EA Sports MMA review

Formats: PS3, XBox 360, iOS
Format reviewed: XBox 360
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA Tiburon
Made2Game EA Sports MMA review score: 7/10

All of the major fighting franchises have already been tied up in long contracts with THQ and Midway not leaving a lot left for the rest. EA Sports have gone with the best of what’s left and now presents EA Sports MMA but is it the left over dregs or can it stand up to a fair beating.

MMA is not just a fancy moniker to rival the WWE, UFC or TNA franchises, the Mixed Martial Arts element refers to the amount of styles allowed into the ring, with kick-boxing, judo, karate, wrestling and boxing  all required to defeat your opponent, it’s not a matter of jack of all, master of none as going into the ring with just one skill will have you submitting before you know it, and don’t be put off by the gloves, these are here to protect the wearer as the recipient will be bloody and battered at the end of the fight, making this one step shy of being a bare knuckle fighting game.

Having the style of fighting mixed allows for a large variety in this game, though there is only a few play modes, online, career and quick fight, each one offers plenty of choices to keep the game as fresh as possible. The fighters have been broken down into groups that are similar to boxing, with weight classes like heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight, with each fighter having their own style and speed. The variety also spreads to the rules and ring styles with the many leagues appearing, Strikeforce takes place in a hexagonal ring with three rounds of five minutes and very strict rules on ground attacks, Unified allows for a choice of rings, either hexagonal, circular or a boxing ring with more lenient rules on the ground attacks and Vale Tudo and Japanese fights are a lot longer and also more relaxed on the ground attacks.

The fights start like any other, two in each corner and you move in to fight, the right stick is your attack, with punches thrown to the upper area by waggling the stick in certain ways, to pull off kicks, hold the trigger button down and then your stick movements will become full on kicks to the face and body. With the left stick you are able to dodge and weave your way around the ring, trying to get in a good combo and hopefully knock them out. At any point in the fight you can get in real close for the Clinch, allowing for plenty of elbows and knees, jostling for position with the A and B buttons to either get them against the ropes or even better onto the floor where the fighting style changes again to Ground which is a kind of Greek Wrestling scrap, squirming around each other, trying to get a good position on top of the other to start dishing out the blows.

You can’t just run head strong into this though as you have a stamina bar that will fluctuate throughout the fight, depending on what you are doing, mash the buttons too much if you are pinned and you will tire you out, allowing your opponent to throw you around a bit more and get you in a submission hold, winning the fight. The career mode starts you off as a semi pro, working your way to the top.

After creating your character from the usual high quality customization tools you associate with EA Sports games you arrive at Bas Ruttens Dojo, who will teach you the basics, put you through your paces in plenty of training fights before making your way global and learning even more moves from other professionals and rise through the ranks of the leagues on offer.

Online is a little different, almost making you in charge of promotion as you can create your own Fight Card, where you select what fighters will be in for the night and plenty of impressive spectator modes and pre match trash talking to get everyone in the mood for a full on scrap.

As with many fighting games, the ability to play against opponents online requires tight controls and MMA does not disappoint with fights feeling like the player is sitting right next to you.

Being an EA Sports game, MMA's quality is of a high standard, with the game looking very similar to Fight Night and having impressive looking fighters and some realistic physics. The controls are also well tailored to this sort of fighting game.

EA Sports MMA is a good first entry into this style of fighting, those who have played Fight Night will feel very comfortable with the controls, and although the content is a little light when compared with other EA sports games, it's still a solid fighting game that is very enjoyable.

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