UFC 2009 Undisputed Xbox 360 Review

UFC 2009 Undisputed

Xbox 360 Review
Developer: Yuke’s
Publisher: THQ

So if you are a fan of boxing, you can play the Fight Night series, if you are a fan of the WWE, you can have Smackdown vs. Raw each and every year.  But if you are a fan of the UFC, options as of late have been pretty limited, until now.  Enter UFC Undisputed 2009.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) continues to grow in popularity, and has an immense fan-base that has unfortunately never really been given the respect they deserve from the video game world.  That has all changed though with the release of UFC 2009 Undisputed, which delivers the most realistic MMA experience ever on a video game console.

Right from the start, you will immediately notice that this is one very good-looking game.  The character models are highly-detailed, and are oozing with realism and polish.  Not only do they look good standing still, but the animations are exceedingly smooth as well, making for a very strong TV-like presentation to all of the fights.

The audio is also spot-on with this release, starting out with the introductions by Mr. Buffer, as well as commentary from Joe Rogen and Mike Goldberg keeping up with the fight and keeping you in-tuned with everything going on.,  The whole way the game is presented from an audio/visual standpoint is extremely realistic.

There are two ways to fight in UFC 2009 Undisputed, you can use one of the real fighters, or you have the ability to go in and create your own.  If you want to play as the real fighters, you will not be disappointed as there are many big-name stars in there, just about anyone you could possibly want, including Brock Lesnar.

For those who want to create their own fighter though, you will be happy to know that the options are nearly unlimited.  The create-a-fighter option allows you to go into great detail with how your fighter looks, fights, etc.

Not only do you have the option to change his appearance, but you also have the option to pick his style, whether it be judo, kickboxing, wrestling, etc.  Once you choose your specialties, you then have to figure out which stats you want to put your points towards.

The big reason to make your created fighter is for the career mode, which will have you going through the ranks of the various weight classes to move toward taking home the belt.

As you progress, you will earn sponsorships, be able to pick up more moves, more attribute points to make your fighter better, etc.  There is a lot of strategy between fights to figure out how and what areas of your fighter to train.  This is key to your long-term success, especially from the first few fights onward.

The career mode is a lot of fun, but there are a few complaints I have.  The first is that you should have the ability to change weight classes.  This has been done in Fight Night, and is needed here.  Secondly, you should add mini-games for the cardio, strength, and speed trainings.  Beyond that, career mode is a blast.

This career mode is not easy though, as you will have to truly master the game controls in order to figure out what the heck is going on.

Getting to the gameplay, Yuke’s has done a great job with the controls of UFC 2009 Undisputed.  The gameplay is extremely deep, and has a very steep learning curve, meaning I highly-recommend going through the tutorial.

Striking is easy enough, but it is the ground game that will take getting used to, as you do all of your reversals and ground moves with the analog stick.  Mastering the movements will take time, and learning when to execute certain things is more trial-and-error than anything else.  For the first effort though from Yuke’s with presenting the UFC, they did a great job.

The only complaint that needs real fixing is the submission system, and takedown system, which rely a bit too much on button-mashing at times.

There is an online component here, which is pretty bare-bones unfortunately.  You do have the ability to bring your created-player online, but I would have loved to see the ability to create belts and defend them online as a way to spice up things a bit.

I may have a few gripes with the game overall as stated above, but the bottom line to all of this though is that UFC 2009 Undisputed is a fantastic MMA game for the PS3 and Xbox 360.  If you are a fan of games such as Fight Night, or the sport in general, this is an absolute must-buy.

Graphics: 9.0 An unbelievable looking next-gen MMA fighter, nearly flawless.

Audio: 9.0 The commentary, sound effects, etc. all work exceedingly well together.

Gameplay: 8.0 The learning curve is very steep, but also rewarding.

Replay Value: 8.5 The career mode is deep, create-a-fighter is a blast, and online components are fun to toy with.  Plenty to be had here for all MMA fans.

Final Score: 8.7

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