And the option to bad-mouth fellow fighters is a fun touch, but I’m not sure the benefits of doing so outweigh the cons. The drills offer little variation, though, and the training partners you get stuck with are as much prone to getting knocked out as they are to following your direction. Training is important, and obviously it has to be included in any career mode. However, I’m not the biggest fan of either the relentless training or half-baked promotional gimmicks. Rising from prospect to champion, and all of the bloody brawls along the way is a highlight of the series. To be fair, I’ll never get tired of working my way up to contendership. How you get there, either through dominating the WFA or getting noticed on Dana White’s Contender Series, is up to you.Ĭareer mode has typically been solid, if unspectacular, and that pattern continues here. Once you get that out of the way, it’s onto the minor leagues, before theoretically, making it big in the UFC. From BJJ to boxing, you get a crash course in the disciplines needed to thrive. From there, you begin to work through the amateurs, while also getting drilled on the specific components of the fight game. However, your performance catches the eye of Coach Davis, a fictional former UFC fighter-turned-trainer. You start on the amateur circuit, and in my case, getting brutally finished. The revamped career mode serves as an excellent introduction to the world of EA Sports UFC 4. It may sound silly, but the venue works as a perfect tribute to both cover star Jorge Masvidal and cult star Kimbo Slice. Stand and Bang Mode has its own unique location: the backyard of some random person. It’s all very silly, but a fun change of pace from a traditional MMA fight. Each player has their own health bar, and cheesy sound effects are peppered throughout the action. Taking cues from Bloodsport and Mortal Kombat, the action can take place in a new Kumite arena. If you’re looking for a more straight-forward fight, though, the Knockout Mode has basically been turned into a traditional fighter. I don’t necessarily have the time to devote to a fully-fledged online career, so this more bite-sized mode is right up my alley. And when or if you lose, you can immediately jump into a new series of fights. Not only does the time limit force me to switch up my normal fight strategies, but the focus on different weight classes pushes me to find new fighters to use. For example, the one that was active pre-release was one-minute women’s flyweight fights. The concept is a series of fast-paced fights utilizing a rotating set of rules and weight classes. Of the two major online modes, Blitz Battles appealed to me most. And for the more single-minded player, the career mode has also been completely revamped. Knockout Mode and Stand and Bang also return but with unique presentations this time around. Replacing it in the multiplayer world are Online World Championships and Blitz Battles, which are both immensely better. It never felt like a good fit for the sport, so good riddance there. For starters, the garbage Ultimate Team mode has been completely dumped. Perhaps due to the fact I spent so little time with that one, though, I was pretty hyped when EA Sports UFC 4 was unveiled.Įven more than the fighting engine, EA Vancouver has done a significant overhaul on the modes present in EA Sports UFC 4. The third entry was good enough, but I struggled to get invested in it. However, the general landscape of the sport doesn’t change as often as other sports do, which partly explains why the series is on a two-year schedule to begin with. Not because I don’t enjoy it - I think EA Vancouver has done a solid job with their virtual takes on MMA, and each entry has been at least worth checking out. Anecdotally speaking, it’s been tough to maintain constant enthusiasm for EA Sports’ UFC franchise.
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