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EA SPORTS MMA XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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EA Sports
MMA makes a solid entry into the world of mixed
martial arts. And it's good enough to be a
contender for the UFC Undisputed series. Between
the two titles, EA Sports MMA has a very
different fighting style in that it attracts
more of the "casual" crowd for its arcadish
gameplay. The game makes good impression thanks
to responsive controls that run along the
mechanics of Fight Night Round 4. You throw
punches with the right stick while the shoulder
buttons take care of blocks, kicks, and varying
heights of attacks. Face buttons are used for
ground position changes, take downs, clinches,
and sprawls. However, should you become
frustrated with the default schematics, you can
switch to the "classic" control setup.
The action in the ring is fast-paced. The match
could end literary in first round! Everything
works well the way fighters move - that includes
punching, kicking, takedowns, and submissions.
Surprisingly, submissions are less straining
than UFC Undisputed's. It's not how fast you can
rotate your right stick, but how accurately you
lock onto the vibration to escape or make the
opponent tap out. Blocking, on the other hand,
is quite ridiculous. Our character has fallen on
his face too many times even though we clearly
have our hands up against incoming shots. This
puts us in a situation prone to vicious attacks!
We found out that bobbing and weaving were the
only effective defensive mechanism to weather
any type of assaults. |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 7.7 OUT OF 10 |
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If you can't
afford Xbox Live - considering the economic
downturn - the career mode offers the most bang
for your buck. When you start your career, you
are given one of nine specializations to choose
from. Each specialty has its own strength and
weaknesses. For instance, if you choose
wrestling, you'll have a lot of force in your
tackling ability, but don't have great standup
game. The same can be said about if you choose
Judo, you're better off the ground than on your
feet. After a few training sessions, you become
pro. Once you turn pro, you need to decide which
league you want to start your career in. You
have six different leagues and Strikeforce is
where the most licensed fighters participate.
The dragging part about it is that you are
forced to spend eight weeks of training in
between fights. Thankfully, the challenges that
come with training only takes about a minute to
complete. Unlike UFC Undisputed, your stats go
up in short amount of time and never get
depleted throughout your career. The best part
of training is that you can simulate exercises
based on your highest grade, meaning if you
receive an A- on your last workout, all you have
to do is tap the button for the same exercise
and you'll automatically that grade, thus
skipping the actual workout. The level of
customization in EA Sports MMA is pretty
disappointing; there is no advanced tweaking on
the physical properties of the face. If you
don't have an Xbox 360 camera, you are going to
be limited to the 50 templates to invent a head.
The same can be said about hairstyles, tatoos,
skin tones, skin tones, and eye colors. These
items are also in limited selection. On top of
that, putting together various attires for your
fighter is rather boring, especially scrolling
through nearly 200 parts of designs. In the
sound department, the game does a good job
putting power behind strikes and takedowns. It's
also nice to hear grungy music plays as your
fighter enters the arena. But
don't expect anything dynamic with the
broadcasting portion. The commentators are
pretty repetitious in calling the action.
Despite having loose ends in the game, EA
Sports MMA has a very strong potential to grow
in the same league as UFC Undisputed. Character
animation is solid, controls are responsive, and
the action is a white-knuckle ride if you catch our
drift! The best part about it is how easy to
pick it up and play. It's definitely geared
towards the casual crowd. UFC Undisputed maybe
better in the delivery of the MMA experience
with all its heavy licensing, but EA Sports MMA
certainly doesn't disappoint. |
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