UFC Undisputed 2009 is the UFC’s first go round on the next-gen(well current gen) consoles. Having previous games starting with the Dreamcast and Xbox, the UFC titles have been one of the more strategic and fun fighters on the market. With a fight system that involves much more then punches and kicks, the games have been fun for many.
This year games improves over past games in many many ways. First and foremost the graphics. The game looks fantastic, the fighters look like there real life counterparts all the way down to tattoos and scars. As the rounds progress fighters sweat and as they take punches and kicks they will show bruises and cuts. If a cut player is mounted over a downed player any punches will produce dripped blood on both the fighters. By the end of matches the ring will be splattered with blood, sweat and tears. Big knockouts can cause mouthpieces and spit to fly.
UFC Undisputed 2009 has the basic game modes as any other fighters. The career mode is very nice, once your fighter is created, you pick your matches then get to training. The training could be just the basic selection of “Strength, Speed, Cardio” or the more in depth sparring, which give you points to increase your fighters stats, and then “rest” which is needed to recover your fighters stamina after a training. You will also be given invites to training camps which will help your fighting skills increase. The career mode will require you to choose a training strategy, and as you progress gives the player a feeling of accomplishment as you climb your class ladder.
Playing the game on Xbox Live can be both fun and annoying. When you win or have a good match its fun, when you lose or have a very one sided match it can be annoying. I found I was being matched against much high rated fighters which lead to me getting my ass kicked. And also I experienced many laggy matches which were major headaches to play. If you experience lag it makes it hard to time the moves, and really hurts the game experience. The addition of online leagues would have been a great addition to the game as well.
Overall the game is a lot of fun with another person and you will find yourself spending many hours climbing the UFC ladder to the top. If your a fan of MMA you’ll love the game, and if your a fan of fighting games this is a nice change from the normal button masher.
A copy of UFC Undisputed 2009 was provided to us for review from THQ Games.
