It is a deceiving ego boost, however, as diving into the Fight Now mode, which takes you straight to the Octagon, will quickly hand fresh players a KO within a minute of Round 1. This tutorial takes you through the very basics of strikes and blocks against a mild adversary.

You’re immediately sucked into a match before even hitting a menu screen, taking on the role of Robbie Lawler against Rory MacDonald in the final round of the welterweight title fight of UFC 189. In that case, you’ll be pleased to know that UFC 2 has no shortage of action. And besides, it’s more about the fight, right? Still, unless you settle for a singular fighter amongst the hundreds available, there’s enough variety to keep things from getting redundant. The lack of detail on the spectators, some of whom are given an odd close-up during the post-fight sequence, also shows a clear separation of care given to the fighters as opposed to the rest of the cast. The play-by-play commentary is a solid delivery, but when you hear the same “boom” sound bite at almost every knockout replay, it tends to pull you away and make you realize that you are indeed playing a game filled with scripted action. The realism dissipates, however, when you watch the same entry animations and hear the same fighter introductions.

From Conor McGregor’s beard to up-and-comer Cody Garbrandt’s lavish tattoos, and the authentic personality showcased with each fighter, the attention to detail developer EA Canada put in deserves applause. Your mind will be easily tricked into believing you are in control of a real life title match, filled with all the pre-fight spectacle as well as the perfect transitions of animations within the fight itself. It takes a discerning eye to mark the visual improvements from its predecessor, so let’s just agree that it looks absolutely gorgeous. But it does boast a severe increase in content that is sure to please fans of the sport and keep them entertained for a long time. Now round 2 is here with EA Sports UFC 2 and, well, it still has some flaws. However, the simulation style of fighting came with its share of gameplay flaws. Their initial product was a spectacle to behold, with a visual prowess that truly showed the potential of our current systems. With MMA overpowering boxing as the predominant form of fighting on display, and the UFC becoming the new staple on the Pay-Per-View marquis, it made perfect business sense for publishing giant Electronic Arts to bite the bullet and buy the brand from THQ - an investment they initially dismissed when approached by UFC president Dana White.

Ufc 2 controls ps4