His arrival UFC 5 in 2023 sparked celebrations among fans of mixed martial arts, and as the only game of its type on major consoles, that excitement was understandable. Now that it's been out for a full year, UFC 5 has seen a number of patches and tweaks, and we're looking to see how the game has held up.
To break the fourth wall a bit, I'm a big fan of mixed martial arts and the UFC has a roster that includes many of the best fighters in the world. In some ways, the latest UFC game from EA Sports puts a lot of pressure on the title to deliver every detail that MMA provides in the real world, and it mostly lives up to that promise with a deep fighting system, featuring many big fighters, and patches over the past year that improved the experience for fans.
The game's predecessor, UFC 4, had its share of fans who enjoyed the intense realism of the standup gameplay and career mode, but others found the ground game to be difficult at times. UFC 5 looks largely the same, but now uses the Frostbite game engine, so there are quite a few visual improvements from the former Ignite engine.
The fifth iteration of the fighting series has four main game modes: Fight Week, Fight Now, Career and Online.
With Fight Week, real-time UFC fights are at the heart of the feature. When updated, there will be opportunities to make fight picks before the actual fights and earn valuable UFC Coins for your created fighter and online store. There are also Fight Week contracts, daily matches where you face opponents to earn UFC Coins. There are also challenges to earn player emotes and other rewards.
Fight Now is a mode that puts you right in the middle of the action against a computer opponent or a friend on the couch. Here, you can pick hundreds of fighters from the UFC roster and duke it out. The feature features main card fights, which are three-round matches.
Then there are Main Event and Championship matches, both of which run five rounds. Backyard matches are five 3-minute rounds where the judges score the match on how much damage is done. Then comes the Kumite event, which is a 25 minute event and if it goes all the way, the match will be called a draw.
Also in Fight Now, you can choose between playstyles such as Simulation, which is the purest way to play. Knockout style disables health regeneration and fighters have unlimited stamina and combos. Finally, Stand and Bang keeps the action standing until one falls.
UFC 4's Career Mode was one of the top features of the last game and the mode is back with Coach Davis returning to guide you on your way to becoming the GOAT The road to greatness is tough but this game mode it's the best way to learn all the tricks and tips of the game.
Finally, among the main features is Online, which also has a career mode, ranked leagues where you can face fighters of the same skill level, blitz battles and quick battles.
To be honest with people, the only modes I play consistently are careers and practicing against the opposing computer in the tutorial section of the game. Trust me, it took me a long time to learn all the moves and I'm sure I still don't know everything. This isn't like some fighting games where button mashing can lead to a lucky knockout. To me, the best place for most new players to go is the Learn section to get some reality checks on your skills, and then dive into the Career mode to get into the meat and potatoes of the game.
I also want to applaud the UFC team for simplifying the ground game. In UFC 4, you had to play a mini-game to win or block submissions or go into ground and pound positions. It was too difficult for even the most experienced video gamer, but in 5, the improved ground game makes for a better overall experience. However, if you end up on the ground with a fighter who traditionally isn't great at fighting from his back, you're in for a big night.
While UFC 5 gets all the visuals right, there are still some in the gaming community who felt it didn't improve much on the last game. Even with the improved facial damage animations, slow-motion knockouts, and other tweaks, fans felt this was a retread of UFC 4 with a prettier face. I disagree as the Career mode is much more involved than before and there are notable improvements that make this a fighting simulation style game.
UFC 5 is made for dedicated combat sports fans, even as the UFC and MMA as a whole are firmly in the mainstream with heavy sports network coverage. It helps to come into this game with some knowledge of the sport and an openness to learning the intricacies of the game. If you can embrace the vast landscape of game modes, this title is worth picking up in spades.
Learn more about UFC 5 here.
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Photo: EA Sports