I want you to picture yourself walking into the 02 arena, as UFC comes to UK for your next big fight. You walk into the sound of Monster by the Automatic, with 22,000 fans screaming and rooting for you, while your opponent, one of the toughest UFC fighters today, Conor McGregor is standing in the Octagon ready to destroy you. You`re aim is to take that UFC title from him, and to turn yourself into the face of UFC. You enter the octagon and you`re trainer is telling you where you want to be hitting him. “Aim for the legs, take that part out” he tells you. The announcer starts his introductions, and you are able to begin. The bell rings, and you touch gloves, and then it becomes a different world.
UFC 2 is the 2nd instalment of the UFC series by EA Sports after their first title was released back in June 2014. Very similar to fans who play FIFA week in week out, UFC 2 brings you all your favourite UFC characters to the recent fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, to the Women’s bantamweight division where you can take on Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, and Rowdy, Ronda Rousey (Who stars on the front cover of UFC 2 alongside Conor McGregor). There is a vast array of modes to keep you entertained throughout the game, including `Fight now` where you can get straight into a UFC fight and choose who you want to be playing as, and which poor soul you have chosen to go proper beast mode against, Career mode where you pretty much take your own created character to the top by training, increasing your in-ring skills before going to hang with the big boys and have your shot at the titles. Some other key modes including Live Event, Ultimate Team, Knockout mode, and of course a range of online options.
Let`s get down to the Gameplay, and most notably, let` s start with the controls. For those of you who have played the first UFC game, you`ll know how to control your characters and not much has really changed since that. It`s very similar in terms of kicking, punching, takedowns and making your opponent submit, but for a gamer that maybe perhaps hasn’t played the first UFC, the controls within this game will take some getting used to. Not so much with the punching, and basic strikes, as that`s very much a mash up of your alphabetical buttons, but being able to block your body and your head from strikes, and to be able to switch between the two, is something that is going to take some getting used to. There is a practice mode where you can change the settings so that you can have the AI not fight back, and literally stand there taking it all like a man, or change the settings so that you have a full Ronda Rousey beast mode, really testing you across your skills and abilities to fight in the UFC.
Of course, with any game, the more and more you play it, the more and more you`ll find yourself getting better and used to playing with what can seem at times quite a complex control method. One thing I found very frustrating at times to even get to grips with is the submission system. Using both your left and right bumpers, you need to match the on-screen commands on both bumpers, without messing up the one on the other bumper. It requires concentration, and practice, both something that you`ll gain up over time from playing the game and playing yourself through.
There`s so much to do on UFC and you are given a vast arrange of different modes. Live Event is where you can predict the results of the next UFC event, such as how a fighter is going to win, which round etc. You can earn points from predicting the results, and you can also gain more points by playing through that match, and getting the result that you have predicted. This is quite a cool feature added to UFC 2, and is something that is fresh and changes over time. Career mode is very similar to before, where you take a UFC fighter straight from scratch (or your own created character) and starts him with very basic stats, and over time you need to improve your game and increase your stats, so that as I have said earlier, you can hang with the big boys and for the titles etc.
Going to an online aspect within a game, you are given a few different options to go straight into a un-ranked fight against someone else, or to go into a ranked championship, where you`ll fight your way to victory for the top. You also have the option to play friends in online rivalries to see who`s the top fighter out of your friends. I did find going online that not being very good at the game, I was finding myself getting absolutely smashed and slaughtered by people who were very good fighters.
One of the fun but basic game modes I found myself playing a lot of was the newest mode to be added to UFC 2 which is `Knockout Mode`. In this mode, you are tasked with winning your fight by only 1 way. By KO. You can set to what the score will be i.e. first to 3 knockouts, as you mash and claw your buttons in, in order to destroy and knock out your opponent to being the ultimate fighter and the one known for being the guy or woman with the left or right hook.
Ultimate Team is also something that makes its way into UFC 2, and I have to be honest, this is one of the modes that can be very enjoyable in terms of full customization and what not, but also very typical of EA, and in games nowadays, in-game transactions. You have to pay to get Packs (exact same to FIFA Ultimate Team) although you are collecting in-game moves to equip to your character. You may get that Ronda armbar submission within a pack, and then you can equip that to your arsenal, so that you can now become that submission specialist that you always wanted to. You create a team of 5 fighters, and you`re tasked with fighting and perhaps spending your way to get to the top of the pile. Hard-core UFC fans will happily pay for packs, very similar to hard-core FIFA fans do, but be aware you will find yourself going very slowly without purchasing any packs, and that`s something that EA are typically known for.
Overall, UFC 2 is a good addition to the EA sports titles, however I feel that compared with the first one, it doesn’t feel that much different, which in a way I can see being good for some, but some will see it as a re-branded game with newer characters. Either way, UFC 2 can be an enjoyable game (if you can last out and keep yourself practicing and going and not losing interest) for gamers, and of course, hard-core UFC fans, it`s a no brainer.
