EA Sports MMA Review

The first thing that casual fans of Mixed Martial Arts will notice is that EA Sports MMA lacks the star power of the UFC Undisputed series. EA instead features fighters from Strikeforce, DREAM and just about every other fighter you can think of that isn't signed with the UFC. Do not think for one second that not featuring any UFC name fighters (with the exception of Randy Couture) makes this game any less fun to play. Make no mistake ? EA Sports MMA is awesome.

Gameplay

The first major difference I noticed between the UFC series and EA MMA is that EA Sports have chosen to represent MMA as a global sport much in the same way the various boxing leagues are represented in their Fight Night series. In the UFC Undisputed series we play under the UFC banner only whereas EA are keen to stress that the sport exists in the form of various promotions and rule sets all over the world. In your first fight you could be finally creating the dream fight of Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelienenko inside the HP Pavillion while your next fight may take place in Brazil under Vale Tudo rules. It's completely customizable and adds a lot of depth to the exhibition mode in the game. I don't particularly agree with soccer kicks to the head in the sport of MMA however being able to pull them off in a video game is without a doubt one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

The three main modes featured in the game are exhibition, career mode and online play. Exhibition as you can imagine, is fairly self explanatory. You choose a weight class, select your rules (Unified, Vale Tudo etc), choose a venue, select your fighters and play against a computer opponent or with friends. At the end of each fight you can choose to rematch or select new fighters/rules. I played for quite a while on exhibition mode just getting used to the controls and trying out different fighters.

EA Sports MMA uses the 'Total Fight Control' system featured in last year's Fight Night Round 4 boxing game. With Total Fight Control the player uses the right analogue stick to perform various strikes depending on how the stick is manoeuvred. Personally I'm not a huge fan of this particular control system. Controlling your fighter and landing specific strikes can feel quite cumbersome at times especially when the action becomes more fast paced. This is not to say that over time, the controls wouldn't grow on me. EA have implemented the control system specifically because the game is not designed to be a run of the mill arcade button basher. Much like Fight Night 4, EA wants their gamers to master the control system and fight intelligently when playing MMA. Speaking to other people who have played the game and also Fight Night 4 last year, the general consensus is that mastering the total fight control system leads to a more rewarding gaming experience. If however you are like me and enjoy being able to quickly jump into a fighting/sports game with your friends then all is not lost. EA have also included a 'classic control' system which allows players to use the face buttons to strike, and the analogue stick to manoeuvre on the ground and execute submissions & positions, much in the same way as the UFC Undisputed series. It does differ from THQ's franchise slightly and makes positioning a much more simple affair, simply pushing the analogue stick in a certain direction to execute either a clinch or takedown attempt. After playing with both control systems for a few days I always found myself going back to the classic mode as it simply felt more natural especially when the fights go to the ground.

Anyone who has played the EA Fight Night series will be no stranger to the career mode found in EA MMA. Similar to the Fight Night and UFC Undisputed series' you will start by creating your own fighter, assigning fighting styles and various 'moves' before you begin training in order to participate in small shows and work your way up the ladder. You will get to travel around the globe and as you begin clear out one organisation you'll move onto another and take on the competition there. To break up the fights you can also take your created fighter to various training camps around the world to learn from the best. Being able to take your fighter to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas for example is a great touch and adds a lot of realism to the career mode. While all of this is going on your fighter will be kept under the watchful eye of Bass Rutten who provides some of the funniest lines in video game history. As with the UFC video games the career mode still consists of a lot of menus and is quite text heavy at times. EA have attempted to combat this by adding a 'smartphone' feature. Basically your smartphone is basically your list of options in career mode and these are displayed as if they were applications on a phone. This does make the menus easier to navigate however constantly going through these options can become slightly tedious at times. I'm sure that as the next editions of both EA MMA and UFC Undisputed are released the developers will be looking these features of career mode as they still seem to be the main negative aspect found in the games. The only other criticism that I have of the career mode in EA MMA is that it would have been nice to be able to take part in the other things that fighters must do in their day to day lives. Things like acquiring sponsorships, taking part in fight weigh ins, doing interviews etc as found in UFC Undisputed and the Don King Prizefighter videogame. It is safe to say however that EA are only going to expand further on the already excellent career in next year's edition of the game.

The area where EA Sports MMA really shines is online. The online play so far has been extremely smooth with minimal to no lag whatsoever. One of the best things to do in the game is to create a fight card, send to your friends to take part in and then invite them all to play. You can play through your fight card while your friends sit back and watch the fight currently taking place while waiting for their turn to play. Your friends can even provide commentary on the other fights as they happen. Other users from around the world can also tune in to watch your fight card as it happens! The Live Broadcast mode allows commentators to call your fight as it happens and also allows players to create and submit their own hype videos that are played before each fight. All of these touches add a whole level of interactivity to online play that is missing from most fighting and sports games. The other standard online options include ranked and non ranked quickplay where you can simply jump right into a fight rather than plan out an entire card. It's hard to pick any faults with EA MMA's online mode. I'll go as far as to call it one of the best if not the best online gaming experience out there.

There is also an 'MMA 101' mode which is basically for people new to MMA or new to playing MMA video games who want to get to grips with the controls before diving in to their first fight. The career mode also starts off with an excellent tutorial so people who have played an MMA video game before may want to skip MMA 101 and use the tutorial found in the career mode instead.

Graphics / Presentation

Simply put ? the graphics in the game are astounding. Fighters and arenas are incredibly detailed. Seeing your fighter walk out to the cage/ring is a really nice touch and the pre-fight introductions/post fight celebrations ? while not as detailed or immersive as those found in UFC 2010, still add a lot to the overall experience of playing the game. Menus are slick and easy to navigate. There are some clipping issues during fights but those can easily be overlooked and don't occur very often anyway. One thing I absolutely loved was the damage seen on your fighter as the bout goes on. Bruises and cuts appear on the face and body and your opponents blood will even begin to stain your gloves and pour onto your own fighter's body when the fight goes to the ground. Awesome!

Sound

The sound in the game is a bit of a mixed bag. The crowd and announcers all sound incredible and add a lot to the atmosphere of each fight. The sounds of the strikes are also very good although I would have liked to have seen some of the bigger, higher impact strikes create a lounder, more bone crunching sound ? something that EA Sports had down perfectly back in Fight Night 3 but for some reason scrapped by the time the fourth game was released. The actual soundtrack of the game won't be to everyone's tastes either. The likes of Disturbed and Linken Park are fine for pro wrestling games but not in games based on a legitimate sport that already at times is compared to pro wrestling by uneducated viewers. The UFC made the same mistake in their 2009 outing however changed the soundtrack in UFC 2010 to a more generic, instrumental offering more suited to a sports game.

Summary

Overall EA Sports MMA is an fantastic game. The big question that everyone wants to know is ? does it beat the UFC Undisputed series? To be perfectly honest I absolutely love both games. EA MMA is a much better first offering than UFC 2009 was, however when compared to the 2010 edition of UFC both games both have their good and bad points that will no doubt be improved upon in future editions. There are actually quite a few things I would love to be able to combine from both titles. Despite not having the extensive UFC roster and license to work with, EA Sports have done a great job in capturing the excitement of the sport in the game and it is only really let down by a dodgy soundtrack and some tedious menus/options in the career mode. Incredible graphics and the best online mode I've ever had the experience of playing ensure that we'll be playing EA Sports MMA until the next edition is released. A must buy for anyone even remotely interested in Mixed Martial Arts.

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Images courtesy of EA Sports. EA Sports MMA is out now on XBOX 360 & Playstation 3. You can follow updates on the game via Twitter @EASPORTSMMA.

You can contact James Lees at james@fullmount.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @Lees4236 and the Full Mount MMA Network @FullMountMMA

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