UFC 2010 – Review

The cage fighter is back. Is it packing a punch or is it undisputed…

Video Review:

Campaign
In UFC 2009 there was only 41 fighters available now in UFC 2010 there are now 100 fighters at your disposal.

Career mode has made a comeback giving the opportunity to take the career mode In  a longer form. The previous UFC 2009 only lasted 7 years (not real time) and wasn’t packing in enough fight time for fighters. This time around THQ have followed the official MMA career’s which normally last 10-15 years. UFC 2010 now lasts up to 12 years. Over the 12 year career you will fight your way through the double amount of fights from 2009 to 50-60 fights are possible to be thought.  The career has had a few changes other than the length. You can now retire your fighter through the career depending on your fighters age and progression. Attribute points return with a new stat decay system.  The stat decay system creates more of a realistic experience by not only training your fighter but also train to increase your stats. Its a nice approach this time around to make it more in- depth with the customization and skills of your fighter.   You can now choose to be an Amateur or UFC pro fighter.  The career will start of placing you with 5 beginning fights but if you win your first fight you are given the option to turn pro. The only key reason stating on amateur is to help boost your attribute points before turning pro. During the career you will be given the opportunity to change class of your fighter but you are only given this opportunity twice to change fighting division (Light weight etc).

Camp invites are back and there are now over 25 of the top MMA camps to choose from. Camps like Greg Jackson’s Gym, American Top Team and Sityodtong Boston make and appearance.

Mainly overall we have listed the key features we have noticed that have changed the career mode dramatically.

• Improved Matchmaking – Reduced the amount of repeating opponents
• Automated Sparring – Ability to select automated sparring session (but gains less progression points)
• Auto save structure – Quicker saving times.

   

  Gameplay
  There has been many upgrades from the previous UFC 2009. UFC 2010 Undisputed has packed in a lot more content for players to play with. This is including many new moves such as the sway system which allows more of a defensive approach to the fight by counter striking.  The dynamic combo system has also had some new effective pleasures on the game play as you can now pull of combos. The new grapple theory now allows players to have the ability to grapple rival fighters more easier.  Their have been many new moves and strikes added to the fighting system of the game. There are four times as many strikes and three times as many positions and more submissions. Although they have included more moves and submissions some do tend to be a struggle but ones you get past the learning curve you will manage to pull of some devastating moves.
  
  The game modes are back including Create-A-Fighter. This time round the create a fighter mode has been totally revamped with several changes made to the existing system. Along with the upgrades and changes THQ have implemented some new ability’s to create a better unique fighter.  You are probably wondering if the astonishing terrible UFC 2009 Drag-And-Drop-System has made a comeback? Well good news is that this time around THQ have revamped it completely and now allows better access and less time consuming tattoo and logo placing on your character. 
  There are more custom introductions and celebrations this time round. This includes 20 Bruce Buffer introduction motions and celebration motions. There are also 5 motions you can choose for your stare down motions.
  Stance and power hand is new to UFC 2010. You are giving the choose between the stance being left or right, orthodox, southpaw, or switch stance. Not groundbreaking but It adds to the realism.  Ai styles are new to UFC 2010 also. The Ai Styles open up the ability to choose different fighting styles for your fighter
  
  The game modes make a return including Title Mode, Title Defense Mode, Tournament Mode and Ultimate Fight Mode.
  
  The Title mode is still the same and is basically the mode standing in between a mix of the Exhibition Mode and the Career mode. The title mode I  guess we can state is a “mini career” . You will have to fight 8, 10 or 12 other fighters to have the ability to unlock and play Title Defense mode.

  The Title Defense mode is basically like the traditional “Survival Mode” in fighting games. This does strongly to the UFC regulations and simulates a champions battle to defend his belt against other fighters in the championship.  In Title Defense you will have to fight your way through back to back fights and try and last or win during the 5 rounds.  You can also unlock special rewards after every 3 fights you successfully win. If you manage to hold of for 12 fights you will keep the belt and complete the mode.
  
  Tournament mode as you would guess gives you the ability to compete in a bracket single elimination tournament with 1-16 other fighters.  who ever gets to the final and wins out of the 2 fighters wins the championship. The tournaments can take place with 4 , 8 or 16 man tournaments. Its not changed a lot from 2009 but its still a good mode.

  Finally Ultimate Fight mode is back and still focuses on the evolution of UFC’s 2009’s Classic Fight mode. It feels the same as before and nothing has really change. You can still take place fighting in some of the memorable fights in UFC history. You can play and unlock more awards associated with each fighter.  You can choose to do this single player or two player.  Its not much has changed other that the awards.

  
  Multiplayer
  The multiplayer hasn’t really changed much and this is probably the only downfall the to the game. This time around UFC 2010 has a unique code to unlock the multiplayer. Yes this does mean each code is a unique code that can’t be used more than once. This means that the pre-owner buyers won’t be able to play online. This seems to be a marketing approach from THQ and we do understand that they want more people purchasing the game brand new but it makes it less likely to be brought if players are forced with either buying the game and activating the code. Pre-owned owners and renters of a rental copy will need to buy the code form the  Market place / PSN Store. This is probably going to be a major issue with the online and we feel its a bad move but maybe THQ know there target market.

  Even though the Multiplayer’s unique code issue we have noticed that the Online is much better. By this we mean that the connection speeds are much better and is much quicker connecting to matches and we can currently state we haven’t received any lag.

  Camp invites can now be done online and players can now make an online UFC clan to fight other clans/teams. This is still focused on 1V1 fights but works like an leader board system for each team.  who ever wins the fight will gain points for their team on the ladder. It’s a nice online feature to have and works very well if you want to get mates together and aim for the leader board top spot. You can also do sparring against other team members and test out your skills. Each Camp Match is set out as an exhibition match gaining rewards for your player.

  
  Overall – 4/5 A Push-Start Recommended Game
  UFC 2010 is what UFC 2009 should of been. THQ have really focused on all the improvements needed from the previous and makes it more enjoyable to play. The controls still have a learning curve but not to much of a major issue after a few matches. The multiplayer is the main reason why UFC didn’t receive a higher score due to the fact that the unique code system seems odd. the online camp mode however is great and is a shame no more online modes were added. We would say UFC is worth picking up again this year and the gameplay and roster is worth buying it for.