UFC Tapout 2 Review (Xbox)

Good, But Not Great

I have some complaints, though. First off, I am not crazy about the lack of control you have. Different positions produce new punches and kicks, but I would much rather be able to throw any punch or kick I wanted. Also, I think the ground aspect of the game is severely over powered and over utilized. In the game, if it goes to the ground the match is pretty much over. We all know that isn’t how it is in the real UFC. On the ground, particularly when on the bottom, you basically just have to mash buttons and hope you don’t get caught in a submission, which isn’t all that fun. You have a definite lack on control on the bottom, which is disappointing. The gameplay is decent, but not as good as it could have been. Another issue is that the load times will kill you after a while. When fights can last as little as ten seconds, to have the load times take a minute between every fight it really wears on you after a while.

The Future of UFC Games

I would love to see Fight Night Round 3 style controls in future games where we could control pretty much everything. Standing up, punches would be pretty much the same but you could also hold a shoulder button and work the stick to use different kicks. On the ground, each sick could control a different hand and working from the bottom wouldn’t just be a matter of trying to survive but actually blocking punches and pinning arms and getting into different postions so you have a chance of escaping. Going to the ground shouldn’t be the end of the world and with a few tweaks it would be a lot better than any current MMA games. Submissions need to be changed as well. It needs to be harder to put on a submission, which is where enhanced ground controls would really shine. Catching an arm, bucking your body and trying to turn it into an armbar would be awesome because your opponent would have just as much control and freedom to try and work out of it. With the right control scheme, the possibilities would be endless.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, UFC Tapout 2 actually looks really good. The fighters are fairly detailed and actually look like their real life counterparts and the octagon and surrounding arena are sharp and nice looking. The animation for the handful of moves you can do also looks really nice.

The sound is also pretty good. The meaty thuds of punches and kicks landing never seem to get old. I’m also pleased to say that a lot of the music in the game is the same stuff they use at every UFC event even today which helps the game to not feel too old and out of date. My only complaint is that the music at the mode select menu is horrible. It would have been cool back on the SNES, maybe, but it is incredibly outdated here.

Bottom Line

If you are a UFC fan, Tapout 2 is a fairly decent representation of the sport. You have a fairly decent moveset to play around with and the same tactics you see on TV apply here as well. There are a lot of little details not available here that will bug you, however. Things like really working on leg kicks won’t have any affect on your opponent other than draining their lifebar. It doesn’t change how they fight at all and that robs you of one of the layers of strategy that should have been implemented. Tapout 2 captures the basics of MMA, but not the real nitty gritty details that fans will appreciate and that is where it ultimately fails. Give it a rental or buy it for cheap, but don’t expect the world out of it. We can only hope that someone picks up the license soon and produces a next-gen fighter worthy of the UFC name.