Pride FC

"Much safer than REAL fighting."

I would like to open this review by saying that Pride FC is not a game for everyone. You have to be a fan of Mixed Martial Arts to even begin to get into it, and you have to really appreciate the little things that make the game unique. At a glance, Pride FC looks sloppily thrown together, poorly executed and ill advised. In spite of this, the game can be addictive and terribly fun.

Pride does look really great. The fighters, for the most part, resemble their real life counterparts. The ring looks good, the spectators even look good. While there isn't anything terribly remarkable about the visuals (no CGI or anything) but it does have some great visual polish. Before each fight you have the option of watching each fighter's highlight reel and a nifty little ring entrance complete with music, fireworks and the announcer calling the fighter's name. There are a few issues with the positions and submission holds. Some of them just don't look right. It's as though the programmers watched Pride and did the best they can to reproduce the techniques, but you can tell that if a human being did the hold that way it wouldn't really hurt.

The fighting in the game is alot of fun, and you can tell the developers tried very hard to make this game as similar to a real MMA fight as possible. While there are limited modes, it is nonetheless fun to try the grand prix and survival mode again and again. During the fight you can punch and kick, take the opponent down, ground and pound, grapple and execute submission holds. There is alot to be done! As fighters become fatigued, the life bar turns red and it is easier for the opponent to successfully lock on a submission. The major issues in the fighting are as follows: some fighters have strikes that are just stupid; I've never seen such slow, loopy punches or kicks in an MMA fight. They are added to make it harder to KO or stun your opponent very quickly without entirely giving up this feature. Another major flaw is that there are some submission holds which can be executed from completely wrong positions. Never have I ever seen someone who is mounted successfully perform a guillotine choke, nonetheless it is in the game. Additionally, there is no half-guard, no side control and no knee-on-belly/chest position. Finally, the AI can tap you out relatively easily most of the time and you are rarely given an opportunity to defend the hold. Your best bet is to GnP them as much as possible so they don't get the opportunity.

In spite of the weaknesses in the game, it is still hella fun. One of the major strengths of the game is the create a fighter mode, which allows the player to create his own characters. I have created myself, friends and downright wacky characters in this mode. I almost always play as my created characters. You get to control their move set entirely, you can assign them attributes to your liking, and you can even choose their wardrobe, entrance, stances, victory celebration and more. It's alot of fun to create new fighters and tweak them over and over.

The sound in Pride FC is great - the announcer's voices, the crunch of a fist on a jaw, etc. I think the sounds during the submissions are a bit off, when a submission is locked on correctly it makes a nasty bone cracking sound, even if it is a choke. I've never heard a cracking sound like that while grappling!

Overall, while Pride FC is not a great, deep game nor does it entirely capture an accurate depiction of what MMA is like, it's still alot of fun. You can easily just play with the create a fighter mode, then have him fight a bit and tweak him till you make a great fighter out of him. I think a more intricate grappling system would have made this game alot better, but nonetheless I can play it for hours. In spite of its flaws, it somehow manages to remain a completely worthwhile gameplay experience.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/19/05