EA Sports UFC 5 Review – A Sustained Run

A target appears on your back when you’re a long-reigning champ. Candidates begin analyzing your past work, no longer being the mystery you were before. They want to know how to stop your reign. It is best to constantly improve and develop to keep up with any potential challengers. Developer EA Vancouver seems to understand this because while no legitimate contenders have emerged in the mixed-martial-arts genre, EA Sports UFC 5 retools several key areas to show the franchise isn’t resting on its laurels.

UFC 5 captures perfectly the excitement of entering the Octagon, just like its predecessors. The fast-paced fighting kept me on edge until the end of the game, despite the reduced pomp and ceremony (no more annoying pre-fight emoticons from the previous game). It’s great that licensed fighters act like real-world counterparts. This forces you to find new solutions to each fight. It’s a great game, especially in the striking battles. However, the glitched fighters, the unnatural limbs and the awful camera movement can be frustrating.

The simplified system relies heavily on momentum, so even seasoned UFC fighters will have to learn how to counter takedown attempts. The game will determine your victory based on factors such as stamina and fighter attributes. These grappling matches can result in some of the most natural looking scrambles we have ever seen. The annoying minigames of the previous UFC games are also gone.

The key to success is sticking with the game plan. In MMA even the most well-laid out plans can be thrown away in a blink. I entered a match with a kickboxer intending to knock him down, wear him out and then submit him. The fight changed when I was caught with a knee in the face during a takedown.

The Frostbite Engine, which was recently implemented, does a fantastic job at presenting the action. The scans of fighter models looks amazing. UFC 5’s intricate detail captures the surreal experience of standing across from Israel Adesanya, Max Holloway or other superstars. The visual gap between real and created fighters can be huge. In my case, the fighter I created looks as if he were pulled out of UFC 2.

UFC 5 marks the debut of a M-rated game, giving fighters more realistic injury. In the intense firefights, I enjoyed seeing more cuts and swelling. I found myself in. When things are too intense, doctors can intervene and decide if the fight is still worth continuing. It is rare that a doctor has to intervene. I have seen fighters die before the doctors could even step in.

This M-rating means that the in-game movies and trash talk are more realistic. The in-game music is a bit tiresome. While it’s nice to hear fighters talk like in the real world, I find the explicit lyrics to be grating.

Career Mode maintains the basic layout of the previous release. You can use a licensed or created fighter to work your way up the UFC ranks. The ultimate goal is to become the best of all-time by breaking certain UFC records. The game allows you to start off with a low stat archetype and then gradually develop that character over several years. Throwing a ton of hooks during fights or training helps you develop your hooks. Training with real fighters allows you to learn the moves they use.

The repetition of the same tasks becomes monotonous over time. The weeks prior to your match, you will become bored with sparring, solving the challenges and going through the menus. Even if you simulate the sparring to a large extent, it may not be as effective. The same social media trash talking and menu-based activity are carried out even outside the training. The mode doesn’t go nearly far enough to replicate the UFC’s personality-driven drama.

The weekly grind became tedious after 25 or so fights. There are a number of different modes that allow you to get right in the middle of things. Blitz allows you to compete in elimination tournaments with rapid fire. If you’d rather avoid the sometimes unstable online connections, you can keep the action offline by taking part in one-off fights with custom rulesets, creating your own events, or even playing curated fights based on real-world cards.

Unfortunately, there are some glaring mistakes in the roster. While all the stars are there, a few highly ranked contenders and several up-and-coming prospects aren’t included, while various fighters who are no longer with the UFC are. I like having legacy fighters available, and EA Vancouver has a proven track record of post-launch updates, but it’s disappointing to be missing so many at release.

EA Sports UFC 5 offers a thrilling MMA experience, regardless of what mode you play. The thrill of fighting your favorite UFC fighters never grows old. And the adrenaline rush you get from knocking out your opponent in an intense back-and forth battle is enough to make it difficult for you to say no.