Developer: Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rating Guide: How I Review Games
Combo: iPhone/iPod Touch video review included

Review:

I’m a big fan of mixed martial arts (MMA).  I was really skeptical of this venture from EA Sports because of how little of today’s top fighters they could ultimately have in the game.  Does it really matter that Brock Lesnar or George St. Pierre aren’t in the game?  Who needs Koscheck anyway right?  Can the Strikeforce roster do more in a game than it can in the real world against UFC? 

That was the big question surrounding EA Sports MMA.  Could the likes of Fedor and Randy Couture make good on EA’s promise to deliver a quality MMA title to combat the hold UFC has?  Let’s find out in the first combo review here on Unscripted 360!

Gameplay, Graphics and Sound

EA Sports MMA is probably the best first-crack-at-it fighting game from any company since well that other MMA game’s debut.  Everything THQ did right in UFC Undisputed, EA Sports matched with this game and in some areas outperformed.  The controls of the game are one of the areas that Tiburon managed to do pretty damn good.  For all of the complication involved in MMA, the controls managed to simplify things for you.  They’re still a challenge to master but they’re much more forgiving compared to the UFC game.  EA Sports MMA uses much of the same basics it has in other games like Fight Night so it allows you a lot of familiarity.

I found it much more fluid trying to pass someone’s guard or to pull of transitions from half to full mount.  Submissions were also better performed.  Despite the number of combinations, the game made it less of a challenge to do what you wanted to do at the appropriate time.  One of the keys to a successful fight is being able to do the move you want and I didn’t run into too much of a problem here.  What I would have like though is to somehow incoporate a slow motion type of effect when I put an unforgiveable guillotine choke on somebody.  Maybe next time?

You likely won’t recognize many of the fighters if you’re not a real hardcore mixed martial arts fan but those fighters you do recognize are just like their real world counterparts.  Fedor, Couture, Henderson and a few others will likely be your mainstays when it comes to fighting.  For the most part, EA did a great job and getting the small details of how each fighter fights in the cage or ring.  Once you get a good grasp on the controls, you’ll be doing some effective ground and pound with Fedor or wrestling with Dan Henderson.

Visually EA Sports MMA is rock solid.  I actually expected nothing less when you look at how beautiful the Fight Night series has become and how much improved each of EA Sports’ games have been in recent years in terms of overall graphics.  The fighters and arenas look incredible.  The sounds of the game are also well done especially when you have Bas Rutten involved.  I’ve always been a fan of Rutten so having him do some commentary was great.  Randy Couture sounded pretty bland but Rutten was aces.

The career mode in MMA wasn’t the most engaging career campaign but it was rather enjoyable especially when using the Photo GameFace to sculpt a fighter.  I was afraid that EA Sports’ first MMA offering would cut some corners but they didn’t and I’m happy about that.  Playing a game like this you can’t help but want to shape your own champion and you have the ability to do that.  You can train, alter and set up matches on your way to a title run.  And because of the international flavor of the fighters, you can pretty much travel the world during your career.  It’s indeed interesting to learn the different fighting styles within MMA.

The activities they have the fighters do could have been expanded upon but for a first time out, it was deep enough. 

Conclusion

If you like MMA, then you’ll definitely find something to love about EA Sports MMA.  I have to be honest and say that even without the UFC fighters that I love watching, I had fun with the game….a lot of fun.  I’m not a big fan of Fedor but it was awesome putting a beat down on Couture with him.

What it came down to for me was whether or not the game was a competent fighter and it was.  There were some things that EA Sports could’ve done better but hopefully with EA Sports MMA 2 those will be addressed.

(Combo) Bonus Review with Gaming After Five

Electronic Arts is definitely putting all of its eggs in the mobile gaming basket.  EA Mobile has launched a wide selection of its titles from their console counterpart.  EA Sports MMA on the iPod Touch 4G feels really good.