- Developer: Electronic Arts
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Genre: Sports & Recreation
- Release Date: 15/03/2016
- Available on: Playstation 4 & Xbox One
- Game Supplied by: Xbox
UFC 2 is here, a slightly subdued debut from the original Ultimate Fighting Championship official launch title gave me a speculative view of the 2nd outing for the ever growing franchise. Having watched the sport just about every week now for the past couple of years following a loose interest 5 years ago I have high hopes with UFC 2. EA have such a huge history of bringing the game to the players, after all “it’s in the game” and whilst sometimes they might miss the mark this time round they need to deliver.
As a UFC follower and fan I was inspired by the number of varied paths I could take when I got the the menu:
- Fight now
- Custom Events
- Live Events
- Ultimate Team
- Knockout Mode
- Career Mode
- Online Rivalries
- Skill Challenges
- Ranked Championships
- Practice mode
And this does not include the UFC intro, Create your own fighter, and wide variety of general setting you would hope for.
Where to begin?
Perfect recreated fighters and stunning physics throughout! That should help you understand just how good this game looks. At only 19.5GB I was expecting hard to recognise fighters or predictable bruising and cuts in each match but WOW how far from the truth was that? It’s simply stunning right down to the swelling and where cuts appear following your brutal demolition of your opponent. Don’t expect to come out like a glamour model either, I didn’t block very much at first and when I got a peek at my fighters end of round face I realised that I had more bruises on my face than my opponent. Cut and blood spatter is also great, I had my opponent in trouble but he managed to get me to the ground and end up on my back leaning over and blood was going everywhere, I was so busy watching the effects I got knocked out!
The surroundings are also great but don’t quite match up to the fighters themselves. The detail on the fighters goes beyond just simple facial and defining tattoos but (and this is where more physics comes into it) hair and clothing or lack of it. Watching a reply from a over the head camera gave a stunning visual of the hair moving during steps and then moving back as Connor moved forward for the finish and yet again I missed the finish, it was so realistic and yes the ring girls are accurate as well (for those that care about that sort of thing)
For the first time in ages. I think a game has got it just about spot on visually.
The game dynamics are great also, simple controls, and please even if you have played the game before spend 20min on the practice and skill challenges, it gets you familiar with the changes, otherwise you’ll be left 6 fights in wondering why you can’t grapple or be on the mat without getting choked out.
I found grapple and ground attacks much easier than before but be aware, although the system is easy to use it can also be easy to counter and in seconds a harmless takedown turns into the choke hold as mentioned above, on the other hand a good few punches (ground and pound) could hand you a easy fight win.
Difficulty – adaptive AI, yes more frequently we are seeing adaptive AI now, racing games and even some old classics like Halo Wars use adaptive AI in their own form. Personally I love this, as I get better the game gets better and makes it just as hard 10 days in as it was first learning the game. I have one friend who complained it was too easy and offered nothing, well take the Easy difficulty off and play the game for real.
Don’t underestimate the opponent either, right from the first round going in heavy with punches or kicks not knowing your opponents strengths and weaknesses let alone your own would be a huge mistake and when you’re in career do you really want that blemish on it?
Summary
There is no doubt in my mind that UFC 2 set out to make the best and most detailed fighting game ever seen. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! UFC 2 is simply stunning and will have fight fans and those curious about the sport stuck right in the action for a long time to come especially if you embrace the career and Ultimate team modes let alone everything else there is to do.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!