EA Sports MMA

Well, this is an unexpected turn.

For the sake of context, I spend my days writing for a mixed martial arts training website called TapouTVTC.com (follow the blog here!). I've practiced martial arts since the second grade and mixed martial arts in particular since high school. I haven't missed a UFC event in about four years, and I will passionately argue that MMA is a safer sport to compete in than boxing, football or Ultimate Frisbee (no, really). In short, I'm a little obsessed with the sport.

Prior to 2009, there was nothing in the way of good MMA video games. I played the hell out of UFC: TapouT on the originial Xbox, but not because it was good, but because I had no other options. Developers just hadn't found a good way to mix all the nuances of an MMA fight into a playable formula.

That all changed on May 19, 2009, the day that UFC 2009 Undisputed was released. I picked it up at midnight, played until about 5am, then woke up again at 10 to play some more. Sure, it had some faults (gotta love online opponents that could quit mid-match to avoid a loss), but it was exactly what the MMA gamer in me had craved for so many years.

THQ refined that formula with UFC Undisputed 2010, and while some of the excitement had worn off, it is still a game that I play months after release. When EA announced that they would be releasing their own MMA video game, I scoffed at it as a cash grab. The UFC had approached EA about doing an MMA game and been turned down, but now that there was proven success EA was ready to jump on board.

As such, my interest level was pretty low in the game. The graphics looked too cartoonish, the animations looked stiff and most of the best fighters in the world are in the UFC. I wrote EA Sports MMA off just as I've written off the NBA Live series in favor of 2K's superior product.

The reviews that have come out, though, have given me a lot of pause. Not only are they extremely positive, but some have gone so far as to say that it is the best MMA game on the market. Now, instead of writing the game off, I am extremely curious.

I'll tackle the demo over the next few days and maybe even give it a spin on Gamefly, but suffice to say my opinion has been severely swayed by the positive reception.