UFC 2009: Undisputed

I'm gonna ask you the same question UFC President Dana White asked the cast of season one of the Ultimate Fighter: Do you want to be a FUCKIN fighter? Despite all of the games that came before it, UFC 2009 is the first TRUE mixed martial arts game to ever be released, and it just so happens that it's been released on Xbox360. Lucky me. Imagine this game on the Wii. That would be interesting. Imagine the ground and pound you'll do with the Wii remote and nunchuck. People would probably get too into it though, and they'd probably break something in the process. Plus, how would they do leg kicks with the Wii remote in their hands? I guess you could press and button while waggling the remote. Even then, I don't think the Wii sensor bar would pick up all your movements. They do have the Wii MotionPlus coming out, but I still don't think.....sorry lost my train of throught (Xbox blog! Xbox blog!). MMA fighting is a very complicated sport, and THQ vowed to bring that complexicity into this game. How did they do it? They hired the same people who made wrestling complicated. Straight from the Smackdown vs Raw series, Yukes did a great job of making this game true to the sport. Be warned though, the learning is very steep--Skate 2 steep, maybe even more. If you're not a fan of MMA and/or you have no idea what the difference is between open guard and north/south, this might not be the game for you. Go play Fight Night when it comes out. For the rest of you...IIIIT's TIIIIIIIIME!

DA - DADADAAAA...Superman Punch

This is probably the hardest review I ever had to do, mainly because I don't know how to explain the controls. In its simplest form, the face buttons do punches and kicks and the right stick controls the transition when you're on the ground. If you don't know what transitions are, this may not be your game. The controls are so complex, it will takes you DAYS before you figure out what to do, and even then you may miss something. As I speak, I'm still learning new stuff about this bitch. I know mix martial arts is complicated, but holy hell. Once you do learn them though, the game becomes fun. Maybe I'll post the controls for UFC on a future post. Stay tuned (or not...whatever...I don't care.)

Keep those hands up!

When I say true to the sport, I mean absolutely, positively, damn near 100% accurate. Almost all the little nuances that go into MMA fighting are presented well. Transitions on the ground and clinch are smooth, and blocking the transitions are done just like real MMA fighters are trained to do (from what I saw on the Ultimate Fighter). The fighters fight just like their real-life counterparts, so if you watch a lot of UFC, consider that film study. Frank Mir will play for the submission, Matt Hughes will wrestle will you for three or five rounds (he can submit, but wont do it unless you're wide open; otherwise he'll just hold you down for points....boring as hell). Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson will swing for the fences and will immediately stand up if you take them down, and so forth and so on. Knowing how they fight is the key to victory, especially when you take the fight online. Use a person wrong, and dudes online will be quick to knock your ass out. Trust me; not only did I get beat by the dudes, I am one of those dudes. Here's a tip: Learn the ground game. For the love of God and..Christ...and...Batman, learn the ground game. You will DIE if you don't. Standing up is fun, but the good players always take it to the ground eventually. Dudes online are no jokes. While we are on the subject, THQ did something so smart, I wonder why it never happened before (except maybe Fight Night). As soon as the fight is over, the game save ev-er-ry-thang (Ev-er-ry-thang? EV-ER-RY-THANG!). This way, dicks can't disconnect their cords before you can score the win. If they do, you will still get the win, and their shit will be all the fucked up. See, you can't mess with your system while it's saving. Otherwise, it will corrupt your save file, and you won't be able to use it anymore. You will have to start all over again. Messing with your system while it saves can also mess up your game, meaning $60 are down the drain because you didn't want to take a lost.

No wait, down. Hands down!

Besides the very complicated controls, the game has plenty of issues. Sometimes, the game registers the wrong kind of hit, making you hit the guy on the shoulder when it should have been a headshot. It doesn't happen often, but it happens enough. Sometimes stats don't seem to matter. Although you still need to use a fighter the way they're supposed to be used, some are better in areas they shouldn't be. Some people can be used to dominate the ground game, even though they're not known to. I guess it's done to make the game more fair and balanced, but people who watch a lot of UFC will be upset to see people WIN in ways the real-life counterparts wouldn't. Right now, online is skitish. Unless your connections are perfect, you will experience lag. Also, sometimes online, especially with lag, the game won't register your button presses or right stick movements. I got knocked out twice because the game wouldn't block when I pressed the button. The game's tutorial fails at telling you everything you need to know. It tells you the basics, but you NEED to know more than just the basics. My biggest problem with the game, by far, is the flash KOs (knock outs that come out of nowhere). They happen way to often. You don't have to be winning; your opponent doesn't have to be tired; hell, you don't even need to throw a punch beforehand. You just need to be lucky, and this game passes out luck like Chris Paul (that basketball reference is so out of place). I know they happen in real life, but not that damn often. Flash KOs should not be confused with the traditional KOs. A normal KO usually happens when a person is tired, or who's face (and sometimes body) is so fucked up, it can't take too many hits. Flash KOs....just happen.

AND IT IS AAAAALL OOOVER!

If you are a UFC fan, you probably already got, played it, and outrank me by 47 levels. For the rest of you, you may get turned off by the controls, but like Skate, give it time and it will grow on you. If you want, the demo is available in the Xboxlive marketplace, so try it out. It's a great game, but one too many Flash KOs to the head keeps this game from being in my hall of fame. All well. See you June 4 for Fight Night Round 4.

Rating: Sweet

NOTE: Okay, chances are I won't have a review for Fight Night on June 4, but please believe I will have that game.