U.F.C 2009 Undisputed

This game was a great game that was cut up and undermined by minor shortcuts and oversights by the developer. It is very obvious that 90% of the developers attention went into the gameplay for the fight itself. This is not a complaint in the least, the ground game is fluid and any fan of the sport that has any actual MMA knowledge or training should easily pick apart most of the kick/punch happy gamers across the net. The career mode is really the biggest downfall in the game, the ability to create a custom fighter that can later own the online divisions is nice, but the long drawn out menus throughout the course of the game becomes slightly monotonous. Also a more intelligent political side of the career mode should have come easy and with no problems amongst the company of next-gen games. Taking short notice fights is a good way to boost stats but why is Dana White asking you to give up a contender fight for a player you’ve already beat 4 times. It makes absolutely no sense and eventually just seems like the title really doesn't matter in the game it's ALL about upgrading your character. One of the greatest draws to UFC is the grudge matches, so why doesn't the game ever talk about or even acknowledge your fighting history, you can't even find a stat page that tells how long of a win streak you are on, and unless you yourself remember your rivals, you won't have any.
All of these minor bits can be overlooked when you get into the game, and the accurate simulation of the sport kicks in with probing hits, power attacks, and an extremely fluid ground game. It's a great feel and I have finished a few of my fights online so far with my heart pounding not sure how it was going to end. Since this was practically the first true UFC game, my expectations were very low and I'm not sure how much I was pulling for THQ as a fight fan, but the game definitely past my expectations, and with easy modified tweaks I'm sure this will become quite the fighting series. I give it 8 out 10