EA Sports UFC: Gamescom Trailer Impressions - Wiggy's Blog

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EA Sports UFC: Gamescom Trailer Impressions Stuck

Posted on August 23, 2013 at 06:01 PM.

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One of the more impressive things coming out of Gamescom 2013 is the pre-alpha gameplay trailer for EA Sports UFC. The trailer ended up being an expanded version of some of the elements that we saw at E3 2013, but it looks even more encouraging than what we were shown a couple of months back.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the gameplay being shown is pre-alpha, as the title isn't being targeted for release until next spring. In fact, the creative director on the game, Brian Hayes, even says that the game is nine months out, meaning it's probably meant to arrive around mid-May. If this is indeed the case, then there are a lot of reasons to be real positive on what we're seeing at this point.

The fighter models are the aspect that jumped out at me the most, as you can really see the detail and emotion on both fighters (Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson). From cosmetic stuff like sweat and hair movement to more specific fighter detail like Jones' jaw shape and Gustafsson's tattoos, EA seems to be replicating the combatants with some serious attention and care. This isn't to say that Gustafsson, for example, mirrors his real-life self perfectly. There is a tiny bit of uncanny valley on some of his facial movements and the overall gaze of the fighter, but he indeed has sported that long hair and bearded look before. Either way, looking at the detail on him and Jones, this is a far cry from the simpler models found in UFC Undisputed 3.

What's also encouraging is the incredible detail in terms of emotion and exertion. Both fighters react (probably a bit too much) with pain when they're struck by a punch or kick, and their face and body language tell the story of the damage. It's particularly cool to see that during submissions the fighters will react with the appropriate effort or panic, as is evidenced by Gustafsson locking in a guillotine choke and grimacing with effort. It's certainly a little bit exaggerated, but I think it also looks so jarring because most fighting games (except for Fight Night) have never really tried to show this type of emotion. It's a great improvement over the dead eyes and straight-ahead gaze of the fighters in
UFC Undisputed 3.

The footwork and overall movement of the fighters was something EA emphasized back at E3, and what we were shown was an impressive early look. This trailer seems to further underscore that goal, as both fighters move like tall, rangy fighters that utilize their legs as much as their hands. I think this will be a huge improvement for the lateral movement in the game, as past UFC games have had so much sliding, shuffling and warping that it was hard to really have any sense of momentum with the fighter. From what this trailer is showing, there will be proper weight distribution when one leg is planted and the other is up in the air. Much like how third-person action games have created a more cinematic nature by controlling movement speed and animation, I think this system allows the fighters to seem that much more real.

In terms of the striking shown in this gameplay clip, there certainly is a nice variety. The video shows crosses, hooks, front kicks, body kicks, superman punches, and more. I've got to say that I'm a big fan of the body kick doing big damage and showing a reaction from the other fighter, as it was always frustrating to not really see that represented in the previous UFC games. In the past, fighters would just keep walking forward after taking a flush body kick, and I always wanted to see a strong kick like that as more of a deterrent. Some of the hook punches do result in some fairly dramatic head-snapping and reeling, but this is something that is probably quite early. I'm going to assume that the trailer just wanted to emphasize the potential impact of big strikes. Either way, the animation on the techniques looks quite stellar.

I'd inclined to believe that the takedowns shown are more of the dramatic variety, as Jones really spikes Gustafsson on the big takedown in the trailer. I think the technique still looks quite good, but maybe there is a bit too much air time when compared to the real sport. To that end, I'm really curious to know how the submissions and ground transitioning will actually work. There are plenty of options that EA has when looking at all of the recent MMA offerings in the game space, so hopefully they've thought long and hard about the most organic and fun system that rewards mastery and avoids spamming -- a tough task, to be sure.

Outlook

This is definitely an early tease, but I think the visuals are certainly showing a taste of true next-gen power. Seeing that much emotion during a sport is actually something that can be achieved for MMA, as you only have two fighters in the ring, so it's cool to see EA strive for such a lofty goal. I would hope that the AI of the CPU will also display this kind of intelligence and emotion, but that's something we'll have to wait and see. We can also only speculate on the gameplay implications from this trailer, but I'm loving the impact on body shots, the impressive momentum and foot-planting on the movement, and the overall animation of the strikes. Let's hope EA continues to impress us the more we see of this one.

Comments

# 1 SHAKYR @ Aug 26

You brought up a valid point about CPU AI. I would want EA focus on online and offline gameplay because in their past games online focus leaves playing things to players, so the AI didn't need major focus. The offline AI and gameplay suffered greatly because of the online.