When Peter Moore took the stage at E3 2009 and announced that the company was working on a mixed martial arts game, the news ignited something of a firestorm in the MMA world. THQ had barely just released its UFC Undisputed game, and skeptics wondered why EA was hopping onto this particular bandwagon. UFC president Dana White dumped kerosene onto those flames when he said that he tried to meet with EA before and was ignored, after telling him that MMA wasn’t a real sport. Never one to mince words, White had an ultimatum for fighters: Anyone who appears in EA’s game wouldn’t be in the UFC anymore.
And that was before we’d even seen the first screenshot.
Months later, we’ve had the chance to see the game in action. The game looks great, which is no surprise considering that it’s built with a modified version of the engine behind the astonishingly good looking Fight Night: Round Four. The demo featured Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, fighters who faced off in a recent Strikeforce event, and their digital counterparts were convincingly detailed, down to the scar on Fedor’s brow. That said, is there room for two MMA games? After talking to the producer and seeing a presentation of the game, we have to say there is. Aside from obvious differences in rosters and venues, each game seems to be approaching the sport from a slightly different angle. The good news is that EA appears to be taking it all very seriously.
EA Sports MMA’s executive producer Dale Jackson isn’t shying away from comparisons between his game and UFC Undisputed. “It definitely makes us run that much harder,” he says. “I have to deliver an experience that’s going to be compelling for everyone and make sure that I’m delivering the best possible game. And someone has a head start. But I love competition. I love winning. I look forward to finding ways to win this competition.”
One of the tools that might help EA win out is the game’s affiliation with Strikeforce. The MMA association will be a premier league in the game, bringing a number of high-profile fighters with it. In addition to Fedor and Rogers, Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller will be in the game. Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo will be providing commentary, and ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. and referee “Big John” McCarthy will be providing in-ring support.
The demo, which was running on an Xbox 360, highlighted some of the game’s depth and strategy. Despite what some might believe, MMA fighting is substantially more complicated than two guys clawing at each other in a cage. There’s an incredible amount of strategy at play, such as knowing your opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, figuring out how best to approach him and reserving your stamina so that you don’t run out of gas in the middle of a fight.
EA Sports MMA hopes to represent some of that strategy in its games in some exciting ways. As much as we tend to focus on a game’s looks, Jackson wants to make it clear that there’s more to the game than what you see. “Visuals aren’t the most important thing, but they’re the foundation that lays the groundwork for authenticity, so that you’re never taken out of the experience by the visuals. Gameplay is where that authenticity is really going to come in.”
It starts with something as relatively simple as a fighter grabbing his opponent’s foot during a poorly timed kick attempt. Depending on who you’re playing as, you can choose to throw a strike from that position or use it as an opportunity to take your opponent to the mat. On defense, the character with the caught foot can push out of the position before any damage is done.
“Everything we add to the game, we have to think how do make it so a standup striker or a wrestler who wants to stay on his feet and strike the whole game can stay within their gameplan and stay within their comfort zone or take someone out of their comfort zone,” says Jackson. “If we have this and the only thing you can do is take a guy to the ground every time you caught a kick as a standup striker, I’m in a miserable spot there. This gives you those opportunities. Everything we put into the game we look for how we can make sure that everyone can fight within their styles.”
At one point, the two fighters are grappling on the mat, with one in a dominant position. As Fedor smacks Rogers’ head from above, Rogers returns punches simultaneously. “There’s no control loss ever in our game, says Jackson. “You’re not going to have to wait for someone to finish an animation that they’re doing before you can take control and do it. So you can throw strikes at the same time, top and bottom, it doesn’t matter. You’re in control at all times."
Situational awareness is key in the game. Fedor attempted to take Rogers down from a standing position at one point, but because he was too far away Rogers was able to read the move and respond by kneeing Fedor in the face. As with Fight Night: Round 4, simply throwing up a guard isn’t a guarantee that you won’t be exhaling blood. Positioning is imperative, and well-placed punches can snake through sloppy defenses to devastating effect.
Damage modeling and blood was turned off in the demo out of respect for the fighters (who were facing off in real life the next night), but we saw a glimpse of how it will work in the game. Players will be able to focus attacks on particular limbs or body parts, which can leave their opponent vulnerable. Rogers’ leg was injured, which Fedor could exploit by leg strikes. Because his leg was weakened, Rogers reeled back slightly and pivoted on his heel. That reaction was just what Fedor was looking for. “A reaction like that’s going to open a window,” says Jackson. “If Brett has to step back or turn on that leg, it opens a window for counterstrikes, it opens a window for a takedown, so it changes the strategy of the game based on what you’ve set up throughout the game. You’re seldom going to win a fight with leg kicks, but you can set up an opening that will let you get to victory through other means."
EA isn’t talking about the game’s career mode or the size of its roster, but we did see screens that hinted at training facilities in England, Japan and, of course, Brazil. Aside from the four fighters announced, Jackson wouldn’t talk about the other fighters at this time. He did have a lot to say about their individual importance, however.
“We’re going to have a big roster,” he says. “It’s not a comparative roster that we care about what anyone else has or anything like that. We’re going to have a big roster of great fighters, but the thing is that they’re all going to be individual fighters. It’s not going to be a list of names, it’s going to be a group of specifically individual fighters who fight like themselves. You see that if you play Fight Night. Ali fights like Ali, Tyson fights like Tyson. Pacquiao fights like Pacquiao. That’s a difference. They could have had five guys, and that defined, and you’d have five different experiences in the game. That’s something that you don’t see in games right now. They’ll have a big roster and it doesn’t make any difference if I choose a kickboxer, I choose a kickboxer. We’re going to make sure that these guys are defined, because all kickboxers aren’t the same, and all guys who study jiu-jitsu and that’s their focus aren’t made equal.”
Until we get our hands on the game it’s tough to say that all the claims are indeed true, but the demo was enough to show that EA Sports MMA is more than just a quick cash in on an increasingly popular sport. Jackson and his team say they’ve been fans of the sport for a long time, and what they showed at least demonstrated that they can nail its look. As for the feel, that remains to be seen.