and the best ways to find. That being said, the amount of information it presents to you can be somewhat hard to take in fully at once, so chances are you’ll still be randomly wiggling the sticks or holding the wrong shoulder button at times.

New fighters, moves and modes aside, the game still plays in a very similar style to its predecessor. Therefore, if you enjoyed 2009 from a casual standpoint then the need to rush out and buy this new version might not necessarily be as great as it would be for a die-hard UFC fan. However, if you held off buying the last game in the hope that 2010 would improve upon it, then you’ve ultimately made a wise decision, as it has certainly done that.