UFC 2009 Undisputed News Post

UFC 2009 Undisputed: Potential Game of the Year Candidate?

10:00 AM - April 30, 2009 by RaychelSnr

The demo for UFC 2009 Undisputed was released to the public last Thursday. In the demo, users can fight as or against Chuck Liddell or Mauricio Rua. The final game is set to be released on May 19.

Those who have played the demo have generally spoken about it in a positive fashion. Having played the demo extensively, I have found a lot in the game to be impressed with myself. However, there are still a few rough parts in the game, which I will address along with the positives in this article.

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Member Comments

# 1 The Radness @ 04/30/09 12:11 PM

You can also mash buttons to get out a submission. You dont have to circle the stick around.

And an "indicator telling you how long you have to swivel the stick" is a little silly. You can tell when your about to get submitted because theres 3 steps to the submission, the initial grab, halfway there, then fully submitted. I beleive its more of a speed of swiveling/ fighters ability kind of thing.

About putting your hands up, watcht he fighters, they try to put the hands up, but he's too busy getting hit in the face. Anticipate the inital strike a little better, because in real life if that first one gts through, its hard to get your dukes back up.

# 2 DubTrey1 @ 04/30/09 01:50 PM

Great article... I like this one as well, but one issue I see in the demo is that a LOT of the punches do not connect cleanly ala FNR3. I do not mind it too much overall, but when you are looking at a KO puch or kick, it takes away from the believability and the realism of the KO. There is a last cut replay that shows the connect, but it does appear to be a canned replay animation. Overall though, there is a ton of potential for this game and look to see how the final version plays out.

# 3 brk1078 @ 04/30/09 04:47 PM

I have to say that this game is going to be one of the best sports games of the year. Beyond that, I have played the demo, and it is indeed wonderful, albeit intimidating control-wise. But fighting-hybrid games are not meant to be easy, so I look forward to the challenge. I just wish that B.J. Penn was playable in the demo, and not Liddell or Rua. I love Liddell, but by God, B.J. Penn is great!

# 4 Cusefan @ 04/30/09 04:52 PM

Game of the Year is a stretch but It is definitely in the running for Sports game of the Year.

# 5 ChubbyBanana @ 04/30/09 04:57 PM

Nice write up.

I found myself having more fun withe the demo than I ever imagined I would have had with a UFC game.

# 6 VanillaGorilla @ 04/30/09 05:38 PM

Let's not go crazy, folks.

# 7 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/30/09 06:32 PM

Game of the year probably going to go to Mafia 2

Sports game or fighting game of the year........UFC Undisputed hands down.

# 8 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/30/09 07:35 PM

Man I haven't heard Tekken in so long. I hope they improved it because Tekken 5 wasn't good at all to me.
Tekken was the 1st PS game I ever bought. That is what made me buy a PS actually.

# 9 Cyros @ 04/30/09 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goh


	Tekken 6 might give it a good go for fighting game of the year.

Don't forget SF IV, KOF XII, and Blazblu as candidates for fighting game of the year.

# 10 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/30/09 08:20 PM

Nah I don't think Streetfighter 4 is even in the running.

# 11 Jeffrey99 @ 05/01/09 07:32 AM

I find it a bit early to be thinking game of the year, hell the games not even out yet and it's barely May 1st. I guess I still don't understand the whole "Never See the Same Fight Twice: Variation is Key to Longevity", every match ends with a KO. How is that variation? Could I be overreacting due to it just being 2 fighters and the demo? Sure, but I don't think that's anymore overreacting then already talking Game of the Year, when the first installment of the series isn't out yet.

After watching Gamespots On The Spot yesturday, still not feeling much better. They had a 8 player tourny and every single fight ended with a KO.Just really hope this game doesn't turn into Fight Night Round 3.5 online.

# 12 Wet Bandit @ 05/01/09 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey99


	I find it a bit early to be thinking game of the year, hell the games not even out yet and it's barely May 1st. I guess I still don't understand the whole "Never See the Same Fight Twice: Variation is Key to Longevity", every match ends with a KO. How is that variation? Could I be overreacting due to it just being 2 fighters and the demo? Sure, but I don't think that's anymore overreacting then already talking Game of the Year, when the first installment of the series isn't out yet. After watching Gamespots On The Spot yesturday, still not feeling much better. They had a 8 player tourny and every single fight ended with a KO.Just really hope this game doesn't turn into Fight Night Round 3.5 online.

Thing is, though, the outcome you get is largely determined by how you fight. In real MMA, with those tiny gloves, it's usually not a good idea to trade strikes. There's a good chance someone will get caught. That's why you see actual fighters spend the majority of their time outside of range. They'll usually circle away from their opponent's power, only dart into range with the intention of throwing something, and when they do throw something it's usually quick strikes in short combinations. You just don't see guys stand toe-to-toe throwing superman punches and head kicks all the time, and it should as no surprise that if two guys do that in UFC Undisputed, someone's gonna get caught.

Furthermore, I'm not sure a single guy in that tournament ever blocked a single transition while on the ground. Much like when they were on the feet, when they went to the ground, the fight consisted of trying to get in as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. In an actual fight, fighters are more concerned with keeping a good position on the ground, mixing in strikes with effective grappling, and only going all-out when there's some notable advantage. In the Gamespot tournament, the ground fighting consisted almost solely of how much damage the guy on top could do before the guy on bottom did a transition to get to his feet. That's just sloppy.

If there's a complaint to be leveled in this regard towards UFC Undisputed, it's that it doesn't force to fight a smart fight, I guess. If you want to fight a sloppy MMA fight, you can. The game doesn't magically force you to fight a smart fighta any more than any other fighting game in the history of the world has forced someone to fight a smart fight.

# 13 Gr33nthumb @ 05/01/09 12:45 PM

The submissions are not too hard to pull off. You must wear your fighter out to be able to pull a successful submission, as someone who trains in Jiu Jitsu, I can assure you that if you try to submit someone who has alot of energy you will not only be unable to get the submission, but you will wear yourself out in the process.

# 14 oldskoolmaddenfanz27 @ 05/04/09 09:36 PM

cant beat MLB the Show, but definitely looks like it will be much better then FNR4

# 15 TrapStar215 @ 05/05/09 06:14 PM

It does have a chance, but with FNR 4 coming. That chance is now very slim.

# 16 Stumbleweed @ 05/05/09 06:20 PM

Those dudes in the Gamespot tournament didn't know what they were doing... It was pretty clear to me, as someone who has played probably 25 hours of the demo, that they had no real knowledge of the ground game beyond how to do transitions and that they would just stand and strike until the fight ended. If you pace yourself realistically (as someone mentioned, most fights are spent at probing range or rolling around on the ground if it's submission fighters), most fights will end in a decision.

# 17 Matt Diesel @ 05/06/09 01:38 PM

This is the best fighting game I have played in a long time. Already put 10 hours in the demo.

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UFC 2009 Undisputed: Potential Game of the Year Candidate?