UFC 2009 Undisputed Review

The main goal of every fighting game is to beat your opponent, but never before has it been done in such style as in UFC Undisputed 2009.  There are a multitude of different stances and positions you can beat your opponent from and it's this diversity that makes it more than a simple brawler where you just hit your opponent in the head until he falls over.

UFC Undisputed 2009 is a UFC fans dream. Over 100 UFC fighters using six primary fighting styles, which are boxing, Brazilian ju-jitsu, kick boxing, judo, wrestling and Muay Thai.  These fighting styles are placed into two categories; striking and grappling.  Each fighter has two specialities and the different styles of fighters you will come up against mean you're constantly having to change your strategies.

The main bulk of the game takes place in the Career mode, where you will create your very own UFC fighter to take through the motions.  The create-a-fighter mode isn't the most in-depth I've ever seen, but there's enough there to do the job. There is a chance that your fighter will look like someone else's created fighter, but there are enough different variations on shorts and placement  of sponsor badges/logos to always ensure your fighter looks unique.

Once you have your fighter’s appearance how you want you have to pick one striking fighting style and one grappling fighting style. After that you distribute your initial stats into a wealth of attributes such as strength, submissions offence/defence, striking offence/defence, ground control, ground defence... there really is a huge amount of attributes to bulk up, thankfully they don't all apply to you.  You only have to bulk up the ones you're interested in for example, if you want to create a wrestler, you may concentrate all your points into ground defence, offence and submission skills with only enough striking ability to get you by.

Once you have your fighter ready, you pick a coach from a choice of two then you're off.  One of the first things you'll notice - and Career modes main problem - is the clunky interface.  It is always more hassle than it should be to arrange fights, read emails, get to training and everything else. It needs to be better organised.  Once you're into your career, you'll fight a rookie to see if you're worth taking a chance on (which you always are) and then you're off properly.  You'll get a choice of three fighters each month, two you can see and know what styles they have and one mystery opponent who will be named at a later date. The object is to fight your way to the title of your chosen division and then win. After that you try to make your fighter reach immortality by being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

On your way through your fighter’s career you'll have to train him. This is done in between matches by either sparring with a training partner, which you will do yourself along with some hints from your coach, or choosing something to train in such as strength, speed or resilience.  Each of these is automatic. Whenever you do one of these activities, or any of the games other activities, such as photo shoots or promos, you will lose energy which can be regained by resting for a week.  Two weeks rest and your fighter will be at 100% again but you always have to keep an eye on the calendar to make sure you're in shape for the next fight. If you aren't in top condition you'll start the fight with maybe half an energy bar to show the strain which is a massive problem when all it takes is one lucky punch to make your fighter fall.  This can be a really worrying feeling if it's a particularly important match and you forgot to rest.

Outside of Career mode, your other choices are exhibition matches where you can fight the computer or a friend, sitting on the sofa or online, where you can take a fighter you created or one of the stock fighters and pit them against each other, or head into training or UFC classics matches.

UFC Classics; a good mode but can annoying.  You will be put in classic matches from UFC's history and have to end the fights the exact way they happened in real life. This is a nice touch but it can be tricky getting someone on the ground so you can knock them out with a ground and pound manoeuvre in the second round with less than a minute remaining. However it's an extremely good feeling when you get it right and you'll be rewarded with a video of the fight for your efforts.

Another feature of the game is taking the fight online. On PS3 there was some considerable lag if, like me, you're playing someone outside the UK, which can be a problem in a game so reliant on perfect timing for hits and reversals. If you get a game against a fellow UK gamer though, it's a great experience fighting another human as there was no lag and they're totally unpredictable with their moves and can sometimes lock you into a submission and make you tap, when you expected them to throw a punch.

One of the things you'll notice is the game certainly looks authentic. Whether it be a real fighter or your created fighter, they all look great, as do the officials, the Octagon itself and the UFC Girls who you'll see at the start of every round. The only thing off about the presentation is the crowd; it looks totally out of place amidst the great character models of the fighters.  This will be ignored once the fight starts however, so it's not exactly a game breaker.

The sound is also better than was expected. Usually in games of this type the commentary is always so forced sounding, but here it sounds right for the most part. You'll get little titbits of information about the fighters in the ring but if something interesting happens one of the two announcers will jump in and excitedly call the current action. After this they will continue where they left off talking about the fighter. The games soundtrack is the typical loud stuff you would expect, booming Saliva's – “Click Click Boom” over the main menu screen. This all fits really well with the games attitude and is well in place. 

Everything about this game feels right; from the fighters themselves, to having Mario Yamasaki refereeing the matches, right down to Bruce Buffer introducing Main Event matches. It's sure to keep you interested for a long time if you're a UFC fan. The problem is, if you're not a UFC fan, none of the things in this game that feel right to a UFC fan, may not be appreciated or mean as much to you. You'll just want to pick the biggest guy and start swinging your fists. If this happens you will most likely lose, especially on harder difficulties and online.

This is a shame as it really is a well made game, but it's clearly been made as one for UFC fans and that may alienate potential fans who want to jump into the deep end. They may not know the fighters, the announcers, the moves or the rules. If you are a fan of UFC or Mixed Martial Arts fighting then this is definitely a game to pick up. However if you are only looking for a game to bash in heads, you may be getting more than you bargained for.