EA Sports MMA is radically different than its competitor in terms of in-game control. EA Sports has imported the very popular ‘Total Fight Control’ method used in the Fight Night series. Instead of mashing a button to do repeated strikes, the player uses the right stick to perform various types of motions. The left stick controls the player’s movement including dodges that work to setup your right stick strikes. You can go for quick, timed jabs or looping crosses to do serious damage, Holding down the left trigger will switch the stick strikes to leg kicks and the right bumped is used to switch the striking to the body. As with Fight Night, the system feels smooth and works really well with most actions. When a player needs to hit a cross or uppercut the stick doesn’t respond as quick but still gets the job done. When fighting in the game it seems really hard to ring your opponents bell. There was one match where my opponents face was literally smashed meat and he did not go down. On the flip-side, it is really easy for a fighter you control to get the knockout. In a fighting game there should be a better balance between striking and ground work.

As with any mixed-martial arts match, striking is not your only option. you can clinch your opponent using the Y button and, from there, devastate people with knees or hit the A button to attempt a throw. The A button is also used to perform takedowns that bring you into a whole new world of MMA. The ground game in EA Sports MMA is where the fun really comes in. The EA Sports team set a focus on making EA Sports MMA all about strategy. As you hit the ground with your opponent you need to figure out how to get the correct position. Strike to pass and pass to strike is a phrase commonly used in the game. Instead of just smashing buttons you need to setup your position with a few strikes and then hit the A button to advance. This will put you in different situations like side control or full mount. This is not easy though as your opponent is constantly trying to turn the tide. The player’s controller will vibrate and you need to hit the B button at the correct time to counter the move. Once you get in a good position you can either go for the big strikes or hit a submission. You would think that this is all about slamming home a button until you get the KO or tap out right? Once again, the player will be very wrong if they go that route. EA MMA has a stamina system that makes the player watch how much energy they have left to act. If you run out of gas, then you are far more likely to get reversed or your punches will not have much force behind them. Once you land a submission using the X button the game takes you into a mini game of sorts. Choking submission use a ‘Sweet Spot’ type game where you need to following the lighted area of the circle with your left stick. Has you hit the area the vibration and circle will increase until the opponent taps out. Armbars and other limb type submissions will enter a stamina management type system. You need to hit the X button and watch your stamina bar to increase the power of the submission. The on-screen graphic will show an x-ray type view of the opponents limb until they finally tap. Overall, the gameplay in EA Sports MMA is a fresh change to games of that sport.

CAREER MODE
The first thing anyone playing a sports game wants to do make themselves into a fighter right? EA Sports MMA has a robust career mode taken right from the Fight Night series. You start by creating your character with a pretty deep character creation system. You can go as far as using EA’s Gameface to import your face right onto the fighter. The only problem here is that you have to start from scratch even if you already have a gameface from another EA game.

Once you have created your fighter and picked their fighting style you are sent out to Bas Rutten’s gym. Bas Rutten is not only a legend in the sport but a true character. Instead of just boring training menu’s and stat upgrades Bas’ quirky comments really wrap up the entire mode. It gives the career mode that real sense of story that previous games have missed. As you train and fight you will have the option to visit other gym’s run by legendary fighters. Each gym owner has a set of special moves to learn which are completed by mini games. Some of these mini games are extremely hard and not for the easy mode player. After you learn your move you can add it into your arsenal for all future matches. This gives the player the chance to step up their game, no matter what style of fighting they picked. Each pre-match session consists of 8 weeks of training. Training can be done by the player or simulated depending on how involved you want to be. While I understand the need for these training weeks I have yet to see a MMA game that will just sim all the weeks at once to let you get to the match. The training weeks can really put a wall in the fast paced action of the fights. Overall career mode is all about winning titles and gaining fame. EA Sports MMA delivers on a fun career mode that adds a bit of much needed story to your created player.

ONLINE MODE
While I did not test much of the online mode EA Sports MMA offers your traditional online fighting via EA’s Online Pass service. The one twist on EA Sports MMA’s online mode is the ability to have your actual online matches scouted by someone at EA. If picked by EA, you could be tapped to participate in a live online match for prizes. This is a pretty interesting twist to online player and brings some of the e-sports side to the genre. I would love to see this in more EA Sports titles.

PRESENTATION AND ROSTER
EA Sports MMA sets out to deliver the ultimate MMA experience to the fans. If you drop the ball on the presentation then how can deliver that experience? It’s a good thing that, in classic fashion, EA hit a home run with the presentation in EA Sports MMA. The player has a bunch of arena’s to choose from that are detailed right down to the actual announcers. It was a big surprise to play in one of the DREAM arena’s and hear the famous ‘screaming lady’ announcing the fighters. Each fighter has their own ring entrance complete with pyrotechnics and the official Strikeforce announcers call each fight. The presentation is very TV-like and had no glitches. The roster in EA Sports MMA is huge, drawing mainly from the Strikeforce league. Legendary fighters like Bas Rutten and Fedor are in the game but EA Sports MMA really gives a spotlight to younger stars like Jake Shields. On the international tip, several fighters from the DREAM organization are also featured.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND
The graphics in EA Sports MMA are crisp and the fighters’ likenesses are spot-on. The game moves smooth with no noticeable glitches. One fear I had was that, with EA Sports titles, players can sometimes look a little cartoony. Thankfully, the fighters in EA Sports MMA do not suffer from this and add a lot of realism to the game. The only place needing a bit of polish was the damage to the actual fighters. In MMA people can get really messed up in a fight and while a little blood splatter can happen it was hard to see damage on your fighter. The sound in EA Sports MMA is also a bit of a tricky beast. The announcers are spot-on and Bas Rutten’s voice overs were great. I did however encounter a weird strange bug throughout my entire playtime. There were many points in every mode where the sound was almost fast forwarded for no reason. It was as if someone was hitting the button to garble and speed up the audio track. This became very distracting and made it sometimes hard to figure out what was going on, especially in training.

FINAL THOUGHTS
While EA Sports MMA is not perfect, it is a huge step in the right direction for the MMA game genre. EA Sports has laid down the gauntlet with EA Sports MMA and challenged any and all comers. If you are a fan of mixed-martial arts, then you should check this one out right away.