UFC 2009 Undisputed
Undisputedly awesome!

Reviewed by Coxster  

Played on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 

Finally a new UFC is on the scene and for the first time in many generations of gaming, it rocks hard and does the sport proud. There are plenty of ferocious moments to be found throughout this game, aggressive head cracking, painful submission moves, destructive smacks to the chin that can result in an instant knockout, it’s the stuff that fuels the more primitive side of man, and I love it!

  If you’re a fan of this violent sport, you’re going to love what UFC 2009 has to offer.

Twister just got a little bit more complicated…and manly.

The fighting engine is solid and offers complexity to those that seek it, however there is also a very logical set of principles to the controls and gameplay that will have noobs picking it up and pulling off some great moves without needing much of a learning curve. While it can feel like rock ‘em sock ‘em robots for two players at a low skill level, once you work out the nuances of the controls and the plentiful moves – you simply won’t find a better representation of the sport.

There is a career mode that is as you would expect.  You train your fighter, smack the shit out of your opponent, train some more and repeat. Along the way you will build your stats, get some sponsors and pretty much hang tough until the final fight.   You can customize you created fighter – and just a little tip, although it’s not as attractive an option to up your stamina stats, give them priority, it will help further down the track – trust me.

*sings* Men men men men men men men men!

The load times are on par with games like Smackdown Vs Raw, so if you’re used to the annoying load times there, you’ll be familiar with what UFC has to offer.  It’s a little bit quicker, but when you’re going from fight to menu and menu to fight, it can add quite a few minutes on to your precious game time.   It’s a small hassle but it’s outweighed by the excellent visuals and spot on production values.

There are exhibition fights, classic fights that come with video montages in a similar fashion to Wrestlemania Legends where you have to recreate the outcome of the match by completing specific goals (which is harder than it sounds because you can knock someone out without meaning too).  There are a whole heap of other modifiers you can add or subtract depending on your preferences, but games like this are only more fun when you add another human opponent to the mix, which is where UFC really shines.   I have a new baby in the house so needless to say it was hard for things not to get loud and competitive when I was playing this with my buddy.  The fights were usually over pretty quickly but they are always satisfying and feel pretty balanced.  I really had a great time doing this. 

*continues singing* Men men men men….oh wait…

Online was pretty sweet too.   The network code worked really well for me and there seems to be plenty of people playing this online.  I had more fun playing this and finding matches than I ever did with Street Fighter 4.  It works you know?

You earn points during ranked fights which go towards increasing your stats, and who doesn’t like levelling up? It’s the future I tell you! I had a blast online and for us guys in Australia, even playing against the Yanks proved not to be too painful, the lag isn’t that bad. There seems to be quite a few Aussies online so you shouldn’t have much trouble getting a few good rounds in.

The animations are a little off, but in just about everywhere else, the graphics in UFC 2009 Undisputed look awesome!  The commentary is way better than recent wrestling games and the brutal knockouts are on par with Fight Night round 3.  All the fighters are modelled with particular care, are really do look like their real life counterparts.  The crowds and arenas do a passable job and while the music grates, everything else is well about standard.  I really gotta take my hat off to the developers, they’ve done a great job!

Overall:

+   Excellent graphics and production values!

+   Stays true to the sport.

+   Complex and rewarding control scheme.

+   Absolutely brilliant multiplayer game.

+   Plenty of replay value.

+   Online works pretty good!

+   Smashing the crap out of burly men is tons o’ fun!

-      Button mashers will annoy the crap out of you.

-      Steep learning curve, bad for impatient people.

-      Pacifists will curl up in a ball, and rock back and forth in the corner because it’s so violent, not for little ones.

-      Can be a little bit of a grind later on in the game.