EA Sports MMA

I did a bit of impromptu data collection whilst playing through EA Sports' first foray into MMA gaming. Speaking to friends and colleagues, I asked them what they know about MMA. Now, the bad news for EA Sports is that the majority of the time my question was met with a blank stare. "Like the UFC," I would explain, and suddenly most of their faces would change to indicate at least some level of understanding. "Oh, like cagefighting and stuff?", they would say. Close enough. The point is that to the man and woman on the street it might be said that the UFC brand is the face of MMA, even if they've never heard the acronym MMA before. This might not bode well for EA Sports MMA, but on the other hand this isn't a game for the man on the street. It's for fans of the brutal beauty that is mixed martial arts, and believe me, these are people who know that MMA goes beyond the octagonal confines of the UFC.

It's actually quite a change, seeing the EA Sports juggernaut on the back foot like this. When last did they bring out a sports title where they didn't splash serious cash for the biggest licenses and most prominent brands to make it as authentic as possible? American Football? They've got the NFL all signed up. Soccer? The FIFA brand has been synonymous with EA Sports for years. Ice Hockey, Basketball, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they have the top lawn bowling pensioners signed up for use in the future. Yet here we have a situation where there was just no way they could get hold of the biggest brand in MMA, because Dana White had already signed up with THQ for the commendable UFC Undisputed franchise. So instead of being the forerunner as usual, this time EA Sports has had to scramble for other worthy MMA leagues and fighters, and although that sounds like a recipe for mediocrity, the end result is at the very least a worthy adversary for the UFC Undisputed brand.

Those who don't follow the world of mixed martial arts may not even know that there are other leagues or fight franchises of any real significance besides the UFC. Yes, the UFC brought the sport into the spotlight due to some brilliant marketing and high profile fighters, but there are plenty of other similar, if smaller, brands doing the rounds and gaining recognition in the sport. Chief among these is Strikeforce, and it's this brand that EA Sports has focused on as the big name franchise for this title. This in itself brings us right up to EA Sports MMA's biggest hurdle, straight away at the start of round one: The UFC has most of the famous fighters, the draw cards, such as Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson (of A-TEAM fame), Brock Lesnar, Chuck Lidell, leaving EA Sports MMA's fighter roster looking more than slightly anaemic when up against such tough competition.

On the other side of the fence, EA Sports has roped in a couple of big names, some of whom have became famous in the hallowed cages of the UFC, but have since moved on. Followers of the sport will know Randy Couture, Fedor Emilianenko, and Ken and Frank Shamrock, all legends in the sport, but all getting a bit long in the tooth by now (please don't tell Fedor I said that!). You also get the feeling that many of the fighters here are second stringers, and yes, there are great characters here, don't get me wrong, but the overall roster lacks the star power of the UFC line-up. That being said, if you are more interested in how the game plays than you are in the celebrity fighters involved, then you're in for a treat with EA Sports MMA.

The most satisfying way to experience all of what EA Sports MMA has to offer is to get stuck in with the career mode. As is now standard procedure, your first stop is character creation, something which EA Sports has done an admirable job with here. There aren't all that many sliders and editables when it comes to the basics of your fighters face and body, but there is enough to build your own unique brawler. Besides the general physical appearance, you can modify your stance, entrance music, attitude and so on, as well as plastering your guy with the most authentic looking tattoos I've ever seen in a character editor. Choose from a wide variety of licenced clothing to slip into for fight day, and you are just about good to go. From there it's up to you to decide on a base style to specialise in, including wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, judo and more. The key here is to remember that this is just a base, upon which you will be able to build a fighting style that suits you. UFC Undisputed tried to give you flexibility in terms of mixing and matching fighting styles, but that system was nowhere near as slick and natural as it is in EA Sports MMA.

Your career starts off with you taken under the wing of MMA coach Bas Rutten at Elite MMA. The Dutch American national, who has in his lifetime beaten more men senseless than you've probably had hot meals, is a very likeable guy and his pep talks before and after fights and training sessions will do well to keep you motivated through your career. Instead of spending all of your time training with Bas at your home base, the option to travel to other gyms soon becomes available, and this is where developing your fighter really comes into its own. Each gym is run by a famous MMA fighter, either past or present, and each specialises in a certain fighting style. Go to the Eight Venoms Muay Thai gym in Thailand if you want to work on your clinch work or striking techniques; head over to the dojo in Japan to specialise in judo groundwork and submissions; or make your way to Brazil if you want to focus on your Jiu-Jitsu. The key is that you really haven't got time to be very good at everything, so you will need to decide where you want to focus your energy.

Besides improving your skills your fighter can also learn a maximum of 16 special moves, with each training gym offering between three and four. Learning these isn't just a matter of selecting the one you want and pressing "A", though. Instead you have to complete a task in the ring which is related to the move you want to learn, such as submitting an opponent with an arm hold within a given time to unlock a new submission technique and so on. The same goes for all aspects of training: to train a skill, you actually have to use it, not just select the skills and wait as you did in the UFC titles. This is a far more realistic and immersive way to go through the training process, leaving you feeling much more involved with your character's progression. There are a few frustrating aspects, mostly down to some difficult to unlock special moves and some painfully long load times between training and actual fights, but the overall impression left of the training is a positive one.

Load times are a bit of a problem all the way through, especially while waiting for a fight to start or when travelling to one of the other gyms. Long load times rarely bother me, so you can be sure that there is a lot of loading going on in EA Sports MMA for me to make special mention of it. Still, once the loading is done and the action begins you will soon forget any frustrations.

It should go without saying that in a game of this nature the true gaming experience is dependant on what goes on in the ring, and EA Sports MMA can hold its head high in this respect. The stand up fighting uses a modified and expanded version of the Fight Night control system, where the left stick controls movement and the right stick controls punches and kicks. Quick pushes diagonally up-right or up-left give you a quick jab, and wider quarter circles give you hooks and so on, with the left trigger acting as the kick modifier. Obviously there is more to it than that, with more moves being opened up as you go along, but the basic premise remains the same. Being a long-time fan of the Fight Night series I found this system to be far more intuitive than UFC's face button approach.

Ground work and clinch maneuvering are far simpler in idea and more natural in execution here too. It comes down to a press of the "A" button for a positive move, a press of the "B" button for a negative move, while the "Y" button is either for an escape or transition in the clinch. The "X" button takes the all important duty of setting up a choke or submission attempt, and again these mechanics feel less random than they did in the UFC titles. Submissions come down to timed presses of X, maximising pressure on the joint while being careful not to use up all your stamina in the process. At the same time your opponent is doing the same with the B button, both of you using short bursts of button presses to try to gain the upper hand, and then timing your rests to regain stamina. It's simple, but it works far better than the analogue stick twirling that is a staple of the UFC games.

On the other hand, I found that the choking play mechanic wasn't quite so impressive. This involves you trying to find a 'sweet spot' with careful movement of the left stick, which causes the controller to rumble when you are on the spot. Your opponent is also trying to find his own sweet spot to get out of the choke, and it becomes a game of attrition as both of your fighter's stamina slowly drains as you search for the ever-moving sweet spot. In theory this sounds good, but in practise it's not as tight as it could have been, and isn't very well explained in the game either.

What makes EA Sports MMA such a joy to play is that once you've gotten the hang of the basic controls and learned a couple of moves, the actual fighting is so brutal, yet so full of small details and nice touches that each battle is a pleasure to behold. As with real MMA bouts, a fight can go through many phases, switching between stand up striking, struggling for domination in a tiring grapple on the ground, or up against the cage for some impactful clinch work, the end result is that no two fights are the same. There were times when my Muay Thai-trained skinhead would be getting a severe pounding at the hands of a superior striker for two full rounds, my fighter just managing to survive after being knocked down numerous times, only to lock my opponent in one successful submission hold on the floor, and seeing him tap out as I hold on for dear life. It's these moments that make each fight so unique and thrilling. Some fights seem like they will end quickly, only to go the distance to be left to the judges decision, whereas other times a fight would end literally within seconds.

I could go on about the various fight scenarios I found myself in, but there are just too many great moments that we would be here all day. Suffice to say, when I eventually managed to work my way through the bottom leagues such as Weapons of Destruction and made it up to the lofty heights of Strikeforce, each fight becomes more important as you aim for that illusive Strikeforce belt. When I did actually manage to secure a title fight, and I finished the fight after three exhausting rounds, blood covering my fighter's mouth and chin, my opponents blood all over my knees and fists, both fighters on the edge of passing out from the struggle, those are the sort of moments that make a game like this great for the fans.

Making the fight experience all the more enjoyable is the quality of the character models. EA Sports has taken a different route to the UFC franchise when it comes to their fighters, giving them a smoother look. Some will disagree, but to my eyes the skin textures here look more like skin and less like texture maps meant to look like skin. Muscle movement and flexing is more subtle than it was in Fight Night Round 4, but still makes the fighters look more realistic than what the competition have done. What did not carry over from the Fight Night fighters was the amazing texture work on the fabrics, with clothing looking particularly dull. Neat touches include the aforementioned blood and damage model, this time allowing for some pretty messed up faces by the end of a fight. Blood also drips across the mat as the battle rages on, emphasising the brutality of the combat. Ring announcers, referees and round-girls are all impressively done, changing depending on the league you are fighting in, as do the rings or cages you fight in. It's also worth mentioning that as you move from league to league you are given the choice of where you want to fight next, and each league brings its own rules to the fight, again adding to the 'no two fights are the same' mantra.

This being EA Sports, there is no shortage of great licensed music here, either as menu screen background music or entrance songs for the fighters. The EA/Linkin Park connection carries on from Medal of Honor with the band providing what could be called the theme song here, since it's the track that plays during the intro and whenever you first get to the main menu. There is a good mix of music to choose from, almost all of which is suited to getting the adrenalin flowing for your upcoming fight, so don't expect any Celine Dion. Sound is used effectively throughout the game, adding impact to the strikes, solid voice work giving the ring announcers some personality, and helping to form a bit of a connection between yourself and the various trainers around the world. Im assuming that many of these trainers haven't done voice over work before, sometimes sounding as if they are reading the scripts for the first time, but it works all the same. Presentation is impressive all round, taking a leaf out of the Fight Night Round 4 handbook. Menus are kept clean and easy to read, simple to navigate, and never overloading you with too much information at one time. The career mode is mostly navigated via your fancy HTC smartphone, allowing you to read emails, the latest MMA blog, select travel destinations and read up about other aspects of the leagues and fighters you will be competing against.

There is a lot to keep you occupied in the lengthy career mode as you work your way to MMA legend status, but obviously there is more to EA Sports MMA than that. There are comprehensive tutorials to help you get to grips with the gameplay, as well as the usual Fight Now mode where you select your weight division and slip into the shorts of one of the official fighters for a quick brawl. Once you're convinced that you have the gameplay under control, you may feel brave enough to venture online to take on the rest of the world. The multiplayer component in EA Sports MMA is straightforward and just about lag free, but as usual with fighting games there is a severe learning curve if you want to make any kind of progress. There seems to be people out there who do nothing but play this game day in and day out, and they take extreme pleasure in handing your head to you on a silver platter within moments of the start of a fight. It can be quite frustrating, but I guess the only way to improve is to work harder, fight smarter. Still, the dedication required to compete successfully may be more than many are prepared for. For the fun of beating up a real person (in the game, of course) without the frustration of being constantly destroyed by a spotty teenager from Texas, there is always the local versus option, so grab a friend and a second controller and you're in for hours of bloody entertainment.

From the outset there were naysayers who claimed that the UFC Undisputed franchise had the MMA genre all sewn up, and that EA Sports had missed the boat for this one. I'll give those critics this much: By not getting in earlier and securing the UFC license for themselves, EA Sports really has made the task of entering the MMA gaming market far more difficult than it would have been otherwise. People who got a kick out of the big names and well known atmosphere of the UFC will miss it from this game, and that's a loss of market share which EA Sports will have to live with as long as the UFC remains the dominant force in mixed martial arts. On the other hand, gamers who can look past its limited roster and the second tier fight franchise headlining the show will find a game which in many ways surpasses what we have seen from the UFC Undisputed series thus far. The fighting has depth but never overwhelms you with complicated gameplay mechanics, the battles are intense and give you the feeling that anything could happen to change a fight at any point, and the graphics and presentation are up to EA Sports' typically high standards. We all know that the intention is to make this into a franchise with a new game every second year, and I honestly believe that by the time the EA Sports MMA name comes past again two years from now this could be the true ultimate fighting champion. Right now, EA Sports MMA is at least on par with UFC Undisputed, even though it lacks the big names punch that its competitor brings into the ring.

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