- Publisher: EA Sports
- Developer: EA Tiburon
- ESRB Rating: “T" For Teen
- Genre: Mixed Martial Arts Fighting
- Pros: Nice presentation; cool career; intuitive controls; FEDOR!; create-a-fighter; live broadcast
- Cons: Strikes lack impact; A.I. isn't much of a challenge; load times are occasionally longer than the fights
EA Sports MMA's one apparent weakness is that it doesn't pack the UFC license. It does have the Strikeforce license, which brings with it arguably the best fighter in the world in Fedor Emelianenko, and a large roster of independent fighters as well, including a lot of past (and a handful of current) UFC stars. Casual fans might not recognize a lot of the names, but longtime MMA fans shouldn't have a problem finding fighters they already know.
Of course, if your favorite fighter isn't included, you can create your own custom fighters or download fighters other people have made via the Fighter Share option.
The modes list includes a Fight Now mode for quick fights and local multiplayer, an MMA 101 training mode, and a career mode.
Online play is also a big draw, and EA Sports MMA handles it a bit differently from other games. There are single fights or you can build a full fight card with your friends to play through. The coolest feature is the live broadcast option, which lets other people watch your online fights either on their console or PC. The live broadcasts are hyped up like real PPV shows, and thousands of people can watch each fight, which is very cool. There are also live tournaments with prizes that will be constantly running as well.
EA
For single player, the career mode is pretty much what you'd expect. You start out at the bottom with a created fighter and work your way up through Bas Rutten's training school all the way to the Strikeforce main event. Between each fight you have 8 weeks of training you can do, with several areas you can work on to improve. A great feature is that once you complete a training exercise once, you can simulate it every time after with no penalty. This makes it so you can quickly move through career instead of having to constantly spend time in boring training. The load times are also nice and quick as you move through the career menus (although the pre and post fight load times are a bit longer), which means you can get through your 8 weeks of training and into the next fight fairly fast. The career overall is definitely fun and satisfying, and the fast pace you can take through training always keeps it interesting.
Gameplay
The real area of importance is in the gameplay, however, and EA Sports MMA more than delivers. The controls are amazingly intuitive, but perhaps a little more shallow than THQ's UFC games. In EAS MMA, the right stick controls strikes similar to the Fight Night boxing games. Different movements on the stick, and depending on your distance from your opponent, produces different types of punches. Holding the left trigger lets you throw kicks. The right trigger blocks. Pressing the A button while standing attempts a takedown, X helps your character avoid a takedown, and Y puts you into a clinch position.
It is a lot simpler than the UFC Undisputed-style of play on the ground, both for good and bad. It is much more accessible, but it also moves a bit too quickly and is too easy to change position. There isn't as much depth here overall as you'll find in Undisputed. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, because it simplifies and streamlines everything, but still gives you lots of options at any given moment without overwhelming you the way Undisputed's controls can.
A couple of other gameplay comments. The A.I. is kind of awful and predictable, and not that hard to beat. Human opponents are much more fun. Also, there are a lot more flash K.O.s and quick submissions in this game (and, hey, submissions actually work against the A.I., unlike Undisputed), which means the load times that bookend the fight can be longer than the fight itself.
EA
Graphically, EA Sports MMA is a nice looking game. The fighter models are crazy detailed and have great animation. The arenas also look very nice as well.
Sound
The sound is fantastic as well. The commentary from Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock does a good job of keeping up with the action and not repeating too often. One aspect the sound falters a bit on is sound effects for strikes. The game seriously lacks impact, and it is kind of disappointing to get a flash KO from a haymaker that sounds like a jab.
Bottom Line
In the end, EA Sports MMA is a great first step into mixed-martial-arts for EA. We're big fans of the Fight Night-style analog stick striking and the streamlined ground controls that aren't as overwhelming as you'll find in other MMA games. It doesn't quite have as much depth because of that, but it is a lot easier to play and learn. Great features like the live broadcasts for online fights, and smooth career mode are also definite highlights. EA Sports MMA doesn't quite have the star power of it's competitors, but it makes up for it with solid gameplay and features. If you are an MMA fan, it is definitely worth a look.
