After a lengthy two years, EA has finally released EA UFC 3, on February 2nd 2018, which had some pretty large shoes to fill. Even with all of the new additions to the game, EA UFC 3 still has some setbacks and some really nice upgrades too.
So far between 2017 and 2018, the return of fighting games has been ramped up. From Injustice 2 to Dragon Ball fighterZ, it only fit that EA UFC 3 would be among the games that begged to be tried. Since I wasn’t expecting too much from the game, I was pleasantly surprised with the character animations, overall graphics and fight mechanics.
From the beginning, players are thrown in to the game as Conor McGregor and learn everything they need to know. From here is standard customization of characters and the choice to fight or go in to story mode and work your way up to becoming the G.O.A.T.
The strength of the UFC games has always been the strikes. This game improves by making your ability to move about the octagon as you search for the perfect moment to land a hay maker. Separation of the two joysticks, is a vast improvement as one now controls your movements while the other controls dodges and faints. Action slows down when the fighters move to the mat. Basically, the fighting game becomes a quick event as you try to either strike on the ground or remove yourself from a hold. There has not been any improvement from previous UFC games in this area, but the rest of the game make up for it.
Overall the fighters look fairly realistic and this is something I am a stickler on. I like the feeling of almost watching a real event. From the details on tattoo work, and muscle build, the fighters look great. However, something seems to be missing. In an odd way, there seems to be some work left undone. Faces appear almost cartoony and not connecting well with the overall image. The scenery and background really got my attention though. If the focus was more on the fighters than the backgrounds and its spectators, I may have been happier with the graphics.
When I first got in the game, I struggled. Most people can laugh now. The reason for this struggle is what normally happens to me, I get overwhelmed with the never ending options of combo moves in order to fight. This isn’t the same as button mashing on a game such as Super Mario Bros, it takes a lot more focus to damage to your opponent. There are multiple meters to each player which focus on specific areas to be hit, then on top of that, there are small quick time events when you finally get on the mat. Luckily, during the fights, I didn’t have to stop and look for controls. The hints simply pop-up and offer advice which is equally difficult to acknowledge when getting kicked in the face. All of this combined however, the game is still playable. Controls were not so bad that I would want to give up and never play again.
So, if I can play this game, anyone else that may struggle with a lot of information all at once can also play. There just may be an adjustment phase before really getting in to story mode. I think players should get in on UFC 3 and give it a shot. The animations and story mode are part of what makes it great and I think the improvements on the mechanics will also make for overall better game play experience.
EA UFC 3 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One
