UFC Undisputed 2010 Preview Coverage

THQ recently invited TotallyGN to take a look at their upcoming MMA title, UFC Undisputed 2010.  While the 2009 version of this title did amazingly well for THQ, they have improved quite a bit for this year’s version.  Starting things off is the Create A Fighter mode.  In the 2010 version all 100+ roster fighters have received the photo realistic treatment as opposed to only a few in the 2009 version.  This year you will also be able to assign nicknames to your fighter that will be called out by Buffer and Mike Goldberg.  One caveat to this is that you have to pick a nickname from the template.  You can enter your own name if you would like, however, it won’t be verbally said.  There are approximately 50 nicknames to choose from so you should be able to find one that you like.  Overall, one of the themes of the “create a fighter” mode this year is more options for the player.  When creating your fighter you will have more control over what he looks like from the body type to the hair color and more.  Another example of this would be the facial construction where you can make sure your fighter is just how you want him all the way down to being able to put fades in your fighter’s eyebrows as well as deciding on the sideburns that your fighter may or may not have.  Once you are done creating your fighter you can even pick some of your animations such as the touch glove sequence, fighter call when Buffer introduces you, your victory celebration and more.  You can basically apply what move you want to what controller input you want as you choose what taunt you want your fighter to have.  Keeping with the theme of customization the tattoo and sponsor placement has also been upgraded this year.  In the 2009 version there were static slots to place a tattoo and/or a sponsor logo, however, in the 2010 version it is much more dynamic.  The system this year is basically “drag and drop” where you can put the tattoo/sponsor logo anywhere you want as well as making it as big or as small as you want.  You can even layer tattoos to try and see if you can come up with cool looking design. 

Another feature that has received an upgrade is the fighting style component.  You have a lot more of a selection this year from being able to pick your fighter’s stance to being able to pick different moves from various forms of disciplines.  You can choose whether your fighter is right or left handed and things of that nature.  When it comes to the actual moves that your fighter will have it is based on points and different levels.  How many points a move will cost will depend on the level.  Obviously if you want to purchase a level three maneuver that is going to cost more than if you wanted a level one move.  There is a yellow checkbox that will come up as well so that you know which moves you already have.  Additionally, there is a small window to the right where you get to see what a move looks like before you purchase it.  You can go back and forth between the disciplines as you are doing this so if you want to you can get some moves from karate, muay thai, wrestling and whatever else you want.  If you are the type of person that doesn’t like to go into that much detail there are also base templates that you can choose to start out from.

A number of changes were also made to the career mode.  In the 2009 version you were immediately thrown into the UFC, however, this year that is not the case.  You have to prove that you belong in the UFC and you do that by starting out fighting in the amateurs and then moving up to fighting in the WFA which is basically the equivalent of a minor league.  Once you win a few fights then, hopefully, someone takes notice and you might get invited up to the UFC.  One really cool aspect though is that once you are in the UFC it doesn’t mean you will stay in the UFC.  If you aren’t fighting well and you keep losing it is very possible that you will get sent back down to the minors to work on your fighting skills.  The training aspect works a lot like it did last year with the calendar system.  However, one change that THQ made is that stats will decay.  What this essentially means is that if are ignoring something then your stats and skill level will start to go down.  It essentially mirrors real life in this aspect.  UFC fighters have to continuously work on their skills to get better and if they ignore a skill set then they won’t be very good at it.  There are certain thresholds though where once you reach a certain point your stats won’t dip below it.  You also do age in the game so as your career progresses it might become harder to keep certain stats up then it was at the beginning of your career when you were younger. 

Fight camps are also back this year and this is how you pick up a lot of your moves.  Most of the top tier fight camps that the UFC utilizes will be in the 2010 version of the game.  There is also a new feature called the Game plan.  Essentially what this is, is that you can prepare for a specific fighter with an upcoming game plan so you only really need to train the skills you will need for that one fighter.  If you are going up against someone with a strong ground game you set a game plan to focus on that area and get a bonus for that one fight.  However you will lose a week on the calendar so be sure to plan accordingly.  There is also the possibility of changing weight classes this year.  If you are dominating the class that you are in then you might get the opportunity to move up.

There is a lot more presentation in this year’s version as well.  An example of that is the pre-fight weigh in where fighters get weighed and then do a fighting pose just like in real life.  This is also an opportunity where you get to choose whether you want to respect your opponent or disrespect him.  Your choices will have consequences and your career could take a slightly different path depending on what you choose to do. 

UFC Undisupte 2010 so far is looking great and it should be fun to see how the final product looks.  There is much more to this title so be sure to check out the video below for some of the gameplay improvements and look out for UFC Undisputed 2010 when it hits store shelves on May 25^th.

**Please Note: The video below was taken using a digital camera, not a video camera.  With that being the case the video isn’t the best quality, however, it will give you an idea of some of the improvements that have been made.  The game looks much better, graphically speaking, then is shown in this video.  Please keep this in mind.