UFC 2009 Undisputed (Hands-Off) First Look

[ChaseB]

If something doesn’t exist in the real UFC, then it won’t exist in UFC 2009 Undisputed. If something does exist in the real UFC, then it will exist in Undisputed. In other words, realism appears to be the motto of THQ and Yukes when it comes to creating the upcoming UFC video game.

If you’ve seen the initial trailer or any of the screenshots for UFC 2009, you’ll notice just how serious Yukes is when it comes to living up to that motto. In fact, the authentic nature of the game is a reason why the game lacks a HUD, and why there's such true-to-life TV-style presentation.

The announcing is what stood out to me the most when I saw the initial trailer, so I asked how the development team made the announcing so lifelike. I was told that the actual dialogue from the real-life fights was taken from the real-life fight and put directly into the video game. So if two UFC fighters went at in real-life, it’s very possible that the announcing from that fight will in some way be brought over to the game. Now that doesn’t mean Rogan and Goldberg aren’t recording new audio, because they are, and plenty of it from what I understand.

In order to push the realism, a new engine was created for this game -- rather than use the Smackdown vs. Raw engine, which is Yukes’ other main series. By doing this they’ve been able to build in a new damage engine that makes up for the lack of a health meter. If your face gets smashed up you won’t gush blood but you will get cuts above your eyes; if your body gets worn down your fighter will start to bruise in the right spots and so forth.

Another important aspect to the engine is the moves. Obviously it’s tricky to create a game about a sport that is so varied in terms of styles and techniques, and so the controls and the variety of moves are big development issues. It seems like Yukes is trying to keep it somewhat simple, so the moves will change depending on your location in relation to your opponent. That means a button may do one type of move when near the feet of a grounded opponent, but will change if you’re near the midsection of the same grounded opponent -- or at least that’s how it appears the system will work at this time. (I didn’t get to touch the controller after all.)

Signature styles obviously also play into the realism angle. There will be various fighting styles in the game, and also signature moves and celebrations (Rampage’s scream for example). It will be important to dodge certain fighter’s big moves or face the consequences. But at the same time stamina plays a big part in the game. You can’t go into a fight and simply mash buttons or go for one signature move the whole time because you will get tired and leave yourself open for abuse.

Fights also appear to be very dynamic, so everything from a Flash KO eight seconds into the fight all the way down to a last-second submission will be a possibility. By keeping the fights organic rather than formulaic, the hope is that the same surprise and excitement of a UFC fight will be brought over in video game form.

Yukes isn’t talking much about a career mode or create-a-fighter at this point, but it seems like the same realism rules will apply. You won’t be fighting in tournaments, and you won’t be dressing your guy in a ridiculous attire. However, you will still be able give him tattoos, pick his fighting style, pick his trunks out, and so forth.

UFC 2009 Undisputed has a TBA 2009 release date, which is encouraging considering how polished the game looked, graphics and otherwise, when I saw it last week. The game appears to be on the right track, and we are eager to see how the game continues to develop in the coming months.

[DueceDiggla]

Thanks

[mgoblue]

Quote: Originally Posted by DueceDiggla

Thanks

Yeah, awesome writeup. I have a strong feeling that big, intense, major MMA fans will be all "This isn't sim" like any sports game, but it sounds like it'll be fun and do a good job attempting to bring the UFC into a game.

[ChaseB]

I also tried to answer the questions I could in the original thread: E3 UFC 2009: Undisputed Questions?

[Bahnzo]

Chase, what did the camera(s) look like? Was it the standard ring side? Or was there a 3rd person camera as well?

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bahnzo

Chase, what did the camera(s) look like? Was it the standard ring side? Or was there a 3rd person camera as well?

It was varying between the various TV-style cameras that you tend to see while watching a PPV/TV UFC event. Most of the time it was the standard ringside one though.

[Bahnzo]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

It was varying between the various TV-style cameras that you tend to see while watching a PPV/TV UFC event. Most of the time it was the standard ringside one though.

Thanks for the info Chase. Kind of a bummer tho. I really wish fighting games would have more of a 3rd person camera instead of the standard ringside cams. Any indication as to whether the moves are camera-relative?

[allBthere]

It sounds to me like they weren't really into answering questions about things you couldn't see in the demo (career, create a fighter etc). Do you think this is because none of that extra stuff has been added? the game is a fair ways away still.

[WTF]

This is probably my most anticipated title in production right now. I absolutely can't wait for this.

[Timmay]

I didn't have much hope for this game when I first heard about it (just too complicated to really do properly)... While your writeup makes it sound pretty cool, I wonder how much of it will really work that way.

The gameplay video looks pretty bad. I know it's early, still, but it seemed the focus of the article was "realism", yet the video looks quite arcade like. Tons of wide open shots to the face that seem to really do nothing (some that really would have knocked a fighter out cold, or at least to the mat in a heap). And what's with the shaking screen and the players really flailing around when getting hit (especially their head and neck - if fighters did that there would be sprained and broken necks all the time.)?

I really like the sound of your writeup because it sounds like a game that wants to emulate the actual sport. But the gameplay video shows the exact opposite.

It also looked really jerky and non-fluid. But that's something they can hopefully iron out in time.