EA Sports UFC News Post

EA Sports UFC: Early Reviews Good to Mixed

03:16 PM - June 17, 2014 by RaychelSnr

Gazing around the internet today, it's pretty clear there are a wide range of opinions on EA Sports UFC -- with a pretty polarizing attitude generally towards the game.

GamingTrend gives the game a 75/100 saying, "In the end, EA Sports UFC is still a winner, but by split decision. Some of the omissions like cut and leg stoppages, and the odd bug here and there, make for a debut that is certainly better than EA Sports MMA."

Eurogamer has the game at a 7/10, saying, "EA Sports UFC is a game capable of brilliance. It's let down by some curious design decisions, signs of a team perhaps too interested in capturing non-essential moves seen on YouTube rather than nailing the essence of the sport."

GamesRadar checks in with a review of 3.5 stars out of 5, saying, "EA Sports UFC has plenty of talent; it's looks amazing and plays fantastically when you're staging fights with friends. However, when you decide to go it alone, the gaps in AI skill and the dearth of additional content becomes problematic."

Overall the general trend of reviews is the game has tons of potential, with a solid rookie debut, but there's a lot of work left to do for future iterations.

What do you think?

Game: EA Sports UFCReader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS4 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 7 - View All

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Member Comments

# 21 DBMcGee3 @ 06/18/14 10:19 AM

I finally had the demo sink its hooks into me last night. I figured out how to block transitions, rather than always trying to advance them, and more importantly I started blocking and moving my feet. Suddenly, the CPU was punching itself out and I was timing my strikes and landing them, which is especially lethal when your opponent is gassed. I'm not saying the game is perfect by any means, but once you get a grasp on the controls, it really is pretty engaging, for me at least.

# 22 centauris @ 06/18/14 11:47 AM

Where are the IGN, GT, Gamespot reviews? seems odd they are so late.

# 23 cocacolaman @ 06/18/14 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centauris


	Where are the IGN, GT, Gamespot reviews? seems odd they are so late.

Cause they haven't wasted there $ on PS4 or Xbox One either.

# 24 SmittyD81 @ 06/18/14 01:05 PM

This game in my opinion is an enhanced version of what UFC Undisputed 2009 was in regards of an initial debut regarding gameplay, individuality and depth. Does it have it all out the gate, clearly not. This game does have fundamental aspects within it's base for this being the first title.

They have a lot of room to build upon, correct problems and expand from. I seen the comments regarding the leg "health events" and how fighters can kick off the cage and do powerful takedowns, etc. Remember, you could have a leg "health event" in Undisputed 3 and recover to do powerful slams, kicks, superman punches, etc. off the same bum leg as well. Also recall that it wasn't until that third game where you could win by leg kick tko.

Is this game a letdown to an extent, yeah I can definitely see it was for some. To me it's a legit foundation to expand from going forward. The realism and authenticity depth can be expanded upon accordingly as they develop the next game. Yeah, it may suck that there won't be a game next year, but it's good imo so that way, they don't have to rush anything and possibly have to leave things on the cutting room floor due to time constraints development-wise.

# 25 notoriouzwun @ 06/18/14 01:48 PM

My issues are simple. I would have seen online camps especially with the fifa promotion/relegation stuff. Individual is fun but one for camps would have been great. Also playing in Champions is a cheesefest of take downs for points. The leader had a 344 takedown per 15 minute rating and it didnt get much better. Its not who can fight better but who has better takedown defense. Rivalries is all ill play because there is actually technique in playing with friends. My last complaint is with high knees superman punches and basically anything Showtime. Next years game should have a meter that fills up during a fight to use one strategically. Leg kicks have no real effect either. I can have a guy with a flashing red leg and he can still superman punch off the cage for power.

# 26 centauris @ 06/18/14 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cocacolaman


	Cause they haven't wasted there $ on PS4 or Xbox One either.

what are you talking about....?

# 27 DBMcGee3 @ 06/18/14 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centauris


	what are you talking about....?

Don't waste your time trying to figure it out, this guy can't even solve the "there/they're/their" riddle.

# 28 woody2goody @ 06/18/14 04:23 PM

I think some of the reviewers have got it the wrong way round in some cases.

One said 'the hardcore fans will love it but the casual fans won't because it's complicated'. That's not the case.

It's funny because EA doesn't dumb down FIFA for instance, even though you still have to know how football works to be effective on any difficulty above the first two.

To me they should make the MLB The Show-type game which on the hardest difficulty levels is brutally hard and realistic, but then maybe implement options, sliders and even alternate controls for newbies to have fun with.

If a game is good people will try to learn it. I'll be honest, if it wasn't for UFC 2009 I wouldn't have been a UFC fan for 5 years.

In many ways this game is a great start, but just something for the future for EA: don't alienate the hardcore fan base because you have guaranteed buyers there.

If the game has realistic damage and stamina which mean button bashers get their heads kicked in then so be it. A game's quality will win through in the end.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

# 29 Slothin247 @ 06/19/14 01:54 AM

I enjoy the game for the most part...hope some things are able to be added (submissions from top, leg damage ending fights for examples. I enjoy playing online so far and career mode is challenging, at the beginning for me almost too frustrating but it got better as my fighter progressed obviously. Overall not a terrible game but if you dont want to accept a mediocre game and have really high expectations I would rent if I could go back and see if the value is worth 60$.

# 30 onac22 @ 06/19/14 08:38 AM

This game is proof that next-gen is just a shinier turd!

# 31 Toma @ 06/19/14 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centauris


	Where are the IGN, GT, Gamespot reviews? seems odd they are so late.

Seriously... I keep checking on this... Still nothing...

# 32 Simaofan-20 @ 06/19/14 05:20 PM

Absolutely am loving it.There are some things that are a bummer with it but overal its a really strong first effort. easily 7.5/10, it's a whole lot of fun and visually impressive.

# 33 The JareBear @ 06/21/14 12:16 AM

Personally I think IGN's review is pretty spot on. I usually don't put much stock in their opinion though, admittedly.

# 34 thesillyputty1 @ 06/21/14 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centauris


	Where are the IGN, GT, Gamespot reviews? seems odd they are so late.

Maybe they had some type of an agreement that if they were giving bad reviews then they would wait because it may ruin sales? I agree it does seem odd as they are usually quick and that's the only reason I could think of/

# 35 andyacecandy @ 06/21/14 03:11 PM

6.8 is pretty low IMO... I think the general 7.5-7.8 range is about right for this game.

Career mode does get a bit dull. There's no real point in playing it over again more than 2-3 times (if even that many). There's no storylines... it's essentially just one big tournament of exhibition matches if you think about it. There's no real point in having the sponsors except to change your wardrobe I guess, there's no stories/drama/trash talk really, there's no action outside the ring.

To some, that's fine... but I enjoy having some kind of decision making opportunities in sports games.

# 36 smace767 @ 06/21/14 08:09 PM

This game has a lot more fun factor then 6.8 for me. Its not perfect but it is playable. Online today has been a very good experience. Had a few wars. won some and lost some. A 3rd round KO is still a rush.

Once this game is patched and the trophy chasers all get all their trophy's this game has potential. And since FNC eventually came around to a good fighting experience in the end. I expect this title to do the same.

Not saying stamina or strike points or some spam is not an issue. Just playing with guys who want to fight is still 7.9 to 8.4 fun.

If you start out in career at the right starting point and difficulty you can have some depth. try to win using every style of fighter and stick to what they do. Keep a sub specialist with bad stand up on the right difficulty or a boxer with low ground game. Even in progression sticking to that fighters style and keep his strengths higher and keep his weakness low and it still provides a different challenge with each fight.

# 37 Trevelyan @ 06/21/14 11:10 PM

This is rare for me, because I'm usually not the biggest fan of IGN reviews but this one is really spot on. I don't know about the score, thats up for debate I guess, but what the reviewer wrote is spot on. I'd put the game in the 5-6 range myself. Just take a moment to think about it, the game has a lack of content overall.

The career mode is terrible. When I heard you couldn't use women in career, or create them, I really thought the career/CAF would be really deep. Instead, its just fights that are often repeated, mixed in with "training sessions" which are really just challenges that are are huge waste of time. Half way through my career I realized how much time I was wasting on the training that was only netting about 150 skill points, so I stopped doing them.

CAF has very little options available for customization. I don't know what else to say about that.

I can't speak for the PS4, but the XB1 has framerate issues. Thats unacceptable for a fighting game.

All of this might be alright if the game was well balanced, but its not. I'm not traditionally a fan of sliders, but if a game ever needed them its this one.

Overall, its obvious I'm not happy with the game, I just hope whenever I decide to sell it to gamestop I get some decent money back.

# 38 unBEARable @ 06/22/14 06:33 AM

I'd give it a 5.

Average game, with loads of missing features (e.g. event mode) and a small roster. Ground game is poor and stand-up doesn't feel fluid at times, a sort of button lag, even offline.

Game just feels incomplete.

Also no player lobbies in unranked so you can't rematch people if you've had a good fight. Pain in the arse going through menus, deselecting weightclasses again. Just not very user friendly.

EDIT: Also did 2 TUF fights in Career mode and just left it. So boring and too many menus. With the lack of offline modes the game is shallow. Not worth full price at all.

# 39 mrprice33 @ 06/22/14 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toma


	Seriously... I keep checking on this... Still nothing...

Most sites got the game late and, if you don't get a review up by a certain time, it's no longer worth the effort.

It's not a good game.

# 40 LOOSECANNON @ 06/23/14 06:53 PM

Since we aren't allowed to share links, here's our Geek vs. Nerd review of EA Sports UFC from GodHatesGeeks.

@TravMoody

GEEK - I've haven't missed a UFC pay-per-view in 21-years. I even caught part of the Tapout hype myself, and trained a couple years in Brazilian jui-jitsui; so it's kinda funny that this game allows you to purchase Royce Gracie-- basically the grandfather of the sport most refer to now as "Ultimate Fighting". Sure, it's really Mixed-Martial Arts, but with Dana White's fed scooping up every talented brawler at one time or another -- even the WWE's Brock Lesnar held the World Heavyweight Championship -- who's to argue?

Having not played much of THQ's trilogy of UFC Undisputed games (which is kind of hard to fathom, really), I've been dying for this. And it's next-gen! Thankfully EA Canada does a great job with the Ignite engine, delivering a left blow so hard the graphics will smother you. It's Fight Night*-- in a cage -- and I have no problem with that.

Everything looks authentic as hell, from the 18-hour tat on Ben Henderson's back down down to trainer Greg Jackson*whispering words of encouragement between rounds. As a game, EA Sports's first UFC title won't put you to sleep. The problem, then, lies in EA's propensity to tease.

Much like their Madden franchise, EA isn't going to give you all the goods at once. Want to watch highlights from your Career Mode current event's Fight of the Night, Submission of the Night, or Knockout of the Night? Nope. But you can read them. The FMV's of random fighters and trainers sending you words of encouragement between fights is OK, if not tacky, and surely not up to par with the UFC's great "trash talk" promos and weigh-ins that lead up to most fights. Worse than even the mode's often tedious training exercises is the fact the proposed Create-A-Fighter "GameFace" mode didn't work. This meant your Monsignor didn't get to start his career with his all-time fav,*Tito Ortiz. And, since I'm not one wanting to sit there for hours creating a fighter, not having the ability to download other players' creations (ala WWE 2K's CAW system) really sucks, too.

With that said, EA will probably come out with a Hall of Fame DLC pack so you can fight with many of the excluded vets, such as these. Yeah, I'm sorry to give the publisher this costly idea, broke kids (hey, a Pride FC pack would be cool too!); but at least the loss is sorta made up with the*pre-order inclusion of Bruce Lee. Take him through a spin-kick of the career mode's Ultimate Fighter reality show, and it's worth a few laughs just to hear Dana (and some of the other fighters, like Mike "Quicksand" Pyle)*refer to the father of martial arts as "kid".*Wutah!

EA-Sports-UFC-Video-Uses-Ronda-Rousey-and-Miesha-Tate-to-Reveal-Submission-Mechanics

Although the TV broadcast overlay is excellent, there are some presentation woes to be had. First off, you'd never know there were actual fighter entrances in the game unless you went deep into Career Mode. Huh? Yeah, man, there is no option to add entrances to FightNow (aka Exhibition) mode, and, much like real UFC, there are no entrances for undercard fights. The commentary, too, is a disappointment. Mike Goldberg's calls are sometimes off by a second or two, and Joe Rogen sounds like he's checking text messages during many of the fight replays. Shame, because these guys are obviously pretty great at what they do. Also, as of press time, the online servers were horrific, and the refs are pretty much invisible once the clock ticks. So much for*Yves Lavigne trying to..*intervene.*

All aside, UFC*is great fun. The current gen of Xbox One/PlayStation 4's first entry into MMA is also the Ultimate Pre-PPV video game: Grab a few of your homies together, knock out a 30-rack, and trade blows with one of the most exhilarating, yet strategically-challenging fighters in years. If nothing else, it will serve as a great axe-murdering time-killer 'til the onslaught of other EA Sports titles drops this fall.

3.75 (out of 5) Sparring Mitts.

@EskoBTS

NERD - In the last 21 years, I've missed quite a few pay-per-views, and I'm still trying to find a way to blame The Illuminati for Anderson Silva's broken leg. However, it's impossible to miss the incredible realism that has been put into this game.

UFC's graphics are quite impressive. I loved the ripples from heavy punches to the gut, the bruising from killer leg kicks to the same spot, the sad face of defeat after a loss and the wide-eyed face of being stunned by a powerful hook. The MoCap animations before-during-and-after the fights are much better than I expected. Each fighter moves uniquely and adds a sense of authenticity to the game that helps the player get lost in the moment. The unique movements are carried beyond the pre/post fight animations. Each character's strikes and grapples resemble the actual movements of the human counterparts.

The controls are complex, but not TOO complex. MMA is a technical sport that requires lots of options and variations, so the controls need to be a bit complex to allow for that, and EA nailed it. While the game requires a lot of timing and attention to detail, there is still a bit of button mashing involved. It can get intense when you're in the final round and trying to land enough punches before the bell to avoid a loss. Be prepared to use all of your fingers. The training module is very important. Learn moves, get better, fight harder. You'll never survive with basis strikes and frantic button mashing. There is an art to submissions, a technique to the grapple, and skills required for ground work. If you're not ready, you won't make it through the first round.

When the fists start flying and it's crunch time, this is no longer a game; its an experience. When I'm winning, I'm completely convinced that I'm the fighter and I'm on the road to victory. When I'm losing, it feels like I'm watching the fight on PPV and the fighter I've got money on is getting his *** handed to him and there's nothing I can do about it. Also, Joe Rogan DOES sound like he's checking Tweets and texts instead of calling the ongoing fights sometimes-- but that happens plenty of times in real life too, so I approve.

My personal highlight of the gameplay has to be my fight-ending, off-the-cage flying knee to the head with Renan Barao to Urijah Faber. I was coming off of one of the hardest hitting, well timed combos I had ever landed. In the heat of the Bantamweight battle, with my adreniline surging, I abandoned the technique and resorted to button mashing. Luckily, miraculously, and perfectly, Renan runs to the cage and jumps off with a knee cap missile headed right for Urijah's temple. It connects. Fight over. Watching the replay over and over from endless angles kept a smile on my face as I basked in my victory. Nothing could ruin the moment, until it came time to pick my next fighter. There were several times the selection menu would go into an infinite scroll and just keep cycling through the characters. Regardless of which controller I used, the only way to stop it was to exit the menu and go back in.

The infinite scroll -- and the entrance music being a feature you have to fight for -- are the only buzzkills of this game. Despite the fact that I am horrible at fighting games, EA Sports UFC is incredibly fun and let's this Deacon E fight his heart out without having to worry about the hospital visits afterwards.

3.75 ***-Beatin' Bibles.

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