UFC: Sudden Impact

"The most refined and best of the UFC games to date"

Having purchased and played every UFC game, from the DC, and across the ps2 and xbox, I can say with full resolve that this is the best UFC game to date. From a visual, to oral, to gameplay perspective, this game is extremely refined and enjoyable.

Graphics 9/10
The graphics are very similar to the past UFC games, as the jaggies are removed more and more with each rendition, and the graphics are refined. In addition to a plethora of new animations, this game finally offers not only more rings to fight in, but a much needed visual addition that adds a whole new layer of fun to the equation; that being real time damage. For the first time ever, and in realistic fashion, fighters develop cuts and bruises all over their body, that get worse with damage, and realistically bleed throughout the fight. In essence, this adds a new layer of fun to the game, as if you happen to say, hate Jeremy Horn, you can wear away his left side midsection with sidekicks until he is extremely bloody and bruised. As has been the norm since the DC games, the characters, animations, and flashy intro graphics (of which each fighter has their own "titantron type" fmv intro in the background) look outstanding.

Sound; 7/10
Not much has been added in this category, but what is there sounds good. The music, as in previous iterations, all sounds mildly familiar, with a heavy guitar sound that is similar from fighter to fighter. The game sound effects are great as ever though, with rough sounding punches and kicks, and a bevy of groans and moans. Noticeably also added here, are a number of screams and cries that show up during tapouts, that definitely add to the pleasure of breaking an opponents limb.

Gameplay; 10/10
While many sites have ripped this series for its lack of growth, I have always firmly disagreed in regards to the gameplay department. While the graphics have, despite weeding out jaggies over the iterations, basically remained the same outside of adding animations (and here we finally have real time damage), I have always found the changes in the gameplay to be dynamic, subtle, and extremely noticeable for fans of the sport, who intimately know the sport. In this version, everything is there, from side mounts, to back mounts, to beating the opponent against the cage, and the accompanying animations look outstanding. This game is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of the series, as it not only features these great additions, but also adds and refines many of the existing animations. Knockouts now look outstanding, as the opponents fall to the mat realistically, with the odd head bounce of past gone. As well, tapout look excruciatingly painful, as they should. The list of gameplay additions is significant, and that is only at the most subtle level. In terms of mere options, there is the usual arcade, champion road, legend mode, and a new story mode that while not outstanding, gives you access to a decent create a player (the best of the series), many different styles, and the ability to mix and match styles as your 3 year road to the UFC continues. This mode is simple to play, and a great addition to a game with an already robust and enjoyable single player mode. As well, the complaint of many previous UFC's seems to have been addressed here, as matches will in fact last longer than several seconds, as I find the norm here to be about two five minute rounds, with almost every match making it to the second round. Because of the many positions included in this game, you can now effectively "hold out" to the second round when you find yourself in a disadvantageous position where blocking or attempting to counter can backfire and result in disaster (i.e. when you are in a bad spot, with a power puncher on top).

Replayability;10/10
From the great body damage system, to the story mode, to the usually robust championship modes (with much better ai this time that fights to the characters skills), this game has an infinite amount of replayability, and is, as I said, the best, and most refined of the series. Should we see another UFC game, hopefully its reviews will come from fans of the sport who can appreciate the subtle intricacies and details, rather than mainstream magazines. For twenty dollars new, this game is a steal.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/04