UFC 4 career mode doubles as a tutorial, immediately prompting you to create your fighter, as you a thrust into a story in which you are, of course, ‘discovered’ by a local trainer scouting the local fight game. Therefore, each move must be precise and calculated, and this in turn brings an added sense of strategy and tension. The catch this time around, is that as the defender, randomly moving the bar around makes it larger, and in turn easier for your opponent to submit you. Limb submissions work similarly, but utilise the shoulder buttons. Chokes require the player to move a small bar around a circle with the left stick, catching and covering your opponents bar in order to complete the submission, while the defender must avoid this bar at all costs. Each category also comes with its own mini game, adding some much needed diversity to such choices. Submissions however have been improved yet again, with chokes and limb submissions now split into two distinct categories. In theory, the grapple assist system helps casual fans identify the numerous steps and positions associated with the ground game, but it would have been nice to have an option for recommended moves and manoeuvres that are more likely to work, to save the player scrambling about like a fish out of water. There are many options to dominate on the canvas, but none of them feel smooth nor intuitive. When you have no choice but to hold the stick in a certain direction to change position or posture, and that move is repeatedly interrupted by your opponent, the game feels like it’s given up on you, almost saying “Well, at least I tried”. I found that while the game gave me a certain number of options, prompting you to hold the right stick in a certain direction, these moves felt jarring, particularly when your fighter is out of stamina. The more traditional ground game looks more accessible at first glance, thanks to a newly implemented grapple assist system. In UFC 4 though, players need only move the left stick away from an opponent to break clinch, provided they have the stamina to do so. Initiating a clinch has always been an easy task, but leaving a clinch was such an intense situation in previous games, I could swear I was fighting my controller rather than my on screen opponent. On the bright side, the clinch game has been simplified, as it’s now much easier to enter and leave a clinch. Many situations feel unnecessarily daunting, presenting a much steeper learning curve. Unfortunately, the ground game once again leaves much to be desired. Bobbing and weaving with the right stick can be a little confusing at first, based on both your position and camera angle, but as it’s confined to the one stick, rather than a combination of the stick and shoulder buttons, the learning curve is small. Players can perform a number of strikes and manoeuvres with a combination of face and shoulder buttons. While this was greatly refined in UFC 3, I felt as though my attention to distance yielded rewarding results, encouraging me to mix up my strikes based on the tactics and approach of my opponent.Īpart from that, the control scheme has largely remained the same. Timed strikes now encourage players to utilise various attacks based on their range, in order to effectively damage and shake your opponent. Much like the Fight Night series, players benefit from appropriate distance.
While much of the standing game has carried over from UFC 3, strikes still feel satisfying and weighty, with an added emphasis on striking distance. UFC 4 serves up a multitude of modes to fight your way through, but the heart of any UFC game lies in its combat mechanics and they’re better than ever. I can admit it might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely going to attract a larger audience this time around and that’s never a bad thing.
This year’s attempt is in many ways the finest recreation of the sport yet, tweaking last year’s solid gameplay, with an improved, simplified ground game.
Solid mechanics and slick visuals impressed, but a clunky ground game left fans like myself, sticking to strikes and knockouts to avoid what can otherwise be described as an awkward encounter.
EA UFC 3 REVIEW SERIES
Much of the foundation EA’s UFC series that was laid back in 2014 has developed nicely, but each sequel, while an improvement, felt like an authentic experience that frustrated fans, and alienated others.
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