UFC Undisputed 2009 vs. Fight Night Round 4 | Written by Josh Rai Published at 2009-07-04 02:49:12
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532 It was bound to happen; these two games were eventually going to be pitted against each other. UFC is, of course, a MMA game and Fight Night is just boxing. I am going to look at the positives and negatives of each and then I will recommend the better game. You might and probably will disagree with some points, but remember this is all subjective and if you disagree with me, feel free to state why in the comments.
This fight is scheduled for three rounds. In the Blue corner, fighting out of Vancouver Canada, it is Fight Night Round 4. In the Red corner, fighting out of Osaka Japan, it's UFC Undisputed 2009. You know the rules, I want a clean fight. Ready, ready, fight.
Round 1: Presentation
Presentation starts off the battle. This encompasses graphics, sound, commentary, and HUD's. Graphically speaking FNR4 is a step above UFC 2009 in every way. FNR4 is simply one of the best looking games this generation, while UFC is no slouch, it does not have the fidelity of FNR4. The fighters in UFC looked incredible in still frames but in motion they all had a robotic look that resulted from lack of true individual animations. FNR4's boxers looked like Ali, Tyson, Frazier, etc. there animations made it look like you were watching them in a classic fight.
Both games sound pretty good. The audience plays a large part in providing atmosphere and when the fights are going on both games succeed at that. However the lack of ring walks and awkward absence of noise at the beginning of bouts in UFC left a lot to be desired. The counter to that in FNR4 the crowd did not seem to get as excited as the UFC crowds after a huge hit but FNR4's crowds did chant the names of Ali, Smokin' Joe, etc. if they were fighting with excitement. Both games in the end sounded great, so it's a wash.
Commentary in any sports game gets repetitive eventually, it has to happen. UFC and FNR4 do a commendable job but in both games the endurance runs out around the fifth match. At that point the commentary becomes repetitive and while it is not bad, you have heard it all before. I have to say though that I found the commentary team in UFC overall better, the duo seemed to have better chemistry then FNR4's team.
The HUD system for each game is radically different. While a no HUD option is available for each, I do suggest using the HUD for both. UFC went for a much more simple display where one bar represents both health and stamina. This method is simple and is a fair representation of the shorter UFC fights. FNR4 has three bars you need to keep an eye on, one for health, stamina, and blocking. Health and stamina is self explanatory, the blocking represents how well your boxer can currently block. Less blocking ability means more punches will slip blast your guard and cause you damage. I liked UFC's approach but I feel FNR4 allows for far greater depth and strategy.
Winner: Fight Night Round 4
Round 2: Modes
Each game has an in-depth career mode that is basically the same in each. You face fighters and try to become the best of the best. I feel the training mini-games need a ton of help in each but UFC's are far more playable then FNR4's.
Both have online and local multiplayer. There are no notable problems in either game from my experience playing online.
The thing that UFC has that FNR4 does not (but FNR3 did, sort of) is a classic fight mode. In UFC you attempt to recreate a famous fight. You get a brief introduction to the fight and a recap of the events leading up to the fight. It boils down to making the loser submit using the correct submission hold or knocking them out in the specified round. If you succeed you unlock a 30 sec. highlight reel of the match you recreated. It is a cool feature and would have been awesome for FNR4 to have something similar for boxing epics such as The Rumble in the Jungle, Thrilla in Manila, or a more modern fight like Tyson vs. Lewis. Sadly it is not and I give props to UFC for including this feature.
Winner: UFC Undisputed 2009
Round 3: Gameplay
This is the toughest one to compare since both sports are fairly different in execution. So I will compare how authentically replicated each sport was by the game and how much fun I received from playing each. In my opinion FNR4 is one of the most authentic representations of boxing I have witnessed. I would even say that FNR4 does the best job of any other sports game in recreating the look and feel of the sport it is attempting to emulate. UFC suffers from design choices that mess with the authenticity, such as lack of southpaws, only having two fighting styles, and lack of character personality in the octagon. They did this to make more even matches, make clipping a non-issue, etc. but the authenticity suffers. In UFC sudden KO's and the frequency of KO's created a problem. No fight ever went to decision because every fight ended in a KO. And the frequency of sudden KO's happened far too often. One punching an opponent may be exciting the first time but by the tenth time it was boring and became unsatisfying. Half of my fights in FNR4 went the distance or was a very late KO. This created tension and allowed for great tug of war matches.
Playing against friends locally I prefer UFC because the KO's created excitement in everyone. UFC is also easier to pick up and play meaning anyone could join in but it was also fun to just watch. On the flip side FNR4 provided me more fun in single player and online bouts. This stems from one major reason; the longer fights made me know I was going into a war. The back and forth I had in these fights were both heart wrenching and joyous.
Winner: Fight Night Round 4
Winner of the match, by split decision: Fight Night Round 4.
This win comes with a couple stipulations. One is that you favour neither sport. If you hate boxing or just generally prefer UFC, then UFC is by no means a bad game, and is fully worth you checking out. If you are a boxing fan, then FNR4 is perfect for you. Both games are great, and fans of either sport will not be disappointed in either. The second is: if all you want from one of these games is to play it when friends are around, UFC is the winner. UFC is just so simple to pick up and play that it is perfect for non-"hardcore" gamers. At the end of the day, this is Yuke's first attempt at a UFC game, and I feel that they need at least one, possibly two, more games to really nail the look and feel of a UFC fight. This is the fourth Fight Night game to date, and the devs really succeed at making it the best boxing game. It has taken four tries to recreate the sweet science, and this game is a triumph.
9 comments:
 |  Mike Hartnett
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 | Dana Olson
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 | BamBamBoozled
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 | Tayler Bell
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| Josh Rai
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| Mike Hartnett
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| Dana Olson
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 | TRUE_PS3
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. I have UFC and love the game. Like you said in your article its a great pick-up and play game and also fun to watch. But the single player in UFC does get a little boring after about 20 fights or after your done with the career, with the flash KOs. I have only played the FNR4 demo so I dont know too much about it, but I can see it being the better game overall. The reason I picked UFC instead of fight night was because of the variety of fighting styles and its excitement when playing others. | Dana Olson
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The career mode really shoulda been centered around The Ultimate Fighter... But then, I guess they can milk the brand by making that its own game, or something.