UFC 2009 Undisputed (literally)

UFC 2009 Undisputed knocking out the competition

Talk about coming out of nowhere. UFC 2009 Undisputed surprised everyone when a demo was released in late April for Xbox Live and PSN. Here was a game with virtually no hype at all, not a lot of media available at the time, and fans of the sport worrying that this might be a sloppy cash-in on the UFC license by THQ. How wrong we were! The first week out, the demo opened at number 7 on Major Nelson's Top 10 Live titles for the week. It peaked at number 5, right behind Gears of War 2. As of the end of May, the demo is still holding its own in 6th place. This level of hype and word-of-mouth surrounding a demo is virtually unprecedented, especially going on a month and half after release.

The attention was not unwarranted. THQ had quietly crafted the best MMA game and one of the best fighting games in years right under our noses. In 2007, THQ acquired the UFC license which had gone without a game since 2004's UFC: Sudden Impact. Yukes, with their history of working with THQ dating back to 2000's WWF Smackdown!, was given the opportunity to bring the first UFC game to next-gen consoles. Over the next two years, Yukes would develop four wrestling games, each generally well received, though none of them prepared us for the leap in quality that came with UFC 2009 Undisputed.

Previous UFC titles and MMA games alike have been known for their clunky controls, stiff animations, clipping problems, and no proper AAA treatment to fans' dismay - until now. Undisputed was built from the ground up with a brand new physics-based engine that takes into account weight distribution , timing, angle, velocity and mass. There is virtually no clipping to be had between fighters, even when jockeying for any number of ground positions. Animation is silky smooth and moves between hundreds of punches, kicks, slams, and ground transitions without ever looking too robotic. Controlling your fighter is daunting at first, as no button or stick on your controller goes unused. A 45 minute tutorial is included to get you started on your way to making use of all of your abilities.

Having a solid foundation to build the game upon was the first thing Yukes needed to get right and they did it in flying colors. With the core of the game created, they piled on features - over 80 UFC fighters, historic fights with classic footage (which also appeared in Yukes WWE Legends of Wrestlemania), career mode, six fighting styles, TV-style presentation and announcing, and great, if not flawed, online play. Quite an accomplishment to pull this all together in two years and not have any one part of the game feel rushed or sacrificed. Most importantly, this all adds up to create the best MMA experience to date and a game that is truly fun to play match after match. Never before has a game conveyed so well the feeling of kicking someone's ass with a knee to the jaw or making them turn purple with a rear naked choke. Truly satisfying, and even impressive when it happens to you.

None of this hard work would matter if no one played the game. Luckily for THQ and Yukes, their hard work paid off in dividends. Last week's NPD numbers indicated a resounding success. The demo buzz and word of mouth added up to just over 1 million copies sold across 360/PS3. Could the series of events worked out any better for a game no one was talking about a month and half ago? Credit has to go to THQ for not getting too ahead of themselves with Molyneux-esque previews that over promised and under delivered, instead opting to keep a low profile throughout development (as of last June they were still mum on who was developing Undisputed) and reveal features when they were certain they would make the final cut. This secrecy culminated in a summer blockbuster that no one saw coming.

Get used to this screen, you'll be seeing a lot of it

Still, Undisputed isn't without its flaws and omissions. Noticeably lacking is cage work, southpaw stances, more fighting styles, penalties for rage quitting online, fighters with big hair and they could stand to get rid of layers upon layers of menus that each have slight loading screens. All of this and more is sure to be addressed with the quickly announced sequel, UFC Undisputed 2010.

In the meantime, you can catch me online playing the best fighting game of 2009 so far. I've clocked over 20 hours with it and I'm just getting started. But, we can't forget that right around the corner is another sport getting its first true next-gen treatment in Fight Night Round 4. Only time will tell if it will enjoy the same level of success as Undisputed.