EA Sports UFC Hands-On Impressions

The interface is simplicity itself, showing a stamina gauge, a clock, the current round, and a silhouette of a fighter in the upper corners. This character representation shows a gradiated damage model for all four limbs, the torso, and the head. Taking damage on an arm makes it less effective at blocking and striking and also causes redness and chafing. Taking repeated strikes to the legs will make your fighter move slower and with a limp, less likely to fire off a kick in a rapid fashion. Shots to the torso tend to wobble the fighter, sapping their stamina. Given that EA Canada is the team behind the Fight Night series, it’s not surprising to see such a simple yet elegant approach.

The stunning presentation aside, it was time to pick up a controller and see the game in motion. Marching the fighters in the ring, Brian Hayes gave us a preview of the striking controls. The four buttons on the controller control the four limbs on your fighter. Pushing forward or away or using L1 and R1 act as modifiers. L1 makes your fighter deliver a “heavy” version of the strike on the limb you selected. Bouncing off a cage wall, a Superman punch, a leaping knee, and other highlight reel-worthy strikes are all delivered with the more “animated” delivery via R1. Defense is as simple as holding down the right trigger to quickly block, but it’s not 100% effective. If you hold the trigger and then hit a punch or kick button to provide a high or low block you’ll stop that incoming strike, if you are quick enough to predict and intercept it.