Review: UFC 2009 Undisputed

The United Fighting Championship, or UFC, as the kids call it, has come a long way since its introduction in 1993. After being deemed as a spectacle of "human cock-fighting" by senators like John McCain, the sport went through a dark period in which many cable companies dropped it from their pay-per-view schedules, nearly killing off the UFC entirely. Plenty of crappy UFC-related video games have been released in the 16 years since the start of the sport as well. With UFC 2009 Undisputed, however, it seems that much like how many positive changes were made to the actual sport over time, the games have also improved.

One of the most apparent things about UFC 2009 Undisputed is the overall quality of the product. The graphics, animation, and sound all have this shine about them that makes it clear that the game went through several rounds of polishing before release. The rock soundtrack is appropriate, and anytime that the player isn't engrossed in a fight (IE: Menu perusing, character creation, etc.) cool little sound clips from UFC matches of the past play in the background, which is a nice touch that gets the player in a great mood to play more of the game. There are also over 80 playable UFC fighters in the game, taking fan service to a ridiculous level.

The fighting mechanics in UFC 2009 must have been quite a challenge for the developer (Yuke's Osaka), as there can be so many different types of techniques in any one UFC match that getting all the possibilities onto one controller seems impossible. Yuke's managed to do it, though, and do it well. Punching and kicking is regulated to the face buttons, and each type of attack can be altered in more than one way by the triggers. Combos are par for the course and much of the position manuevering mechanics while engaged in a ground battle are regulated to the right stick. The game gives players the chance to go through an extensive tutorial at the beginning of the game, and I can't reccommend it enough. Every new player should go through the tutorial at least once, and while it may be a bit of a bore in the short run, it'll pay off later.

You'll definitely be getting your money's worth by buying the game, as there are plenty of modes to fiddle with in UFC 2009. I actually had to load up the game before writing this part of the review just so I wouldn't forget any of the them. Exhibition lets you pit the full roster of fighters against each other, whether you're playing against a bot or doing some multiplayer, which, by the way, is AWESOME. Career is exactly what you would expect it to be, but can be surprisingly punishing if you don't have the ground game mastered. The "Classic Fights" mode is especially interesting. It puts you in the shoes of one fighter in a particularly interesting fight from the past. Each fight is introduced by a rundown on the details of the fight by an attractive host, and shows some interviews with each fighter that were taken prior to the fight itself. The goal is the recreate the events of the fight, which provides some unique objectives for the player. There is, of course, an online mode for those who love to beat up on the egos of children online, and a fully featured character creator rounds out the extensive lists of modes.

There aren't very many flaws with UFC 2009, but the few that are present are pretty bothersome. The biggest problem is loading times. There are loading screens around EVERY corner in the game, and even basic menu traversal is slow. It literally took me over an hour to create the character I wanted, and every time I entered career mode I had enough time to read a 7-page IGN.com review before the loading was done. I'm not sure if installing the game to the hard drive could solve the problem, but it's worth checking into, since it's totally annoying. The game also has several problems that are common to games like this, including really ugly crowds with lots of repeated character models, and a creepy dead-eye look in the eyes of all the characters.

There are a lot of good things to say about UFC 2009 Undisputed, and I feel like I've said most of them in this review. The visuals are great, the controls are incredibly well-done, and the game is both easy to pick up and satisfyingly deep. If you're a fan of either the UFC or just fighting games in general, this is one complete package that you won't regret picking up.

Players:1-2 players