The UFC Undisputed 2009 demo (to be released publicly sometime this week) only had the exhibition mode and a tutorial, so you will not able to try out the career mode or character creator. What I did play I found surprisingly deep. Though far too complex to totally detail here, the controls rely heavily on contextual inputs. As you move through different situations, the general inputs remain the same. The four limbs are perpetually mapped to the four face buttons; blocking is handled by the left trigger and bumper; the right stick handles grabs, throws, and counters; and holding the left trigger or bumper toggles power and certain techniques. The effects of the inputs changes with context. When in normal striking distance, A and B control normal kicks, but up close the kicks transition to knee jabs.
The controls definitely seemed daunting at first, but after going though the tutorial, they began to feel very fluid. In my first match I transitioned from striking to clinches and takedowns fairly easily. Generally, I was able to do what I wanted, and that says a lot for a game this complex. While the striking combat will feel familiar to anyone who has played Fight Night, the clinches and ground combat set this game apart. Clinches are a perpetual struggle with one player trying to get a knee to the head and the other trying to break free, while ground combat is a constant battle for position and advantage. In these tight situations, character stats play an important role. Stronger characters are much more able to change position in ground fighting. Similarly, a character’s style determines their move set, so while Muay Thai fighters in a clinch can go for whips and knee jabs, BJJ fighters don’t necessarily have those options.
The two characters available in the demo showcased a couple of the fighting styles. Chuck Liddell has kickboxing and wrestling technique and played well focusing on strength and ground work. Shogun Rua used Muay Thai and BJJ, but I never realy got a feel for how to play him. I won every fight I played while I used Lidell and lost all but one match with Rua on the controller. This might show the amount of practice it takes to get used to different fighter characteristics in UFC Undisputed 2009, or it might be because I’m inexperienced with the game. While I came away mostly positive, I did have a few gripes with the demo. The ground combat seemed pretty straightforward in the tutorial, but I had a hard time executing it during an actual match. I couldn’t seem to pull off major shifts or get the advantage on my opponent once I had lost it. This may be my lack of technical knowledge showing though. Counters also seemed fuzzy, even in the tutorial.
Generally, to counter a grab, throw, or submission attempt you have to make a timed flick to the right stick in the opposite direction your opponent does to pull off his move. This seemed like an interesting mechanic, but I was usually unable to predict my opponent’s moves based in his animations and ended up wildly trying to counter. Lastly, I KO’d the computer twice, and was surprised both times. Unlike Fight Night, the on screen characters don’t communicate their status well. The character models didn’t accrue noticeable bruises or blood and didn’t seem winded or slowed at any point. This was exacerbated since the default setting has no HUD during a fight. While stamina meters can be turned on, they make the match feel much more like a game than a fight. Overall, I came away positive. Before playing the demo, I didn’t expect much from the game, but now I’m kind of looking forward to it. I enjoyed Fight Night, and this seems to capture some of the same feel, even if it is not executed as well.
