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Beating people up is more fun than ever with “UFC Undisputed 3”

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The most important thing I can say about THQ’s UFC Undisputed 3 is this: If you follow Ultimate Fighting Championship closely, you will love this game. If you don’t follow UFC, this game will at the very least pique your interest in mixed martial arts combat. Never before has UFC seen such an authentic transition into the video game world than with UFC Undisputed 3.

Having played the previous two UFC Undisputed games, I noticed some new things right away. For starters, there’s a brand new soundtrack on this game, and to call it absolutely epic would be a severe understatement. I can’t express how much I love the music in this game, which is both cinematic and energetic, and the perfect way to get pumped for a fight.

As in previous UFC games, Undisputed 3 has the standard list of options; exhibition mode, tournament mode, title fight mode (which is basically an arcade-style setup where you beat enough guys and win the championship), career mode (more in depth than title fight mode, as it allows for character customization and stats management) and several other modes that have made the UFC game franchise what it is today.

Another notable difference right away is the presence of Pride Fighting Championships, which brings a little bit of MMA nostalgia to the  game. In fact, you can choose to fight in Pride arena’s (and under the more lenient Pride regulations) or in UFC arenas. It truly adds a special touch to the game by acknowledging the accomplishments of this now-defunct promotion.

Character customization and creation is also back, with a few minor improvements. For example, you can now create and add your own logos to shorts, trunks, t-shirts, etc. You can also assign specific entrance animations, winning animations, character introduction animations, entrance music and other features to create truly unique fighters. And your customimzed characters and logos can be uploaded to THQ’s servers to be downloaded by other UFC enthusiasts around the world.

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the overall game presentation and gameplay. First of all, if you’ve played a UFC game before, you know how authentic the music, sound effects, character models and commentary are. In fact, the level of authenticity far surpasses any other sports game, and here’s why. Before I played a UFC game, I had never seen a UFC event, live or televised. But after the first game piqued my interest in the UFC product, I decided to head down to my local drinking establishment and check out UFC 124. To my surprise, it was just like the game. The music, the commentary, the presentation, the camera angles; it was all identical. Talk about authenticity!

THQ has always managed to make MMA gameplay feel smooth, easy to learn and amazing. And with Undisputed 3 THQ has completely stepped up its game. It is now much easier to do ground transitions and ground takedowns, and the submissions system has been completely revamped into a very enjoyable, thrilling experience. The gameplay is fluid and authentic and helps bring you even further into the world of UFC.

If you love sports games, love watching MMA or love great, competitive gameplay, this game is a must-buy for you. Never before have reality and video games been so close when it comes to the world of mixed martial arts.

UFC Undisputed 3 is available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Rated T. www.ufcundisputed.com.

Review by Dan Kemp

Hulk Hogan video game is far from “Main Event” status

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A motion capture game featuring Hulk Hogan from the same publisher that gave us the video game adaptation of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Majesco Entertainment) doesn’t really drum up too much expectation. Expecting a game with those ingredients to be an instant classic would be like expecting a recent Hulk Hogan match to be a classic. However, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event fails to meet even the lowest expectations.

Main Event has the standard features that we have come to expect from wrestling video games; a season/career mode that takes a single character from the bottom rung to the top of the ladder, a create-a-player mode and a one-on-one exhibition mode that pits player against the computer or another player. In the career mode the default character Caliente begins in a back yard wrestling event hosted by Hulk Hogan, with the winner receiving a shot at the big time. This seemingly daunting task requires you to win one match against Atlanta’s own Jim Bob, then you’re off to the “big time” with Hogan as your corner man.

Hogan being your corner man is the bulk of his involvement in the entire gaming experience. This is not only a storyline device, it is also a key component of the game play. Each match is divided into a series of segments known as stunts. In each stunt the goal is to beat the opponent by performing the motions that the Hulkster demonstrates in a small insert box that appears at the bottom right of the screen to pull off predetermined moves. (Yes, there is a leg drop. But the big boot is sadly missing.)  These stunts devolve into a boring game of Simon Says with an aging wrestling icon. About 70 percent of the motions work  about 70 percent of the time, but everything else is a crap shoot. There is one positive, and that is that in some stunts you do not need to be a carbon copy of digital Hulk and you are allowed to throw hands the way that you see fit. These stunts, however, are too few and too far between.

Graphically, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event  is on the lower end  the spectrum of what is acceptable for a game on the Kinect platform. The atmospheres are bright and reasonably well rendered, but the character definition is dreadful. Most characters are just pigment swaps of one another with the occasional wacky accessories thrown in for good measure. If a character is black, he is literally black (see Tombstone) and most every character has a look more akin to the bruisers of the 1950s. If not for this game’s complete lack of attention to wrestling, Lou Thesz would have been a perfect addition.

Every aspect of this game is lacking. Even the game’s menus are difficult to navigate. But it is not the randomly responding controls, the lackluster graphics or the repetitive mimicking that is passed off as game play that makes any wrestling fan tap out on Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. What is truly this game’s downfall is a complete disregard for the basic structure of professional wrestling. The matches have to stop and load between stunts, moves occur at inappropriate times and a headbutt does the same amount of damage as a massive Samoan drop (which the commentator calls a suplex). The pinning combination literally takes ten seconds. I will repeat, it takes ten seconds to count to three. The best way to describe this game is “lame.” It is a lame attempt by a video game company to capitalize on what is left of the name of Hulk Hogan by employing strategies like sprinkling in bro speak and Internet lingo to appear to be cutting edge. This game has X-Pac-like heat. At its finest, wrestling is about storytelling and emotion. Hulk Hogan’s Main Event offers none of the first and even less of the other.

Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is available for Xbox 360. Rated T. www.hulkhogansmainevent.com. 

Review by Matt Hankins

Wrestling with Pop Culture is giving away a copy of Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. Just comment below with the name of any character Hogan has played in a movie or TV show. We’ll randomly pick from the correct answers and announce the winner on the WPC Facebook page on Jan. 27.