Not the Ultimate Flower Convention

Getting punched in the face hurts. Getting punched in the face repeatedly hurts a lot. Having a 250-pound mound of muscle proceed to rip your arm out of its socket after the brutal beating you just received is probably something most of us (thankfully) only think about, but for the fighters of the Ultimate Fighting Championship it’s their reality. What do you do if you want to experience the thrill of breaking a man's nose without the years of training, dedication, and rehab?

UFC: Undisputed 2010, developed by Yukes (which also develops the WWE games) is the follow-up to last year’s hit UFC: Undisputed 2009. For those that haven't been following the latest sports, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is a mixed-martial arts (or MMA) league that has been growing in popularity for several years. Two men enter an octagonal ring surrounded by chain link fence and proceed to beat the living hell out of each other, using their fists, feet, and various submission moves. Each fight consists of three rounds (five if it's a championship fight) of five minutes each. A winner is decided by Knockout, Technical Knockout (TKO), Submission, Technical submission (in case of an injury), and judge’s decision. It's like boxing, if boxing is too girly for you and needed even more violence.

Of course it wouldn't be nearly as fun to beat up nameless, generic men with no context. That's why UFC: Undisputed 2010 includes most of the UFC names that have become synonymous with the sport over the last couple of years like Brock Lesner, Frank Mir, Georges St. Pierre and Tito Ortiz. New fighters included this year include Kimbo Slice, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Clay Guida and others. As for context, the career mode from 2009 has been redesigned with dynamic commentary that will mention training partners and title history, online fighting camps, and Title/Defense and Tournament modes. The Classic Fights mode from 2009 will now be called Ultimate Fights with different fight categories and new challenges for fights including a 'Rewriting History' challenge. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that probably involves changing the outcome of a match.

Please, just not the Face

Gameplay wise there are a variety of changes that have been implemented. The controls have been improved, with new mechanics for clinching and ground grappling. The cage itself can be used in fights, and a new mode called 'The Cage is Alive' will be available. There are no details on what this mode might be, so we'll just assume the Cage itself becomes a fighter and tries to eat you. Fighting styles that were not included in 2009 like Karate, Sambo and Greco-Roman Wrestling will join disciplines like boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The southpaw stance has been introduced and fighters like Anderson Silva who often switch stance mid-fight can do the same at the press of the button. New moves will be included with 15 submissions, 20 strikes and two clinches.

A new mechanic for 2010 is bobbing and swaying. A quick flick of the analog stick will move the upper body in one of four directions. Using this to dodge a punch will open a small window in which to counter-punch and deal extra damage.

Submissions have received some well-deserved updates. Parameters for escaping submissions have been tweaked to closely resemble how they occur in real life. Even more interesting is the ability to begin with one submission move and change into another if it isn't working out. You'll know that it is working as the camera will move closer and closer towards the fighters the closer a tap-out is.

Fight as you Like

UFC: Undisputed 2010 will also have deeper customization features. Created fighters from 2009 can be imported into 2010 and there will be new brands of clothing as well as post-fight attire. Another new addition for 2010 is the option of customized move sets. For example, in 2009 if a fighter used the Muay Thai style, they had no choice but to use the Muay Thai moveset. In 2010, created fighters can choose from over 200 moves to create their own style. This also applies to real-life fighters, so expect new moves for almost everyone. If that wasn't enough customization, the placement of tattoos on the fighter’s body and control over facial features and hair type has all been improved over last year’s iteration.

A cursory glance at the screenshots tells you that this game is very, very pretty. The way sweat forms and individual hairs stand make this one of the most realistic looking sports games to date. Presentation wise the career mode will progress through cinematic cut scenes. During weigh-ins players can disrespect (or respect) opponents, which will be remembered later on. The AI will take notice if you tend to attack one part of the body more than any other over several fights and future opponents will protect against those attacks. It's safe to assume that there will be the typical online fights, but any new features (so far) are unknown.

Thought it might be easy to look at all these changes and think that UFC: Undisputed 2009 was a bad game, it was easily the best MMA game released and critically/commercially well received. With a solid base and new tweaks that can only improve the game, UFC: Undisputed 2010 looks like a must-own for MMA fans and potentially one of the best sports games of the year.