UFC: Undisputed 3

Pre-ordered this as I much enjoyed the previous UFC title. Without doubt this is the best, most entertaining fighting game available.

THQ have made some fantastic adjustments and improvements to this game over the previous incarnations, with the result that this game is a highly polished and instantly playable strategy / fighter.

I have found that the fights on this are far more fluid, in both gameplay and graphical presentation, the controls are easier to master if played on amatuer set up,(the right stick in pressed up or down for ground transitions as opposed to the expert version which requires a lot more skil and timing) and the actual fights if played on a skill level above beginner are really quite exciting, requiring not only use of various techniques, but can and do often result in a judges decision meaning that all important takedown / takedown stuff, could mean the difference between wining and losing.

As ever the graphics are brilliant, really big and chunky, alot improved, your fighter will usually look like its been in a 'proper' fight by the end of the second round. I find the game feels a lot more real in terms of the actual fights, with each blow landing feeling like it should bloody hurt lol.

For me the biggest improvement is the ground game. I really disliked the 2010 version, but I have to say I am really impressed with this one. It's a lot easier to time your transition or transition counter / block as its alot clearer when your opponent is going to make an attempt, also the submission system is vastly improved and have to say I am in favour of the new 'chase game' which decides whether the submission sticks or not.

Theres also a hell of alot more to do in this years game. Far more fighters, more unlocks, literally hours and hours of gameplay to actually complete all the set tasks etc and the new ultimate fights mode is really challenging.

The career seems to be excellent, far better than last time around, although I havent really played enough of it yet to make a definitive comment, but so far I find it much improved, my only gripe being the create-a-fighter is still somewhat limited.

The sound and presentation is good, I guess some of the commentary is repepitive, but I cannot say I am really aware of it, as during the fights you will have to concentrate so hard to win, especially on the harder levels.

The tutorial system is easy to complete, although I did find it a tad confusing when the game is asking you to pull of a move, but not actually telling you you need to hold down the block button at the same time etc, it just tells you to move the right stick, but as a tutorial system it does the business and I found myself a much improved player from completing it.

I have not played online yet, so cannot comment on that, but I would expect it to be a tough experience if you dont know the controls and little nuances of the game, but I have found offline is brilliant and have not wanted to go online yet, as much prefer battering a friend :)

In conlusion, this as my title states, is the best fighting game available and I struggle to think of a game that I enjoy more right now.

It has the perfect blend of pick up and play and difficulty level, meaning anyone can jump in and have a quick enjoyable fight straight away, but it will take a load of time and practice to truely master it.

Buy it you wont regret it.

First things first, there are lengthy load times with UFC 3 and it's noticeable from the onset. Even after a moderate data install, load times are long. Customising fighters can take a while. There's also the slight problem of inadequate tutorial instructions. For me, there is very little insight into how to do the moves correctly. Sure, it shows what to press, but the technique isn't discussed. The range of moves (and there are many), are difficult at first. I went for the EA Sports MMA game last time round (it was dirt cheap), as the previous UFC installment received poor reviews in significant areas ie, Submissions were flawed etc. The transition has been a challenge. Grappling, clinching and submissions are utilised by R3 in this game - even sprawling, blocking, parrying and initiating the submission. Mastering R3 will become an art, but a rewarding one nonetheless. Is it too complicated you ask? Maybe.. but I'm sure the gamer sharks and professionals out there will love it.

The graphics are very good, neither has it crashed yet. I haven't tried the other modes in much length, but as of now, it's stable (career mode). Impressive for a brand new game imo. I can't remember the last time I bought a PS3 title for full price and it actually worked. Bravo THQ/UFC boffins. Other game makers - PLEASE TAKE NOTE. IT CAN BE DONE IF YOU TRY.

CAREER: In short, a very good mode. You can save up to 40 created careers at any time & individualise your style. Each special move can be 'levelled up' and there is variety when dealing with your training. You can either use a game-plan (increasing certain skills for one fight only) - or you can train normally (there's a great array of training games), to increase your stats overall. I win by knockout mainly as I have developed my left hand and standing game. When I do get beat it's usually by submission, because I haven't fully mastered R3. UFC ranking matches are very tough to win. I found opponents went for the body an awful lot and body blocking is difficult to do without leaving your chin exposed. Any kind of blocking opens you up for a takedown, so when I fought Cheick Kongo who had great combo's and good ground game, I got ruined first and then submitted. It's a tough game to master, but ultimately fun.

There is a downside to career mode though. There isn't a way to practice the training games. Some of them are hard to figure out, require some skill and need practice. The only practice you will get is during your career and it's not really enough. You only have two training sessions per fight, sometimes one, so it's imperative you do well to develop. The training games should have been made available in an 'extras' mode, so players could at least practice them to counter the complicated controls.

Online functions include downloading other users created fighters and rating them too - cool. Chuck Norris is there of course (isn't he always? :D) and I've got no doubt as the days pass, there will be hundreds of other cool characters too. Movie stars, Boxers, TV characters, forgotten legends.. you name it. You can enter competitions, have exhibitions, upload your highlights, share logos.. Pretty limitless really.

In summary, this is a really good (and hard) fighting game, with a nice beginner level for get up and go playability. It's one that will have a shelf life if you are an actual MMA fan. All the favourites are included from commentary, hot chicks, to most referees. It's as close to the action as you are going to get, without actually getting hurt. The complex controls will provide a long learning curve, however at least there is fun in the practice. The fight roster is definitely 'enough' and the inclusion of PRIDE was a master class. With many other modes to still try, including Mortal Kombat type ladder championships, I already know I will get my monies worth from this title.

YAY!

There's no 'smack talk' on it and that's a shame. I actually think it would be a good addition in future, to have the ability to create a bit of needle prior to fights. Online this would be hilarious (provided it was all good clean banter) and offline, could lead to all sorts of possibilities.

Yep.. I'm enjoying the experience and will be champion of the world soon. Well, as soon as I figure out how to grapple and defend properly. BOOM!... KNOCKOUT!

I had mixed feelings about this game when I heard it was coming out, I have both the 2009 and 2010 versions and while they were great games, 2010 in particular suffered from certain issues. These issues are already well known i.e. the stat degredation, impossible to pull off submissions, boring training modes between fights etc. I was really hoping the UFC 3 would fix these issues and thankfully they have!

As per my other reviews, here are the pros and cons:

Pros
1. The graphics have been touched up and this makes everything not only look better in general but the fighters look a lot more individual and recognisable instead of barely being identifiable as specific fighters.

2. The stances have been changed as well, each fighter is no longer a carbon copy of the one before, each fighter has their own stance and posture making it a lot more varied and realistic.

3. The stand up game has been drastically improved, instead of one strike the emphasis is now on combos, making intelligent use of light and heavy strikes. My personal favourites are left jab, right straight, left power uppercut and left jab, right straight, leg kick. This makes the standup battle a lot more fun and more tactical.

4. The strikes now actually have some meat behind them (and no, not Nick Diaz's face although there are similarities), each punch now feels like it would really hurt!

5. Stat degredation is gone, YAY! You can still end up decreasing stats if you focus on one area too much but this just promotes well rounded training.

6. The training itself is much more fun, instead of just adding points to the core attributes bar or doing sparring to increase your other attributes, there are a number of mini games that can upgrade several attributes at once, both offense and defense. E.g. the tire flipping exercise will increase strength, takedown offence and defense as well as top ground offense and defense etc. This way of training means it's easier to upgrade your fighter because you can look at different things simulataneously. It's also more fun than the basic sparring in Undisputed 2010.

7. The career mode is really very good indeed, the tutorials etc are done by Mike Goldberg which is a nice touch and he talks you through everything from training, learning new moves, sponsors and switching weight divisions.

8. Certain realistic touches have been added such as being able to train with different camps to learn new moves but eventually you need to choose one main camp and earn camp loyalty to unlock certain moves.

9. Cred is now much more important as it is used as currency to get new moves, train, buy extras like branded clothing from sponsors, upgrading attribute caps etc. This is a much better way of doing it than just reaching a certain cred limit and being prompted to upgrade, you can now choose what to spend your cred on.

10. You can now create your own banners and entrances which is fun.

11. If your name is common enough to be selectable from the predetermined list, Bruce Buffer will announce your entire name rather than just your nickname e.g. John "iceman" Smith rather than just "iceman". Unfortunately my last name was not on the list so I'm announced as Nick "Machine Gun" which is still ok.

12. Submissions are now actually possible to pull off on fighters above a certain level. Don't get me wrong, you still need to work for them but they are at least now possible instead of being defended with ease each time. The main upside of the submission improvements though is the fact that you can now defend them. In Undisputed 2010, if any fighter other than a very low ranked one got you in a submission, you had no hope in hell of getting out of it and would be submitted in seconds. This meant that above a certain level you didn't want to take the fight to the ground no matter how high your submission defense stats because you risked being submitted in a millisecond, even on full stamina. You can still get caught in UFC £ if you have low stamina or are drastically outmatched in terms of submission stats but at least it's fair now.

13. The "chase" mini game for the submissions is really good compared to the stick twirling version last time. You basically have to avoid having your bar covered by the opponent's bar to avoid a submission, this is actually quite exciting and panic inducing as you try to escape. Similarly to get a submission you have to chase down your opponent's bar. Overall a much better system than last time.

14. Learning new moves or upgrading them is now much easier. Previously it could take me two or three sessions to upgrade once, now you can do it in one session. It usually just comes down to performing the move three times against an unwilling opponent i.e. in a sparring session.

15. The new transitions are good, including more advanced clinch work against the cage and takedowns etc.

16. The addition of new submissions is really good, I haven't reached the manditory level of submission offense for some of them yet but some of the new techniques look great. In particular the sliding heel hook and jumping double scissors take down into a knee bar look brilliant fun!

17. The addition of Pride is absolute genius, I just can't explain how much fun it is to perform a head stomp to a downed opponent or a "soccer" kick (it's football yanks, deal with it).

18. I'm mainly focusing on the career mode at the moment but I've tried a couple of exhibition matches. I tried Lyoto Machida vs Forrest Griffin (me as Lyoto) and it turned into a right battle. Forrest trying to keep me at bay with leg kicks and long strikes as per Forret's reputation while I tried to catch him with unorthodox strikes. I ended up knocking him out with a one, two, uppercut combination that was just poetry in motion. This just goes to show that the existing roster fighters are done brilliantly, they're not just carbon copies with different move sets, they are each very individual and recognisable.

I'm sure there are other good points but I can't think of them at the moment!

Cons:

1. The sways are a bit difficult to pull off but that might just be me not having enough practice.

2. Some of the training games are tricky but again that will come with practice.

3. The loading times are quite long which can be annoying if you've switching between different menus e.g. if you're customising a fighter but there are usually text feeds at the bottom to read while you're waiting.

That's it! Three cons to a whopping 18 pros! My apologies for the very long review but I wanted to do the game justice. If you liked Undisputed 2009 and/or 2010 or you like mixed martial arts or fighting games in general then definitely give this game a go. It is the best and most complete fighting game out there, no question about it. THQ finished their three game deal with the UFC with a real send off!

GREAT GAME!