PS3/Xbox 360; �49.99; cert 16+; EA Sports
Let's get it on... In the case of EA's Mixed Martial Arts brawler, that means strengthening your thumbs to teenage texting levels and developing Jedi-like skills of anticipation.
In a genre where button mashing can usually see you most of the way home, two minutes of career mode in EA MMA will prove otherwise. Under the tutelage of Bas Rutten ? a big noise in the world of Ultimate Fighting ? you will be taken through the various aspects of the sport. This basically means using the right stick and the L2 button (on the PS3) to throw a combination of jabs, roundhouse kicks, low kicks, knees to the abdomen, uppercuts and blocks. Assuming you're standing up, that is. If you've managed to floor your opponent and straddle them ? with good, old fashioned Track and Field-style button thumping ? you can then apply elbows and punches to the face.
Attempt random stick action during the fights, however, and you will pay the price. Get the timing of a move wrong and you will pay the price. Miss a block and you will pay the price. Lose focus during an on-canvas grapple and you will pay the price. Even in the practice bouts, your opponent shows ? well, if not full AI, then at least a strong fighting spirit. They will wriggle, they will try to block your legs, and they will attempt to flip you. They'll also succeed on a very regular basis, requiring some button work to recover and, as a neat if unexpected touch, some caressing of the stick to apply the perfect choke hold.
That's assuming you get through training, of course, because even that's not the straightforward experience you might expect. The tutorials, while incredibly thorough, go far beyond the basics to give you a taste of what's in store: exacting standards and a reward for hard work. I may have a particularly flabby thumb ? unlikely after years of this stuff ? but the speed with which you have to throw combos to proceed is exhausting and the range of skills to master is vast: so vast, in fact, I may actually have a new found respect for the sport's real participants.
Beyond career mode, things are at the kind of high level you'd expect from EA. Customisation is detailed and simple, multiplayer has "post-pub fun" written all over it and the online experience is slick and varied (and will even include a live sportscast of a weekly "best of" fight card).
If there's a catch it is, apparently, the lack of big names ? a dispute between EA and the powers behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That, for hardcore fans, may be a deal breaker. It would be a shame if that's the case because even for this non beat-em-up fan (I'm a PES lover, not a fighter) EA MMA is clearly a painstakingly researched, precisely realised game. Surprisingly impressive.
? Game reviewed on PS3
No comments:
Post a Comment