UFC Undisputed 3 Review (Xbox 360)

I wasn’t sure what to expect of UFC Undisputed 3 at first, but was intrigued since the folks at THQ have been very open in trying to garner interest not just from the obvious market of UFC followers, but also from the general fighting game community that tends to favor the likes of Street Fighter or Tekken. There are no eighty hit juggle combos or obvious health meters here, as this is meant to be a fairly accurate sim of mixed martial arts combat. That’s not a bad thing though, as its complexity offers something really different from other 3D fighters.

Like other 3D fighting games, Undisputed 3 has you pick a character (most likely a real MMA fighter in this case, though you can create your own) and face off against an opponent in the steel ring. Your goal is to win via successful strikes, securing a submission hold, or carrying on a technically sound fight long enough to win via decision at the end of the time limit. Like an actual UFC bout, there is a lot of glitz and glamor around it as ’tale of the tape’ segments compare the fighters, ring girls march by between rounds, highlight reels are played, and so on. It adds some authenticity to the experience, though it eats up a lot of play time since it still has to be loaded even if you opt to skip it.

Fights are played in three distinct phases: standing, clinching, and ground combat. The standing portion tends to be a game of maneuvering and attacking certain parts of the opponent’s body until they expect you to continue that tactic, at which point you can attack a different part to get around their defense. Yet others don’t want to dance around the mat trading carefully spaced kicks and jabs, so they might opt to move in and grab (or clinch) their opponent; striking then continues at face-to-face range, but it can lead to the fight going to the floor. Ground fighting is easily the most dangerous part of the match, as the person on top is almost at liberty to rain down powerful punches to the head or go for a submission hold, either of which can quickly result in a win.

The controls are extremely detailed, allowing almost any technique you might have seen on a UFC broadcast. Each fighter has a pool of nearly universal moves, but also several ones only they and fellow students of their main fighting style use. You also get to control each limb, and these factors combine to give you controls where you may be pressing three or more buttons simultaneously to do certain attacks. A simple jab is done by pressing X or Y, but a lunging straight might require pointing the analog stick toward the opponent, then simultaneously hitting left bumper plus Y. Ground grappling requires wide analog stick motions as well to shift between positions, and several other controls come up too. The in-game tutorial helps with learning some of it, but there is so much to learn that you’ll be facing the prospect of spending several hours just to understand the basics.