Entertainment

Games: Vital gameplay improvements and a who's-who roster make UFC 4 the only game in town

Players join the UFC ranks' bottom rung and begin working their way up to Greatest of All Time
Players join the UFC ranks' bottom rung and begin working their way up to Greatest of All Time Players join the UFC ranks' bottom rung and begin working their way up to Greatest of All Time

UFC 4 (Multi)

By: EA

TWO men enter a ring and only one leaves. Then later, the other leaves after being declared the winner. It's been two years since EA's last parade of pixelated pugilism, and its latest is the first since 2014's original not to feature Conor McGregor on the cover – replaced by Israel Adesanya and five-second knockout record holder Jorge Masvidal.

Yet the loss of an Irish poster-boy is the only step backwards for a game whose level of polish makes previous entries look like bum fights, featuring more oily fists, chokes and submissions than a fetish club and where climbing the sweaty ladder from no mark to champ is unrivalled craic – especially when you get to paste flesh and (visible) blood fighters en route.

Rubbing knuckles with both male and the curiously comely female stars – including domestic badass McGregor – UFCs digital doppelgangers not only look lifelike but bleed their styles and personalities (indeed, matching your thumbs to the fighter's real-life fighting DNA is key to success).

And never has so much attention been lavished on the human torso, where bones break and skin is torn in a decidedly inhuman display of simulated pugilism. No mean feat for what amounts to a sinewy stack of ones and zeros.

After an extended tutorial, players join the UFC ranks' bottom rung and begin working their way up to Greatest of All Time – with fighting just one part of the equation. In-between bouts, players spend their hours sparking rivalries and relationships on social media while drilling away in training camps, buffing their fantasy fighter by splurging evolution points on power, stamina, speed and health.

With mechanics largely untouched from the previous entry, it's UFC's ground game that's received the most developer attention this year. Clinching probably sees the biggest upswing, as players move fluidly from striking to seizing with the tap of a button. It's also simpler than ever to escape, in a cat and mouse test of pulling away that engages your brain as much as brawn.

Also new are improved mini games for submissions that'll have WWE 2K's lawyers panicking, while spicing up the Octagon are two non-geometry-based arenas to punch throats in, Backyard and Kumite, inspired by 80s Van Damme classic, Bloodsport.

Much like EA's own FIFA series, UFC 4 merely pumps a fresh dose of steroids into the tight buttocks of a well-worn franchise, for a fighter that's more update than full-blown newcomer. Still, if slapping folk around a ring is your bag, vital gameplay improvements and a who's-who roster make UFC 4 the only game in town.