"So you wanna be a fighter?"
This question opened THQ's New York press event on Thursday for the upcoming sequel to what has quickly become the company's biggest franchise, and what THQ considers to be the catalyst for its rebirth. The game, of course, is UFC Undisputed 2010, and from what was on hand for members of the press to see and play, it looks like it will be another great success when it launches in May.
Developer Yuke's aims to completely outdo its previous effort with the new game by implementing substantial updates to character creation, fighting styles, and career mode, as well as by greatly increasing the sense of immersion and translating the UFC atmosphere fans have come to expect from the sport. At the same time, however, the game will retain the general feeling of its predecessor, thanks to more subtle changes to the actual in-ring gameplay.
The first aspect of the game THQ highlighted during the event was the create-a-fighter mode, which has actually been used to create every one of the 100+ fighters in the game. This means that the system will be more in-depth and extensive, and potentially allow players to create much more detailed custom fighters. It will feature new color spectrum sliders, improved facial construction, drag-and-drop tattoos and logos, and greatly expanded selection of body types, hair options, etc., as well as new lists of first, last, and nicknames to be announced by the game's commentators. Players will also be able to choose from a list of fighter voices for cutscenes, as well as assign fighters' taunt, introduction, glove-touch, and victory animations.
One of the biggest and most welcome changes to UFC 2010 is the abolition of fighter archetypes -- standard fighting styles and move sets. Now, each fighter will come equipped with a unique arsenal of techniques that define his individual style. This carries over to created fighters, whose punches, kicks, throws, grapples, and submissions can all be selected, a la carte, for each button command. Adding a bit of strategy, each technique will cost a set amount of character creation points, and each will have three levels of effectiveness, with the higher levels costing more points to select. The range of customization will be far greater than in UFC 2009, and is reminiscent of THQ-published wrestling games of the N64 era, but more in-depth. And if a player isn't digging the idea of assigning every single move, the game does provide base templates for a number of general fighting styles, too.
"The game is watching you," THQ representatives told us. This theme will surround the game's career mode, which will be far more cinematic, and will force players to make choices at key moments, during cutscenes. This will include showing respect or disrespect to opponents, calling out specific fight camps, and simply responding to questions regarding fighters' careers. The game will remember these choices as fighters progress from the amateur arena to WFA to UFC, and they will have an effect on fighter relationships and how certain events play out over the course of the career. Along similar lines, the specific fight camps players choose to train with will dictate which new techniques their fighters learn as their skills improve.
Other additions to the career mode include character aging and attribute decay, which will be tied into one another. As careers progress, fighters' stats will decay in the absence of consistent training, which will make players remain conscious of their training regimens and encourage them to maintain at least somewhat well-rounded fighters. This rate of decay will increase as fighters get older, and will stop at a few key milestone attribute values: 30, 50, and 70 out of 100. UFC 2010 will also feature "game plan," a strategic, pre-fight stat alteration based on the strengths and weaknesses of the upcoming opponent.
In the ring, changes have been made to the way fighters strike, grapple, and perform submissions. According to THQ, strikes will chain together more fluidly this year, eliminating some of the choppiness of UFC 09. There will also be a new system of sways and leans to avoid incoming attacks. These will require players to be very precise with their timing and anticipation, and were not easy to consistently execute with efficacy during the time I had to play the game. "Adrenaline rush" is another new feature. This temporary state lets a fighter ignore any fatigue he has built up throughout the fight when he has an opponent rocked. This will allow him to effectively move in for the kill on dazed opponents in order to finish the fight, but will fade once his victim has recovered. If a fighter survives a round in which he takes a huge beating, the possibility of a doctor stoppage is now present in UFC 2010.
On the grappling end of the octagon, UFC 2010 now includes flash submissions to go along with last year's flash knockouts. Particularly skilled grapplers will also have the ability to switch from one submission to another without breaking the hold. When this happens, a player on the receiving end of these holds will have to reverse the rotation of the analog stick in order to continue to fight out of danger; button-mashing escapes have been eliminated entirely. Visually, the nearness to a tapout or an escape will be represented by a subtle zoom effect during these tense moments. This feedback is a big improvement over the static views of the previous game.
All of the updates to UFC 2010 sound extensive, and they will add a great deal to the overall quality of the game, but the short time I had to play UFC 2010 prior to GamerNode's trip to PAX East felt very much like last year's game. Of course, this is to be expected in most sequels, and as evidenced by the overwhelmingly positive critical response to UFC 09 and the 3.5-4 million units sold to date, it is not at all a bad thing. Still, the updates to the combat mechanics are evident, if not entirely game-altering, and it's easy to see how the various tweaks and updates can be capitalized upon as players learn the game and grow accustomed to the flow of the fight.
Fans can get excited for UFC 2010, which looks to be a more complete game than its predecessor. On top of core updates to the gameplay, THQ plans to support the title with a robust community website, tournaments, an in-game UFC news ticker, and on-the-fly fighter updates for players who stay connected via Xbox Live and PSN. Check back for more coverage around the game's May 25 release date.
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