EA SPORTS UFC 3 GRAPHICS ARCHIVE
EA SPORTS UFC 3 GRAPHICS SERIES

EA SPORTS UFC 3 GRAPHICS ARCHIVE

UFC 3 is absolutely huge on presentation and flashy spectacle that blends in-engine graphics with archive video (which should tell you how excellent the visuals are nowadays). UFC 4 will really need to go to the drawing board.ĮA will also need to hit the gym and get some mad gains on their career mode. Also, let's be honest here: flicking options on a radial menu captures none of the intensity and desperation (or romantic misunderstanding) of two people making the beast with two backs in the octagon. The visual aids EA gives are just too subtle, too, and when you head into multiplayer those rickety, minuscule training wheels are ripped off completely. It's still a bit of a trial-and-error mess where not enough feedback is given to tell you why your strategies aren't working.

EA SPORTS UFC 3 GRAPHICS SERIES

You're still selecting from a pop-up menu to rock-paper-scissor choke your way through a series of potentially lethal hugs. UFC 3 is also let down a little by its ground-based fighting. Once or twice Jon Anik sounded like he was punch-drunk himself – going off on an anecdotal tangent that had no basis in what was happening on screen. Sadly, these awkward, immersion-stifling moves are mirrored by the occasional commentary hiccup. The post and pre-match stuff is seamless, of course, but every once in a while you'll spot a rusty transition from one attack to another. My only criticism is that the animation system has been improved but not to the point where we're always getting the natural fluidity of two mixed martial artists engaged in a deadly ballet. The last fight sim to do that was the criminally under-loved Fight Night Champion. It's rare for me to talk to my television whilst playing a video game, but every single KO moment in UFC 3 managed to draw an “oof” noise from me. Keep it up and you're in for some disturbingly accurate tissue deformation as the on-screen fighters devolve into bleeding, wobbly-kneed meat sacks. Providing you're holding the right button modifier, you'll bear witness to some truly bone-rattling hits that will be felt in the pit of your stomach.

Its graphics engine has been suitably 'roided up as well. It's quite obvious that EA has spent the offseason feeding its fight engine with delicious new motion-capture data. That's not to say there aren't some great times to be strangled out of this. UFC 3 is more predictable than a cartoon spin-wind-up uppercut. The up-and-comer story mode is present and accounted for, too, just like you thought it'd be. The collectable card shenanigans from FIFA (that insane people drop hundreds of dollars on) is here again. Sure, they'll look a little slicker than last time, but by and large, the “new” features are deja vu transpositions from other EA Sports titles. What EA is famous for is delivering a yearly sports franchise with entries that aren't massively adventurous. Unfortunately, that's also the only surprise I got from UFC 3. Please engage in this practice more often. Providing you have a previous save for UFC or UFC 2, you'll get an unlock of the undisputed GOAT, Bruce Lee.

While EA is not a publisher known for its generosity – see: the tightfisted antics of Battlefront II and Need For Speed Payback– UFC 3 handed me the one thing I wanted most for free. When the ref yelled “Let's get it on!” this MMA fighter wrong-footed and floored me with a kindness.

Ea sports ufc 3 graphics