UFC Undisputed 3 – Review
Do you enjoy kneeing people in the face repeatedly until they lose consciousness? Well, if so, then UFC Undisputed 3 is the game for you.
UFC Undisputed 3 is the latest and last game in the UFC franchise to be published by THQ and developed by Yuke’s. Months after the February 17th 2012 release date it was confirmed that EA had bought the license and the THQ studio who worked on the game was to be closed down.
So, with recent news not looking too good for the games publishers, how does the game actually perform?
If you enter the Konami Code on the title screen you unlock the “beat up a sleeping gentleman” mode. It’s kind of self-explanatory and a little bit non-existent.
If you’ve ever played a previous UFC title the game won’t look too unfamiliar to you. Not much has changed cosmetically to the series and even now you’ll recognise some things you’ve probably seen in UFC Undisputed. That said, many mechanical changes have taken place behind the scenes that make the fighting a whole lot smoother and realistic compared to previous editions.
Stat inclusions such as footwork and reach add a whole new dimension to what makes a fighter effective and the ability to feint, break legs, “finish the fight” and new ways to make your opponent submit add a massive amount of depth to the in-game fighting. Motion capture technology has been utilised to make fighters appear a lot less robotic than before and some combos are impeccably fluid and especially vicious.
The game hits home the harsh brutality of a real UFC fight. After a few hits fighters will show graphic cuts and they’ll eventually become covered in blood, their own or their opponent’s. They’ll also receive bruises or even breaks after a prolonged amount of punishment. Being able to see the consequence of a well timed counter or Superman punch adds to the great sense of satisfaction the game helps you achieve.
A full-grown Chuck Liddell in flight about to pounce on his prey. (read in David Attenborough’s voice for optimum effect)
Another interesting feature is the inclusion of the Japanese Mixed Martial Arts organisation Pride. Pride comes with a small roster of different fighters, new commentators and a new announcer. In addition to these, Pride’s own venue, five-roped square ring and rule set are all included. Pride rules employ a first round of ten minutes and a second and third round being five minutes long. Pride fights are best left for multiplayer though, as the ten minute opening round really tests your concentration and one slip could have lasting consequences.
The roster of fighters is one of the most impressive aspects of every UFC game so far. All weight classes have at least 15 fighters to pick from and the best fighters of modern times feature, such as BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell, Alistair Overeem, Frankie Edgar, Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Jose Aldo, Frank Mir and many, many more.
The fights in-game are incredible, action packed and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s a shame that outside the fighting the game really lets itself down with an unnecessarily complicated menu navigation system, unbelievably long loading screens and incredibly annoying tutorials and interruptions at every corner.
It’s a forgone conclusion that Anderson Silva’s foot tastes of candy floss. People are always tasting the Brazilian’s heel.
UFC Undisputed 3 is a game full of depth in its fighting so you’d expect a fantastic tutorial system to walk you through any aspect of a fight you can ever even imagine. The issue with UFC 3’s tutorial system is that it takes around 30 seconds to load one tutorial at a time. When the tutorial is walking around the ring or throwing punches it gets teeth-grindingly frustrating waiting for it to load. This, coupled with the continuous pop ups guiding you through the tutorial makes your head almost explode. You will very quickly lose interest in learning the difficult aspects of the game simply because of the terrible way the tutorial system is delivered.
The main single player game in UFC is “career mode” and it works in the same way every career mode does; you make your fighter then you start at the bottom and work your way up to the top. The entire feature is very underwhelming as a whole and simply playing exhibition matches with fighters that are already skilled feels much more rewarding and gives you a much more exciting fight and experience.
UFC Undisputed 3 is a game that gets right the one thing it had to get right. The fighting is incredible and it is definitely something every UFC or MMA fan should experience at some point. Other than that, it’s a very average game that doesn’t give you much to do single-player. Don’t be put off, though, this game is an incredible multiplayer title whether it be online of offline and if you’re good enough it’ll should keep you entertained for a very long time.