It’s fair to say that the prospect of EA producing a fully-licensed and official UFC game was something that seemed destined to never happen. UFC President Dana White approached EA during his company’s infancy, and EA’s response was less than polite - Describing MMA as “not a sport” and suggesting that they would “never” get involved in something like this.
For their part, EA denied this, and on the back of the success of THQ’s UFC: Undisputed in 2009 launched a rival MMA game to mixed reviews. Such was White’s disdain, he threatened to release any UFC fighter who consented for their likeness to be used in their game. When THQ hit the metaphorical iceberg and began selling off their assets in 2012, it was EA who bought the franchise. Development of the Fight Night franchise was put on hold, with all available resources being pumped into its new license. With the Undisputed series being so popular, it’s safe to say there was no small amount of pressure on EA to put out a game which would satisfy fans of THQ’s now defunct series, while providing enough ideas of its own to distinguish itself.
EA Sports UFC 2014 is the result, and while it’s a solid effort from Fight Night developers EA Canada, it also leaves the occasional impression that the team would have been much more at home working on a more traditional boxing title - a feeling not helped by the fact that a relatively brief development cycle has resulted in a game which feels a little truncated and bereft of features.
One thing that certainly isn’t lacking, however, is the roster. Boasting 97 playable fighters (including the women’s divisions) at retail, not to mention the notable DLC/pre-order bonus of Bruce Lee as a playable fighter, the list of names on offer is certainly impressive - though, in an odd oversight, current UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J Dillashaw isn’t featured. Each is recreated and animated with plenty of attention to detail and benefits from the use of the in-house Ignite engine. Squint and you could almost convince yourself that you’re watching the real thing.
Until you attempt to recreate yourself in-game, that is. Beyond the playable roster, you can import your EA Gameface (after a few attempts) and play as a version of yourself in-game, though it’s a feature which worked better in Fight Night and Fifa. The results here are never as convincing as accurate as they should be, with both feet firmly in the Uncanny Valley. Spending 20 minutes or so refining your fighter is still time well spent, however. From the apparel you’ll wear in the Octagon, to your style of fighter, investing the effort here pays dividends and you’re able to import your fighter into the other modes within the game.
Speaking of modes, the bread and butter of the game is career mode, and it’s well-presented indeed. Good use is made of the Ultimate Fighter reality show, which is the launch pad for fighters within the sport, and is what draws many casual fans in for the first time. Here, it’s the launch pad for your career, and to progress you must win your spot on the show, and then your spot in the UFC itself. Actual footage and graphics from the show add to the immersion and authenticity of the game, and it’s the classiest “career” presentation in any sports game we’ve ever played.
Once the ink is dry on your UFC contract, you begin developing your skills through a series of training minigames which will earn you credits to spend on boosting your attributes. This can mean anything from increasing the power of your punches, to unlocking new moves and strikes (pro tip: the superman punch is an essential addition). You’ll work your way up through the ranks, with success eventually resulting in a title shot. The difficulty spike in championship matches is noticeably out of sync with the rest of your career progress - and hampered by some spotty AI which sees your opponents making some nonsensical decisions mid-bout - but does add that extra pressure that you should feel in such a big fight.
Unfortunately the wheels fall off career mode once you have reached the top of the mountain and captured your first championship. With no notice paid to time that has passed, and what age some of the fighters are 15 years after your career started, you lose that sense of immersion. Dan Henderson is 43 now, so to see him as your next opponent when your career timeline is 2026 is more than slightly optimistic on EA’s part. When you begin on the Ultimate Fighter, the system generates fights with random names and appearances. It’s difficult to understand why they couldn’t have done this later in your career, to add to the realism and accurately reflect that the older fighters would be long retired by now, and younger fighters would be coming through. In the absence of fresh blood, you’re stuck with defending your belt against fighters you’ve already beaten and it becomes very repetitive, especially if you won your title early on in your career. Another simple option which would have prolonged interest would be to give you the option to move up or down weight classes later in your career, as happens regularly in real life. Hopefully these are things EA are already considering for the next installment.
The striking combat is excellent, with lessons learned from Fight Night and indeed the previous MMA titles. Gone is the thumbstick system which replicated the swing movements of your arms and legs, and in its place is a “button per limb” system, similar in a way to Tekken, which makes the game infinitely more engaging and intuitive. Knocking opponents out is gloriously satisfying, and even after 30 fights into your career it never gets old. Some of the close ups in the replays are incredibly lifelike, with skin rippling and blood splattering brutally recreated.
The block system could do with some refining for the next update. The timing window to actually parry a strike is short, and vastly reduces the effectiveness of a counter striker strategy. The biggest complaints casual members will have about the game will be the same complaints casual observers have about the actual UFC. That being said, when fights go to the ground non-MMA purists often find what follows to be mind-numbingly dull and frustrating. The cliche of “men rubbing against each other in their pants” is a cliche for a reason. These parts of the match aren’t helped by the fact that your opponents often feel superhumanly strong. Even on the easiest settings, you can find yourself flat on your back, furiously circling the right thumbstick trying to get into a safer position, only to watch your fighter do nothing but lie there and shrug off your punches. We consider ourselves to be patient gamers, but the controller took flight on more than one occasion when this happened.
As with real life, submissions are difficult to pull off and fairly easy to escape, unless you have been suitably tenderized for 2 rounds. This is rarely the case though; non-title UFC fights are typically 3 round affairs, but in our 42 fight career, only 2 went past the 1st round. You can study the tutorials with the focus of Mr Miyagi, but eventually the temptation to stand and swing for the fences becomes too much to resist, not to mention being an effective tactic which can see you completing your entire career in a single sitting.
MMA fights are also known to be a bit random in their outcomes, with one punch knockouts far more common a sight than they are in boxing. This was a feature that was overplayed in the THQ era, with there being almost no rhyme or reason to some of the knockouts. Thankfully, EA Canada has definitely toned this down for their offering, and the game is better for it. At the same time, it’s almost impossible to have a stand-up fight that would last 5 rounds, as it would in a Championship bout. The damage system is such that by round 3, any clean strike would be enough to rock your opponent and vice versa, leaving you open to a finish.
If anything though, the online experience suffers from the opposite effect. Fights rarely get past the 10 second mark before some monster attempts to take you down to the mat and keep you there until you tap out through boredom, or the fumes of sweaty Brazilians. That said, fighters feel balanced and the spotty AI in the single-player is obviously not a concern. It’s a good thing too, because with such bare-bones options in the single-player modes, multiplayer is where you’ll be spending most of your time. Taking a leaf out of FIFA‘s book, the online mode sees you working towards belt promotions and tackling championship bouts at the end of a season. The netcode is also robust, with lag rarely rearing its ugly head.
This is comfortably the best looking sports game on the market right now. While the ground game would benefit from more animations, and some of the knockdown set pieces look a bit cartoonish at times, overall everything from the fighter likeness, physics and presentation are outstanding. The soundtrack is also solid, with in-game commentary from Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan mostly feeling appropriate to the on-screen action with only a few isolated incidents of out-of-context excitement.
EA Sports UFC 2014 is an impressive opening round in EA’s UFC career. The stand-up and striking is excellent, if not ultimately brief, but work does need to be done on the ground game. The lack of single-player modes also needs to be addressed, as at the moment the package feels somewhat slender when placed up against the likes of EA’s other sports franchises such as FIFA, Madden and NHL.
The most enjoyment to be had from the game is 1-on-1 with your mates with a few beers, then - which is exactly how you would best enjoy watching an actual UFC event. In that respect, despite having a number of flaws and lacking in content, EA Sports UFC has succeeded in capturing the sport’s essence - and thus wins a split decision.
Maddy Richards
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- EA Sports UFC 2014 Review - 30 June 2024
