UFC 2009 Undisputed Preview

Until we actually saw it for ourselves, we always felt that there was a slight air of mystery surrounding Ultimate Fighting Championship. When UFC first started to gain traction in the UK a few years ago, there seemed to be a lot of chatter about it being "the most violent thing ever". That reputation may stem from the sport's relatively wild past - and from the occasional bout of media hysteria - but today the truth is that a UFC match is a tightly controlled event. There are referees, regulations, do's and don'ts. After all - if you're going to kick a man in the head, you better have a system to back you up.

If you're not familiar with UFC, then the Yuke's developed Undisputed may take a little while to understand. At first glance it looks a bit like a wrestling game, perhaps another title from that other THQ franchise, WWE. Then when you first start to play, there are certain similarities to boxing games like Fight Night and Prizefighter: your ability to aim punches and kicks at different height levels, and the importance of your most powerful attacks. Both of these comparisons hold some weight, but the longer you spend with Undisputed the more it feels like something new altogether - a fighting game where the upper hand can shift at a moment's notice.

Regardless of your exposure to UFC, you're also bound to notice the fact that Undisputed uses large and highly-detailed character models. Unless you dive into the options screen and fiddle with the options, there's nothing in the way of on-screen indicators - so everything is focused on the fighters themselves, the slick way they move about and the brutal feeling as fists and knees connect with faces. Make no mistake - for all the regulations and control, UFC is still a remarkably brutal pastime. In theory a match can be decided by judges at the end of three (or sometimes five) five-minute rounds, but in this game you'll inevitably win by trapping your opponent in a submission hold, or by knocking them clean out cold. In the latter case, there's something very pleasing about the way a fighter suddenly collapses, a bloody mouth guard slipping from their blubbering jaws. The animations for these knock-downs appear to be scripted,rather than being the organic result of in-game physics - but they're extremely satisfying, nonetheless.

In gameplay terms, these different victory conditions mean you might be taking a pummelling from your rival, but then suddenly deliver a kick to his head that sends him staggering back. Or perhaps you'll have an opponent pinned beneath you, but then he'll swiftly grab your fist and force you into a painful arm lock. A fight might be a long and drawn-out slug-fest, or it might end in seconds. It's all down to your skills, your tactics - and above all else, your ability to react.

The Mixed Martial Art fighters of UFC have a range of backgrounds, but each character is classified as being specialised in two styles from a list that includes boxing, kick-boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian Jujitsu. Some guys will be better at standard face-to-face smacking, others will fare better when they're twisting the other bloke into a fleshy knot. Either way, you're going to have to learn the controls for both situations.

Basic punches and kicks are delivered via a setup that isn't a million miles away from 'Tekken meets a boxing sim.' Two face buttons govern your left and right fists, two more govern your feet and the shoulder buttons modify the height of your attacks. The actual nature of the punch or kick delivered is automatically calculated by the game - so hitting the same button will create a different attack depending on where you are in relation to your opponent, and various other factors. This may sound like a cop-out to the odd hardcore gamer, but in truth it frees you up from having to consider yet another variable in a game where making a mistake can have severe (and painful) consequences. It also seems to help character models to connect properly - there's little of the "punching into air" issue that can often blight close-combat sims.

At any rate, most seasoned gamers will find Undisputed's upright combat to be fairly easy to pick up. The strength of your attacks is linked to a stamina bar that depletes and refills as you throw out punches, but under the default setup it's not shown on screen - in other words, you don't really need it. For boxing and kick-boxing, timing and angle of attack are the important things to nail. That sounds easy enough, but things get a bit more complicated when you start dealing with grappling and UFC's custom-built transition system.

In its simplest form, grappling might simply involve a standing clinch: one fighter grabs the other and hammers him from close-up, using the face buttons. Then you have takedowns, initiated via a combination of the left trigger and the right analogue stick: one fighter rushes an opponent and attempts to knock them to the floor in a risky manoeuvre that can easily backfire, if mistimed. Regardless of who gains the upper hand, sooner or later both fighters will be locked around each other on the floor - usually in a shape that resembles the world's most painful game of Twister. There are many different positions you can wind up in, but in each there's an attacker and a defender. If you've got the upper hand, the idea is to use the right stick to quickly perform a transition - a move that shifts your opponent into a better position, so that you can bend back bits of him the wrong way (or do something else equally cheerful).

Transitions come in two flavours - minor and major - but both are performed through repeated actions on the right stick: either a quarter circle movement, or something more like a third-of-a-circle movement. The precise nature of where the movement starts and ends goes hand-in-hand with where your fighter starts on the screen, and where they'll move to: if you're kneeling over an opponent's chest, a quarter-circle from down to left will result in you shifting to one side and bending your opponent's arm. Your opponent may then try to break out of this move or reverse it with a different command, or they may panic and start mashing the pad (hey, it seems to work sometimes).

Don't worry too much if this sounds very complicated; the transition system takes a bit of getting used to, but it seems like it'll get easier with practice. A single extended hands-on session wasn't nearly enough time to master the controls, but some things are immediately apparent: it's a very bad thing if someone is kneeling over your chest and punching you in the head, but you can punch them back, or click the analogue sticks in to grab and reverse an incoming fist. There are literally dozens of positions and options to learn, but with any luck Yuke's will include some form of decent tutorial - it seems like an essential move, at this point.

Intimidating complexity aside, it seems as though the developers have succeeded in producing the thinking man's battler. It's nice to see a fighting game that isn't afraid to offer a lot of tactical options, and the fluid back-and-forth of the combat seems incredibly fresh when compared to the static exchanging of blows that accounts for so many beat-em-ups. Then there's the attention to detail - in the arenas, in the fighters themselves, and particularly in the injuries. Repeatedly knee someone on the stomach, and it'll go pink; smash them in the face and their flesh will swell, bruise and cut open. It all looks extremely painful, and it significantly ups the brutality factor.

Undisputed will feature over 80 licensed fighters, split over five weight divisions. In another demonstration of commitment to detail, some of these characters will be able to fight one rank above or below their specified class, just as they do in real life. Touches like these will please long-term fans, but THQ is no doubt hoping to attract a decent swathe of newcomers to the franchise. Undisputed certainly has the looks to impress, but it also seems to have a surprising level of depth too. If this combo lives up to its potential, THQ may just get its wish.

UFC Undisputed is scheduled release in the spring for Xbox 360 and PS3.