Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Last year's impressive UFC Undisputed 2009 was hailed as the best MMA game ever made. Not an unreasonable claim, when you look at the quality of the fight experience it offered when compared to the somewhat dodgy MMA titles which came before it. With the MMA fanbase growing at a rapid rate, THQ are looking to strike gold again with the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2010, so we took a look at the new demo to see if they are heading in the right direction.

It was always going to be tricky to recreate a sport as complex and diverse as mixed martial arts, because instead of a single fight discipline to map to the controls you now have a number of varied styles to make sense of. This was a challenge which UFC 2009 handled well, introducing a control system which was easy to use but required dedication to use effectively. With UFC 2010, THQ are promising that the controls have been tweaked and refined to add even more depth to an already surprisingly intricate  system, allowing the addition of new fighting styles, and more moves within each discipline.

Besides a reworked control system, there are a number of changes to the way the game plays, even if they represent more of an evolution than a revolution. This time around the cage itself has a real physical presence, allowing fighters to pin their opponents up against the steel and give them a pounding, or trap them in a clinch with nowhere to run. This suddenly makes your position in the octagon far more important than it ever was in UFC 2009. Other changes can be seen in the clinch system which has been reworked, adding a similar struggle for domination as is found in the ground grappling controls. And fighters can now sway to avoid blows, and to open up new countering opportunities.

I was initially surprised just how similar UFC 2010 is looking to its 2009 ancestor. Maybe the character models used in EA Sports' Fight Night 4 are unfair to use as comparison, considering the variety of animations needed to portray MMA fighting next to those needed for a boxing game, but right now it doesn't look like UFC 2010 is pushing the technology as hard as it could be. The fight announcer, ring girls and referees look like they could have been lifted out of UFC 2009. On the other hand, the fighters themselves are looking better, more detailed, more lifelike. Sweat glimmers on the skin, muscles flex, and their animations are far more realistic. Signs of damage are much improved, and I was thrilled to see persistent blood splattered on the mat throughout the match. I like that sort of thing, ok?

Unfortunately one of the aspects which THQ has been most vocal about this year, the radically enhanced career mode, was obviously unavailable in the demo, and that could prove to be the deal clincher when UFC 2010 is released later this month. UFC 2009 had a lengthy career, but the time spent between fights was somewhat boring. From what we've heard, UFC 2010 should change that with a host of new activities to bring the player closer to the real UFC experience.

UFC Undisputed 2009 has a place in my heart, so I am looking forward to giving UFC 2010 my full attention when it is released, but in the face of an upcoming MMA title from sports gaming juggernaut EA Sports, THQ will be hoping they've done enough to secure their superiority in the MMA genre. We will know soon enough.