UFC 3: Enter the ring

Unlike most contact sports, Ultimate Fighting Championship Mixed Martial Arts matches leave you white-knuckled with excitement. Watching two opponents duke it out for real in a no-holds-barred fight is savage. UFC exploded into the mainstream after the legendary Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz rematch, which was one of the most-awaited and talked-about events. Rather than the drama, it’s the savagery and strategy of the sport that is part of its allure, and the team behind the EA Sports UFC series has been trying hard to bring that experience into the hands of the gamers. With UFC 3, they just may have succeeded.

What’s it about?

Enter the Octagon, the unique fighting ring where all the UFC magic happens. You create your very own fighter in UFC 3’s new G.O.A.T career mode, which lets you fight up the ranks of contestants, earning money, fame and social-media love as you go. Yet, it gets more dangerous at the top, as people you’ve defeated come back to challenge you. Think of it as the Nemesis system that was the hallmark of Shadow of Mordor, except, instead of Orcs and Uruks, you have chiselled fighters taking you down. Sign more contracts, train, and fight in the Octagon, in a fun but grindy single-player mode.

UFC 3 is all about the fighting and somehow this new instalment of the game fully captures that savagery that makes the sport so good. EA Sports has somehow made this translate from sport to controller, making the game not only fun, but intimidating in a good way. The grind too does not get dull, as long as the game keeps throwing opponents at you and you keep climbing up the ladder.

How does it play?

UFC 3 is a one-on-one brawler, which is more like a simulation than a fighting game. The hero of the game is the control scheme, which is streamlined for speed, manoeuvrability and agility.The animations flow easily into one another and they never seem to get in the way. Reacting to feedback on the last UFC games, the team has overhauled the fighting system, making it more dynamic. Now, fighters realistically react to kicks and punches in certain areas, just like they would in matches. A combination of brutal physics and some incredible animation wizardry.

The player models are also sculpted to perfection, where no two players’ bodies look identical. All of them do not have chiselled abs and bulging muscles, and there is variation, with the real fighters being ‘correctly’ modelled. Each fighter has their signature flourishes as well as fighting styles, which have been nicely incorporated into the game. The incredible part is the psychological strategy the realistic fighting system brings into focus, as you have to realistically plan your feints, dodges and blocks to get closer to the enemy, to get a good series of shots in. Each opponent will require you to have your wits about you in a deadly balancing act with your stamina. Leave yourself too open and you’re liable to eat Octagon canvas before you know it.

UFC 3 does a fantastic job of bringing the glitz and glam to the sport, with the superb fight system. Where it fails is during the grappling parts which are confusing, with on-screen prompts that sometimes leave you befuddled as to what happened. Thankfully, there’s a mode called Knockout, with commentary by none other than Snoop Dogg himself, where you have to whittle away at your opponent’s health bar with a set number of strikes. There’s also a Stand and Bang mode, which is all standing and no on-the-ground gameplay. UFC 3 does also have a multi-player mode, where you can take the fight to your friends. Though at present, it’s a laggy affair.

One thing for certain is that UFC 3 is one of the best-looking games on the market, with incredible graphics, animation, style and sound design. The commentators tend to be annoying and never seem to catch up to your game. Despite that, UFC 3 is as addictive as it is visceral as an experience, especially with Knockout Mode.

Should you get it?

If you love MMA and all those nuances the sport represents, then EA Sports has made an incredible game with UFC 3. If you look through the bloody fight club glamour of the sport, at its core there is a solid fighting game in there.