UFC Undisputed 2010 Review

25 May 2010 at 16:38:44 by Andy Alderson
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The second round starts and my face is barely recognisable. My left eye is swollen almost entirely shut and the gaping wound above my right is virtually spurting with blood.  The ref asks if we're ready and we get set to reprise our battle. I look at my opponent, The Ultimate Fighter bad-boy (when drunk) Chris Leben, and psych myself up for victory. I know I can beat him. Although he had me down in the first round, he felt my wrath in our last fight, which lasted little over a minute. Unfortunately in our first meeting he knocked me clean out with a left hook so I know this guy can punch. This, the rubber-match, is the decider. I decide to throw caution to the wind and charge straight at him, as the ref starts round two, and throw an heroic, although admittedly stupid, superman punch. Which he promptly avoids, before landing an uppercut to my chin rocking me severely (and not in a Kiss way). I stagger backwards and he smells blood, throwing a vicious flurry before an elbow to the jaw sends my gum-shield flying and I slump to the canvas like a bag of bones. As Leben celebrates wildly, I realise two things: 1) I'm an idiot and 2) this is brilliant.

Yes MMA fans, UFC Undisputed is back and you'll be glad to know that what was a good game last year, has become a great game this year. See, whether you're judging Undisputed 2010 as an MMA game, or as a fighter in general, you cannot deny that Yukes has done a sterling job. While the developer may have talked a little smack over the last few weeks, what I now realise is that it had every right to. This latest entry in the Undisputed franchise features both tighter gameplay and better presentation than its predecessor, but it's perhaps the career mode that impresses the most.  

Undisputed 2009's career mode was pretty bland and felt strangely uneventful for what is supposed to be one of the most exciting combat sports in the world. You weren't really able to create the multi-disciplined fighter you wanted and far too much time was spent looking at the calender screen and emails. With 2010, it seems Yukes has been listening. Firstly the character creation system is vastly improved and not only allows you to create a cool-looking fighter, it allows you to create your perfect fighter from the bottom up. No longer do you have a choice of one style for standing and one style for ground game. In 2010, you choose a base style (e.g. brawler, wrestler) and then you can mould your fighter from there. Want to create a stand up specialist, with great kick-boxing skills and yet some tasty jiu-jitsu?  No problem. Undisputed 2010 actually allows you to build the fighter you want and that's all thanks to a clever progression system.    

Like before, you'll spend most of your time on the calender screen (more on that later), but the way that you spend your time between fights feels more considered and less of a slog. The scheduling process in itself is a mini-game – you'll have to balance training and sparring to maximise your core abilities and prevent stat decay while at the same time making sure that, by the time your fight arrives, you're in condition and not fatigued. It's quite the juggling act. You can also choose to take part in training camp invites between fights, allowing you to add new moves to your arsenal via some training mini-games. It's an intelligent progression mechanic and really makes you feel like you're building a fighter rather than just inching your stats forward.

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