UFC 2009 Undisputed

Review from Cav and Cav - Monday, 25 May 2009 @ 7:11am

So what’s on Australian Gamer today … hmm … oh … wow … Cav’s reviewing another wrestling game… whoopee. Stop right there. I review them because I enjoy the genre and this is NOT just a wrestling game. In fact, if you wanna get technical it's actually a Mixed Martial Arts game and it’s not bad at all. Now I was going to go with a history lesson, a little UFC 101 if you will, but I surmised that if you aren’t interested in the sport, you’re probably not reading this article, are you?

Okay! Okay! It was me! I put the deep-heat in your protector!

UFC 2009 Undisputed is one of the more visually pretty games I have seen in a while. The likenesses of all of the athletes, referees, ring crew and even UFC owner Dana White himself, are pretty damn good, although the ring girls remind me of the girls in the game Conan I reviewed some time back… all the same in almost every aspect, except Conan didn’t support ‘Jiggle-Physics’ (as made famous by the likes of DOA) like this does. But hey, if this is what you are getting this title for, you’d be better off nicking off to the milk-bar to grab a copy of Picture or try and find your Dad’s Betamax copy of Green Door. A tonne of work has gone into making this game a visual delight and a vast majority of that is shown during the fights, with real-time damage, as described in the preview George and I put together. It’s really amazing to watch your opponent (or yourself as in my case in one match with Tito Ortiz) have skin split on the side of their head, exposing bare meat, have eyes close over or see body parts progressively bruise. It’s pretty damn realistic. Look, I’ve never played or owned any or the Fight Night series as they don’t interest me, so if that happens in those games, please excuse my ignorance, but if it does happen in their game, there is no way that it looks as good as this. This game has one of the most extensive rosters I have ever seen in a game… with the exception of Suikoden, but that is a whole different genre. You have over 80 fighters in 5 different weight classes to choose from.

Contrary to what I have read across various media outlets, this game can be played by button mashing and it will work, but the real way to play is to learn how to grapple and lock in a submission… and that does take some doing, as UFC09U (that's a Van Halen album, right?) uses nearly every button on your controller, no matter which version you play (I played the demo on the 360). You have to remember that a whole new engine has been created for this game, so things differ greatly from Yukes/THQ’s WWE outings, as actions appear to be more fluent than their Sports Entertainment counterparts. During the course of a Career mode you can be invited to your choice of training camps to perfect your moves, which teach you moves and gives you an opportunity to practice them. You have to remember one vital thing when playing this game: Defence is just as important as Offense. I will admit that I went through career mode and never won a fight via submission, but in a career that saw my created fighter go 27 wins 12 losses, I only lost one fight via submission as I made it a priority to learn as many defensive techniques as I could and it saved my arse on many an occasion. I was still getting accustomed to quickly swapping between the buttons and the right stick, pending on my situation, but it’s something you have to do. I can’t recall a game that has had my use almost the entire controller like this one. When you look at the list of moves available to you (which can change pending on your selected/created fighter’s chosen disciplines, it’s a hell of a lot to remember, but if you can, you will surely dominate. The following is footage from the demo. Yes, I am the one playing as Chuck Liddel- 7 seconds baby! Two hits! BOOM BABY!

Career mode initially brought to mind a word that is normally associated with RPGs: Grind. But when my career ended (and disappointingly UFC Boss Dana White will retire you in Career Mode whether you like it or not), I realised it was worth it, as it actually reflects what happens in the Ultimate Fighting Championship: Starting as a nobody and working your way through the ranks and gain yourself a title shot. Yes is does get annoying but anything less would be a travesty. There are a few elements of Career mode that didn’t sit well with me. Firstly the email system, what’s with that? It really wasn’t needed. Yes it’s one of todays most commonly used communication tools, but it just wasn’t necessary. I spent ages deleting the old emails so I could easily spot new ones. And why didn’t Dana White contact me when I won the UFC Light Heavyweight title? I win the top prize in my weight division and the man who runs the rock show can’t be bothered dropping me a line and saying “Hey Bloke, nice work”? I responded to every email he sent asking me to change scheduled matches to fill in for someone who pulled up lame. One of my title wins happened to be my third win in a row and Dana emailed me then… One of my title wins happened to be my third win in a row and Dana emailed me then… but no mention of me claiming the division crown, only praise of my hat-trick. Okay it may be a pointless little gripe I have here, but it sort of makes sense that it should have happened. The biggest surprise was when Career Mode came to an end. I would like to be able to shed a few pounds, just as real UFC Fighters do, and go off and dominate other divisions. Another thing that seemed like a chore in Career Mode was placing sponsors logos on your ring attire. It didn’t make you fight any better, but I suppose it’s to add the element of realism. I’m pretty sure that Fighters would have promoters and other staff to work out how their shorts look. Oh and who gives a crap what colour my mouthguard is? No one is knocking that bad boy out of my mouth!! Well maybe once or twice... or three dozen times.

Pull my finger! I dare you!

I found the Create a Fighter to be somewhat lacking, but the appearance of your fighter can change depending on how bad you get your arse whipped anyway. I was disappointed that Australia was a selectable country for your CAFs birthplace, let alone his base of operations. Okay we aren’t known for our MMA competitors and Mr Mundine has done absolute wonders for us in Boxing circles, but hey we are a market and I would put a dollar or two that UFC Pay Per View sales have increased greatly Down Under over the last 3 years. I was also a tad dismayed that a full Karategi or Judogi wasn’t selectable attire as it would have made a nice tribute to one of the pioneers in the sport, Royce Gracie. After wondering why, I did some research and found out that Gis are no longer allowed to be worn on UFC matches. Oh well Royce, you kicked arse anyway mate... I will just have to wait and see if you become some Hall of Fame DLC ... hint ... hint THQ, hint ... hint. Maybe Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock too.

Former WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar is now a dominant force in the UFC

Classic Fights mode is slightly reminiscent of what WWE Legends of WrestleMania brought to the table; where you must recreate some of UFCs best matches. Can you make Forrest Griffin, Undisputed poster boy and winner of the first season of reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter, repeat his victory in the series final bout against Stephan Bonnar? Can you take revenge on Matt Serra on behalf of Georges St Pierre for his humiliating loss (yes it was GSP and you know it), by knocking Serra’s mouthy little arse out in the second round? Well actually that is harder that it seems. Serra eats punches like they are part of the free dessert bar at Sizzler and I knocked him out in the first round in my first 7 attempts at it, so it’s all about control.

I managed to squeeze in a couple of online matches against random people before posting this up. I know it was only the games’ first night, but I would have thought that there would have been a few more people out there taking on the world. Connections were very average making my experience rather lacklustre. I think I was about 25/75 in my matches, only time will tell with that one. I might do a follow up post and tell you what it’s like online on the 360.

A quick kick here and I'll know what you had for breakfast

Pros

Great visuals – smooth play – satisfying career mode – love the actual UFC footage – replays are fun with slo-no face rocking – Karo Parisyan would suck at Karaoke, but probably be very entertaining out at a bar with a few drinks... happy drinks not angry drinks

Cons

Emails a pain in the arse – lip/speech sync slightly off in both animated and video footage – Australia not represented - Online may be a little laggy but we'll see how that pans out as more Aussies pick this title up. You can get straight into it, but submissions take time to master.