Tapping out never felt so good.
The Pitch: UFC Undisputed returns with its newest installment, bringing with it a bigger roster of fighters, new modes, weight classes and vast improvements to the combat system. By all accounts this is the slickest way you can pull an opponent to the mat and make him say uncle without catching ringworm.
What It Really Is: It really is the best iteration of MMA we’ve ever seen on a console. Tweaks to the fighting systems have been made that streamline the combat, addressing the overly complex controls of Undisputed 2 with visual cues, smoother transitions and the newly implemented amateur control setting that makes the game accessible to newcomers and grandmas without forcing veterans of the series to feel like they’re taking a step backwards. Longtime fans of UFC will also be pleased to see the inclusion of the bygone Pride FC fighters and rules that turn the in-game matches on their head with an extra-long ten-minute first round followed by two five minute rounds, complete with face kicking. If there’s anything more satisfying in a fight than a virtual ref pulling you off the opponent you’re pummeling for a TKO, we haven’t found it.
Maxim.com Ready-Made Press Blurb: “Forget fitting a square peg into a round hole, Undisputed 3 fits two fighters into an octagon and leaves them the best kind of bloody.” – Maxim.com
Fun Fact: THQ ran a poll so fans could choose the fighter on the cover of Undisputed 3, which is why Anderson Silva is front and center with his foot firmly planted in some dude’s ass.
Who’s It For: UFC’s legion of rabid, devoted fans will be very pleased with where THQ has taken the series and anyone who is sick of the unrealistic combat of big fighting games like Soul Calibur or the myriad of Street Fighters out there, will want to take Undisputed 3’s hyper-realistic gameplay out for a spin.