We all do this, usually in conversation where there's nothing left to talk about or when you're trying to determine if the new person you're seeing is worth having children with. I do this a lot. And my theory here is that if I put it out in the open once and for all then maybe I'll stop doing it and maybe put my thought power to better use. So, here we go...
Top 5 Films - The Obvious Choices
- The Exorcist (1973)
- The Shining (1980)
- The Godfather pt.1 (1972)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
Top 5 Films - The Obscure Choices (although in all honesty, these could be in the list above.)
- Rear Window (1954)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Alien (1979)
- El Topo (1970)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Top 5 Least Favourite Films (ones I've watched in their entirety.)
- Killers (1996)
- Four Brothers (2005)
- The Forgotten (2004)
- Signs (2002)
- Saw IV (2007)
Top 5 Actors - The Obvious Choices (w/ favourite works)
- Al Pacino (The Godfather, The Panic in Needle Park, Insomnia.)
- Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Cape Fear, Casino)
- Marlon Brando (Apocalypse Now, A Streetcar Named Desire, Last Tango in Paris)
- Anthony Hopkins (The Elephant Man, The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Dracula)
- Jack Nicholson (The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, The Witches of Eastwick)
Top 5 Actors - The Obscure Choices (w/ favourite works)
- John Hurt (The Elephant Man, Alien, The Proposition)
- Willem Dafoe (The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Shadow of the Vampire, Animal Factory)
- Val Kilmer (Heat, Batman Forever, True Romance, The Doors, Wonderland)
- Benicio Del Toro (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Usual Suspects, Che)
- Jim Carrey (Man on the Moon, The Truman Show, Dumb and Dumber)
Top 5 Actresses (w/ favourite works)
- Jodie Foster (Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs)
- Diane Keaton (Annie Hall, The Godfather, Manhattan)
- Meryl Streep (The Deer Hunter, Death Becomes Her, Manhattan)
- Charlize Theron (The Devil's Advocate, Monster)
- Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, What lies Beneath, White Oleander, Batman Returns)
Top 5 Film Soundtracks (w/ notable artists)
- Wonderland (2003) (Roxy Music, Terry Reid, Iggy and The Stooges)
- Casino (1995) (Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, Mickey & Sylvia)
- High Fidelity (2000) (Bob Dylan, The 13th Floor Elevators, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen)
- The Crow (1994) (The Cure, The Violent Femmes, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails)
- Velvet Goldmine (1998) (Shudder To Think, Brian Eno, Placebo, The Venus in Furs)
Top 5 Directors - The Obvious Choices (w/ favourite works)
- Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Lolita)
- Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Casino, Goodfellas, Raging Bull)
- Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window, North By North West, Vertigo, Rope, The Birds, Psycho)
- Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Dracula)
- Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Play It Again Sam, Love and Death, Everybody Says I Love You)
Top 5 Directors - The Obscure Choices (w/ favourite works) (again, any of these could fit in the list above)
- Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers, Platoon, The Doors)
- Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, History of the World pt.1, Spaceballs)
- David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, Twin Peaks)
- William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection)
- Michael Mann (Heat, Manhunter)
Top 5 Writers (w/ favourite works)
- Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Rum Diary, plus various collections of letters)
- Charles Bukowski (Pulp, Hollywood, Post Office, Ham on Rye)
- William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist, Legion)
- H.P. Lovecraft (The Hound, The Whisperer in Darkness)
- Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven, Berenice, The Tell Tale Heart)
Top 5 Works of Fiction
- L'etranger (Albert Camus, 1942)
- Death in Venice (Thomas Mann, 1912)
- The Exorcist (William Peter Blatty, 1971)
- The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925)
- The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson, written circa 1960, published 1998)
Top 5 Biographies/Autobiographies
- Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me (Marlon Brando)
- Innocent When You Dream: Tom Waits: The Collected Interviews (Tom Waits & Mac Montandon)
- Scar Tissue (Anthony Kiedis)
- The Long, Hard Road Out Of Hell (Marilyn Manson & Neil Strauss)
- Hitman (Bret Hart)
Top 5 Recording Artists (w/ favourite works)
- Marilyn Manson (Holywood, Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals)
- Placebo (Without You I'm Nothing, Black Market Music, Sleeping With Ghosts)
- Tom Waits (Small Change, Blue Valentine, Foreign Affairs)
- Mark Lanegan (Field Songs, Bubblegum, plus works with Isobel Campbell, Soulsavers and as The Gutter Twins with Greg Dulli)
- The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground & Nico, Loaded, White Light/White Heat)
Top 5 Computer Games
- The Warriors (Rockstar Toronto, 2005)
- Blade Runner (Westwood Studios, 1997)
- Shadow Fighter (Gremlin Interactive, 1994)
- Three Dirty Dwarves (Sega, 1996)
- Silent Hill (Konami/Team Silent, 1999)
Top 5 TV Shows
- The Big Bang Theory (2007 - present)
- South Park (1997 - present)
- Twin Peaks (1990 - 1991)
- The Sopranos (1999 - 2007)
- Family Guy (2005 - present)
Top 5 Places I've Visited
- Orlando, Florida
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- San Francisco, California
- Los Angeles, California
- St. Petersburg, Florida
Top 5 Places I'd Love To Visit
- New York City, New York
- Edmonton, Canada
- Port Antonio, Jamaica
- Chicago, Illinois
- Oakley Court, Windsor
And, finally...
Top 5 Consumables I'd Request Before Being Put To Death
- A large bottle of Chivas Regal
- A case of chilled Miller GD
- A pack of Marlboro 100 Reds
- A Kobi steak, rare
- A whole baked Vanilla Cheesecake
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Tuesday 3 May 2011
TNA, WWE and general observations on the Pro Wrestling world.
There's few who would argue - and even fewer who would argue convincingly - that professional wrestling is still hitting the heights it once did; that it's on-par with the rule-breaking, R-Rated 'Attitude' Era, and captivating even the non-wrestling fans around the world, like the World Wrestling Federation did in the 80s with Hulkamania.
If you wish, you can blame the internet and the access to insider knowledge, blame Vince McMahon's decision to remove the very word 'wrestling' from anything related to the WWE product, you could even go so far as to blame the ever-growing popularity of the "real" sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Whatever the reason, let's always try to remember that what we're being fed now is not all that professional wrestling has to offer us; there's always fresh talent on the horizon. OVW and other developmental territories, or "farms", are churning out competitor after competitor just itching to make their debut on our TV screens... and I'm sure there's a percentage of them who don't just want to use it as a stepping stone on their way to Hollywood. BURN!!
Let's not fool ourselves, TNA are suffering a fate worse than the WWE's, and I won't argue with a guy who says the whole company is one big sinking ship. However, TNA were once rivaling WWE and were even surpassing them in terms of sheer talent. They had wrestlers who honestly believed they were pushing a greater product than the other franchises, and that echoed the cry of ECW in the Paul Heyman years. Those wrestlers believed that ECW was producing a superior product than the WWE and WCW (albeit, on a smaller budget) and many wrestling fans, including myself, would agree. If this is sounding all too familiar then you may have read Chris Jericho's Undisputed where he states, in a nutshell, that the talent in TNA can not see past the WWE and recognise their own abilities and opportunities.
TNA are hardly doing themselves any favours; in a two hour episode of iMPACT! we're maybe seeing 4 actual matches, none of which actually seem to end by submission or pinfall, but usually by DQ due to interference. We're then given about an hour of Hogan's embarrassing mic skills, Karen Angle screeching incessantly, and these personal backstage vignettes with Sting/RVD/Mr. Anderson. Meanwhile, there's a locker room full of talent just waiting and waiting and waiting...
What really bothers me though, is that TNA are basically saying to their fans "We'll give you a real show... on pay-per-view." The weekly house shows are simply becoming storyline builders; laying the foundation for the upcoming PPV, which is fine, that's how the wrestling game works. But what they have to remember is that if they're not showcasing their talent on a weekly basis then no one is going to bother tuning in for the Lockdowns or Victory Roads. Dixie Carter, Jeff Jarrett or whoever is pulling the strings behind the curtain needs to realise that iMPACT! is their bread and butter, and without it their company and their employees are going to lose money, lose talent, and, ultimately, lose their jobs.
Up North, as they say, the WWE has some problems of their own. It's not talent related; if anything, their talent base is looking better than it has done in years. It's not financial either; I think it's safe to say that Vince McMahon never needs to worry about that. It's a marketing problem, I suppose, or a moral one, if you feel strongly enough about it. The decision by Vince McMahon to abolish the term 'wrestling' from the company name, and to forbid his employees from uttering the cursed term at all, is beyond ridiculous, and stating that WWE doesn't stand for anything, is more idiotic than anything; he could have at least suggested an alternative. However, I don't imagine that this will be a problem for long, I expect Vince will soon reinvent the company under a whole new name, logo etc. This wouldn't bother me a fraction as much, were it not for the rich history of the WWE, WWF, WWWF etc.
It's bad enough that they had to re-write history when they lost the legal rights to the WWF name to a bunch of hippies, but now they're basically spitting on their long-standing titles, their Hall of Fame, the very thing that bought Vince McMahon his many homes, cars and private jets. Basically, what he's saying to wrestling now - whether he means to or not - is "thanks, but I've met someone else." To his credit, it doesn't look as though McMahon has let the high quality of his entertainment slide (Wrestlemania aside) but it's still early days, so we'll wait and see.
What did make me think, though, was when I read that CM Punk rejected a new contract from the WWE. Sure, he's not in the top-flight right now and, personally, I think tying him to the Nexus is dragging him down, but he's more successful now - in certain aspects - than he was in the Indy circuits. He's traded the uncertainty of a job and a paycheck for a regular wage and hectic work schedule, which many wrestlers cite as the real killer of professional wrestling. Whatever Punk's reasons may be, I honestly believe that dropping the term 'wrestling' from the company altogether will discourage wrestlers - true wrestlers, like Punk - from joining, in the fears that it may reflect badly on them in the eyes of the smaller promotions and hardcore fans. But, at the end of the day, Vince McMahon's the one counting his millions and I'm sitting at home watching last night's RAW on YouTube. Touchè, Vince.
Let's not fool ourselves, TNA are suffering a fate worse than the WWE's, and I won't argue with a guy who says the whole company is one big sinking ship. However, TNA were once rivaling WWE and were even surpassing them in terms of sheer talent. They had wrestlers who honestly believed they were pushing a greater product than the other franchises, and that echoed the cry of ECW in the Paul Heyman years. Those wrestlers believed that ECW was producing a superior product than the WWE and WCW (albeit, on a smaller budget) and many wrestling fans, including myself, would agree. If this is sounding all too familiar then you may have read Chris Jericho's Undisputed where he states, in a nutshell, that the talent in TNA can not see past the WWE and recognise their own abilities and opportunities.
TNA are hardly doing themselves any favours; in a two hour episode of iMPACT! we're maybe seeing 4 actual matches, none of which actually seem to end by submission or pinfall, but usually by DQ due to interference. We're then given about an hour of Hogan's embarrassing mic skills, Karen Angle screeching incessantly, and these personal backstage vignettes with Sting/RVD/Mr. Anderson. Meanwhile, there's a locker room full of talent just waiting and waiting and waiting...
What really bothers me though, is that TNA are basically saying to their fans "We'll give you a real show... on pay-per-view." The weekly house shows are simply becoming storyline builders; laying the foundation for the upcoming PPV, which is fine, that's how the wrestling game works. But what they have to remember is that if they're not showcasing their talent on a weekly basis then no one is going to bother tuning in for the Lockdowns or Victory Roads. Dixie Carter, Jeff Jarrett or whoever is pulling the strings behind the curtain needs to realise that iMPACT! is their bread and butter, and without it their company and their employees are going to lose money, lose talent, and, ultimately, lose their jobs.
Up North, as they say, the WWE has some problems of their own. It's not talent related; if anything, their talent base is looking better than it has done in years. It's not financial either; I think it's safe to say that Vince McMahon never needs to worry about that. It's a marketing problem, I suppose, or a moral one, if you feel strongly enough about it. The decision by Vince McMahon to abolish the term 'wrestling' from the company name, and to forbid his employees from uttering the cursed term at all, is beyond ridiculous, and stating that WWE doesn't stand for anything, is more idiotic than anything; he could have at least suggested an alternative. However, I don't imagine that this will be a problem for long, I expect Vince will soon reinvent the company under a whole new name, logo etc. This wouldn't bother me a fraction as much, were it not for the rich history of the WWE, WWF, WWWF etc.
It's bad enough that they had to re-write history when they lost the legal rights to the WWF name to a bunch of hippies, but now they're basically spitting on their long-standing titles, their Hall of Fame, the very thing that bought Vince McMahon his many homes, cars and private jets. Basically, what he's saying to wrestling now - whether he means to or not - is "thanks, but I've met someone else." To his credit, it doesn't look as though McMahon has let the high quality of his entertainment slide (Wrestlemania aside) but it's still early days, so we'll wait and see.
What did make me think, though, was when I read that CM Punk rejected a new contract from the WWE. Sure, he's not in the top-flight right now and, personally, I think tying him to the Nexus is dragging him down, but he's more successful now - in certain aspects - than he was in the Indy circuits. He's traded the uncertainty of a job and a paycheck for a regular wage and hectic work schedule, which many wrestlers cite as the real killer of professional wrestling. Whatever Punk's reasons may be, I honestly believe that dropping the term 'wrestling' from the company altogether will discourage wrestlers - true wrestlers, like Punk - from joining, in the fears that it may reflect badly on them in the eyes of the smaller promotions and hardcore fans. But, at the end of the day, Vince McMahon's the one counting his millions and I'm sitting at home watching last night's RAW on YouTube. Touchè, Vince.
Wednesday 27 October 2010
EA Sports MMA steps into the cage to compete for the #1 spot.
Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10.
Electronic Arts are the Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory of the blister-causing, sleeping-pattern-disturbing popular video games series Fight Night; a series so well developed that no other boxing game has had a look in since 2004. Now, in 2010, Electronic Arts have been wise enough to recognise that boxing is slowly having its position usurped by the exotic world of Mixed Martial Arts, and they've produced a game to rival the reigning champion Yuke's and THQ's UFC 2010. Before tearing EA Sports MMA to little shreds and analysing each detail, a little background on the UFC vs. any-other-sporting-organisation-who-tries-to-use-any-of-our-contracted-fighters-and/or-logos-and-we're-not-playing-anymore-screw-you-guys-I'm-going-home.
Dana White, president of the UFC and part-owner of it's parent company Zuffa, is without question the most intelligent, ruthless and business-smart person to ever have his likeness in a video game when there was really no need for it. Anyone who has watched Dana on the UFC reality show 'The Ultimate Fighter' or in interviews, can see very clearly that he's a brash and somewhat unlikeable person. This became very evident in the lead up to EA's release of the game when Dana declared war (he actually said 'war' I swear to god) against EA after they refused to develop the UFC franchise over some mishap. White even went so far as to threaten his current roster with expulsion from the UFC if they agreed to appear in the EA release. Of course, this has nothing to do with the game itself, but comparisons will inevitably be drawn between the two as they fight for the top spot... or the title, as it may be.
I got home from the supermarket, ripped the cellophane off the luminous green box bearing the battered mugs of Fedor and Randy and fired it into my X-Box. As always with a new game, I sat through the intro-animation, an impressive show of punches, kicks and submissions, then I carefully clicked through the menu options and decided on MMA 101: the best place to start, I assumed. I was wrong.
MMA 101 is like being blindfolded, spun in circles, thrown into a boxing ring... then having Bob Sapp punch you square between the eyes. You're automatically put into a fight, without the option of choosing your fighter or opponent, and instead of being given instructions on how to play the game, you are given a summary of what button you have just pressed and what it does. All the while you are being punched and driven into the canvas whilst frantically flicking through the instruction manual. The feature doesn't contribute to the game in any way and it gives a dreadful first impression of the game as a whole... it won't be missed from next year's instalment but a proper tutorial would be a welcome addition.
So as we stumble out of MMA 101, wondering what the hell just happened to us, we decide to cheat a little... we'll have an exhibition fight against an easy opponent just to experiment with the controls. The exhibition menu is simple enough, as we have come to expect from the UFC series: choose your weight class, your fighter, your opponent... FIGHT! But this is where EA have been so god-damn clever. They have opened up a whole world of mixed martial arts to us with 6 separate organisations, including the popular Strikeforce, each with it's own set of rules, round durations and the option to choose between a hexagonal cage, a circular cage, or the traditional square ring. It's a small change, and purely aesthetic as the ropes behave the same as the cage, but this makes a world of difference to the hardcore MMA fans... and believe me, they'll let you know if you've got it wrong.
So you've picked your division, your organisation, your arena and your cage/ring... now you get to choose who you want to use to beat seven shades out of your opponent. As soon as this game was announced the online message boards were crammed full of the aforementioned MMA "geeks" asking and/or demanding that so-and-so "BETTER!!" be in the game. The game-roster may possibly be the most determining factor of whether or not people buy your game, and EA were not oblivious to this. They exploited the UFC franchise's two biggest (literally) flaws... no Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko and no Randy "The Natural" Couture. The until-recently-undefeated Russian has never stepped foot inside the UFC's octagon, much to the dismay of many, and the cauliflower-eared American hasn't appeared in either of the UFC's most recent releases due to contractual and personal disputes with Dana White.
Along with two of the least-groomed cover boys ever seen, EA secured the rights to the Shamrock brothers, former professional wrestler Bobby Lashley, Roger and Kron Gracie, Pat Miletich, Kevin "The Monster" Randleman, etc. etc. etc. EA delivered over and above with their impressive roster, and no doubt this is something we can expect to only get better in the next instalment.
Now, and only now, do we get to the actual fight... that is, after our fighter's entrance, complete with music, fireworks, the lot (yet another feature lacking in the UFC games.) Having played the Fight Night games I was intrigued to see how the right analog stick controls would fare against the typical button-bashing, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the "total control" that EA promotes was not far from the truth. True, in the panic of being repeatedly punched in the face, it can be fiddlesome, but I put that down to my own personal composure issues. The developers have also been considerate enough to provide us with the option of "classic controls" aka "the same controls that the UFC game uses, you lazy swine."
To keep things simple, we'll be talking about the right analog stick here. The basic movements are simple enough; flick to jab, half turn to hook, hold the left trigger for the kick modifier and RB for the high-low modifier. Then you have your takedown button, your deny button to stop takedowns and clinches, your right trigger for blocks and parrys, and all the dashing, bobbing and weaving you can shake a stick at. Total control indeed. The ground game works much the same as the UFC games, but with greater emphasis on the "Pass to strike, strike to pass" ethos, requiring a greater deal of concentration and skill.
The submission system is something almost reminiscent of newer WWE Smackdown vs Raw releases, where control/timing plays a bigger part than button bashing or spinning the analog stick at 88mph. There are different systems for limb submissions and choke submissions, the limb submissions requiring you to press the designated button in short bursts, without running out of stamina. The choke submissions require you to find the "sweet spot" with the left analog stick, moving it in the correct direction to tighten the grip on your opponent and cause him to tap.
So there you are, punching and blocking, sticking and moving, using all the tactical knowledge you've gained by watching hours of MMA on illegal online feeds, when you strike one big punch and there's a blue flash on the screen - this is EA's version of 'being rocked.' You can almost taste the victory so you start throwing Bolos and your opponent hits the mat. Now a truly magical and brutally graphic thing is going to happen... you can choose to either continue throwing fists into your opponent's unguarded face until the you are declared the winner, or if you're lucky your opponent will land on his back and you can take this opportunity to do a full-force soccer kick to his face or to stand over him and stomp your calloused heel repeatedly into his bloody mush of a face. These two simple additions to the game have been major talking points since it's release.
Exhibition mode is good for a quick fight to kill time before going outside to the real world, or if you have your mates round and you want to take out your secret frustration on them for drinking all your beers. But the real test for the single player game is Career Mode, where we take on the role of Dr. Frankenstein and build and develop our creation through the many trials and tribulations to the title. The create-a-fighter option, in any game, is never varied enough for the fans. It has taken the WWE over a dozen games to get to the advanced stage that they are at now, EA were never going to get this right first time. But their attempt is not disastrous, the options are certainly limited, but your created fighter does not stick out like a sore thumb against the refined features of the in-game characters. A redeeming factor, however, is the Photo Game Face option, which helps make up for the fact that you must otherwise choose from a list of pre-made faces. Another problem that all developers are facing in regards to charcter creation is the variation, style, size and placement of tattoos, and sadly EA has dropped the ball on this one. Again, these are problems we should see worked out by next year.
The career mode itself begins with a tutorial that would've helped a lot in MMA 101, with Bas Rutten taking you under his wing and showing you the basics. You have 8 weeks of training to endure before each fight, and anyone who played the UFC 2010 career mode probably groaned with frustration at the thought of having to put up with 20 minutes of repetitive exercises before getting to your fight. EA have remedied this, thankfully, by allowing you the option to simulate your training exercises providing you have already completed them once before. This shaves down a lot of time that's better spent in the cage/ring. As mentioned previously, EA have opened up the world of MMA to us, and career mode gives us the opportunity to travel to some of the best gyms in the world to train with the likes of Randy Couture, Pat Miletich and Rickson Gracie among others. Here we can learn upto 14 special moves, including superman punches, flying knees and various submissions, and each trip will cost you only $5000 maximum. Which, you will find, becomes pocket change soon enough as the fight purses become much greater, but there's nothing to spend your hundreds of thousands or even millions on. I think purchasable upgrades, clothing, sponsors etc. would be the obvious solution to this one.
Career mode tends move a lot quicker than it's UFC counterpart, but for this it sacrifices some of the depth, and this becomes apparent when you realise that your fighter, although a Brawler for instance, can pull off a gogoplata or a climbing armbar if you choose to. EA would be wise to examine and emulate the customisable movesets allowed in UFC 2010. Another issue that should be addressed is the option to choose your opponent in career mode, rather than having Bas Rutten choosing for you. Bas makes up for this greatly with some of the funniest voice work you'll ever find in a game about beating the crap out of people.
Sadly Career and Exhibition modes are where the line ends for the single player with no X-Box Live (much like myself.) Online play is definitely becoming the bigger and more developed part of every game these days, which I personally believe to be a way to maipulate more people into getting an online subscription, because I clearly don't spend enough money on games as it is. From what I read and hear however, the EA MMA online features are pretty expansive, with some innovating elements too. But that's not for me to testify to either way.
Some last minute observations on the game now; on the plus side the soundtrack is highly impressive, clearly no expense was spared and it shows. On the negative side, the loading screens are frequent, long and stammering, as if trying to load a million things at once but only coming up with a 10 second animation. The CPU stamina bar has also been recieving some negative remarks as it never seems to diminish, whereas your character is fighting for breath in the corner.
On the whole, EA Sports have stepped into the cage and made an impressive debut. It's not a first round flying knee knockout, but it's not a split-decision points victory either. People will ask if the game is worth the £40 or $60 asking price and I would tell them, with no feelings of deception, that is certainly is. I would hope that they will take in all the suggestions and criticsisms and put them all to work in producing a more refined and in-depth title next year. In which case, next year's EA vs UFC battle for the title is going to be a fight to remember.
Electronic Arts are the Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory of the blister-causing, sleeping-pattern-disturbing popular video games series Fight Night; a series so well developed that no other boxing game has had a look in since 2004. Now, in 2010, Electronic Arts have been wise enough to recognise that boxing is slowly having its position usurped by the exotic world of Mixed Martial Arts, and they've produced a game to rival the reigning champion Yuke's and THQ's UFC 2010. Before tearing EA Sports MMA to little shreds and analysing each detail, a little background on the UFC vs. any-other-sporting-organisation-who-tries-to-use-any-of-our-contracted-fighters-and/or-logos-and-we're-not-playing-anymore-screw-you-guys-I'm-going-home.
Dana White, president of the UFC and part-owner of it's parent company Zuffa, is without question the most intelligent, ruthless and business-smart person to ever have his likeness in a video game when there was really no need for it. Anyone who has watched Dana on the UFC reality show 'The Ultimate Fighter' or in interviews, can see very clearly that he's a brash and somewhat unlikeable person. This became very evident in the lead up to EA's release of the game when Dana declared war (he actually said 'war' I swear to god) against EA after they refused to develop the UFC franchise over some mishap. White even went so far as to threaten his current roster with expulsion from the UFC if they agreed to appear in the EA release. Of course, this has nothing to do with the game itself, but comparisons will inevitably be drawn between the two as they fight for the top spot... or the title, as it may be.
I got home from the supermarket, ripped the cellophane off the luminous green box bearing the battered mugs of Fedor and Randy and fired it into my X-Box. As always with a new game, I sat through the intro-animation, an impressive show of punches, kicks and submissions, then I carefully clicked through the menu options and decided on MMA 101: the best place to start, I assumed. I was wrong.
MMA 101 is like being blindfolded, spun in circles, thrown into a boxing ring... then having Bob Sapp punch you square between the eyes. You're automatically put into a fight, without the option of choosing your fighter or opponent, and instead of being given instructions on how to play the game, you are given a summary of what button you have just pressed and what it does. All the while you are being punched and driven into the canvas whilst frantically flicking through the instruction manual. The feature doesn't contribute to the game in any way and it gives a dreadful first impression of the game as a whole... it won't be missed from next year's instalment but a proper tutorial would be a welcome addition.
So as we stumble out of MMA 101, wondering what the hell just happened to us, we decide to cheat a little... we'll have an exhibition fight against an easy opponent just to experiment with the controls. The exhibition menu is simple enough, as we have come to expect from the UFC series: choose your weight class, your fighter, your opponent... FIGHT! But this is where EA have been so god-damn clever. They have opened up a whole world of mixed martial arts to us with 6 separate organisations, including the popular Strikeforce, each with it's own set of rules, round durations and the option to choose between a hexagonal cage, a circular cage, or the traditional square ring. It's a small change, and purely aesthetic as the ropes behave the same as the cage, but this makes a world of difference to the hardcore MMA fans... and believe me, they'll let you know if you've got it wrong.
So you've picked your division, your organisation, your arena and your cage/ring... now you get to choose who you want to use to beat seven shades out of your opponent. As soon as this game was announced the online message boards were crammed full of the aforementioned MMA "geeks" asking and/or demanding that so-and-so "BETTER!!" be in the game. The game-roster may possibly be the most determining factor of whether or not people buy your game, and EA were not oblivious to this. They exploited the UFC franchise's two biggest (literally) flaws... no Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko and no Randy "The Natural" Couture. The until-recently-undefeated Russian has never stepped foot inside the UFC's octagon, much to the dismay of many, and the cauliflower-eared American hasn't appeared in either of the UFC's most recent releases due to contractual and personal disputes with Dana White.
Along with two of the least-groomed cover boys ever seen, EA secured the rights to the Shamrock brothers, former professional wrestler Bobby Lashley, Roger and Kron Gracie, Pat Miletich, Kevin "The Monster" Randleman, etc. etc. etc. EA delivered over and above with their impressive roster, and no doubt this is something we can expect to only get better in the next instalment.
Now, and only now, do we get to the actual fight... that is, after our fighter's entrance, complete with music, fireworks, the lot (yet another feature lacking in the UFC games.) Having played the Fight Night games I was intrigued to see how the right analog stick controls would fare against the typical button-bashing, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the "total control" that EA promotes was not far from the truth. True, in the panic of being repeatedly punched in the face, it can be fiddlesome, but I put that down to my own personal composure issues. The developers have also been considerate enough to provide us with the option of "classic controls" aka "the same controls that the UFC game uses, you lazy swine."
To keep things simple, we'll be talking about the right analog stick here. The basic movements are simple enough; flick to jab, half turn to hook, hold the left trigger for the kick modifier and RB for the high-low modifier. Then you have your takedown button, your deny button to stop takedowns and clinches, your right trigger for blocks and parrys, and all the dashing, bobbing and weaving you can shake a stick at. Total control indeed. The ground game works much the same as the UFC games, but with greater emphasis on the "Pass to strike, strike to pass" ethos, requiring a greater deal of concentration and skill.
The submission system is something almost reminiscent of newer WWE Smackdown vs Raw releases, where control/timing plays a bigger part than button bashing or spinning the analog stick at 88mph. There are different systems for limb submissions and choke submissions, the limb submissions requiring you to press the designated button in short bursts, without running out of stamina. The choke submissions require you to find the "sweet spot" with the left analog stick, moving it in the correct direction to tighten the grip on your opponent and cause him to tap.
So there you are, punching and blocking, sticking and moving, using all the tactical knowledge you've gained by watching hours of MMA on illegal online feeds, when you strike one big punch and there's a blue flash on the screen - this is EA's version of 'being rocked.' You can almost taste the victory so you start throwing Bolos and your opponent hits the mat. Now a truly magical and brutally graphic thing is going to happen... you can choose to either continue throwing fists into your opponent's unguarded face until the you are declared the winner, or if you're lucky your opponent will land on his back and you can take this opportunity to do a full-force soccer kick to his face or to stand over him and stomp your calloused heel repeatedly into his bloody mush of a face. These two simple additions to the game have been major talking points since it's release.
Exhibition mode is good for a quick fight to kill time before going outside to the real world, or if you have your mates round and you want to take out your secret frustration on them for drinking all your beers. But the real test for the single player game is Career Mode, where we take on the role of Dr. Frankenstein and build and develop our creation through the many trials and tribulations to the title. The create-a-fighter option, in any game, is never varied enough for the fans. It has taken the WWE over a dozen games to get to the advanced stage that they are at now, EA were never going to get this right first time. But their attempt is not disastrous, the options are certainly limited, but your created fighter does not stick out like a sore thumb against the refined features of the in-game characters. A redeeming factor, however, is the Photo Game Face option, which helps make up for the fact that you must otherwise choose from a list of pre-made faces. Another problem that all developers are facing in regards to charcter creation is the variation, style, size and placement of tattoos, and sadly EA has dropped the ball on this one. Again, these are problems we should see worked out by next year.
The career mode itself begins with a tutorial that would've helped a lot in MMA 101, with Bas Rutten taking you under his wing and showing you the basics. You have 8 weeks of training to endure before each fight, and anyone who played the UFC 2010 career mode probably groaned with frustration at the thought of having to put up with 20 minutes of repetitive exercises before getting to your fight. EA have remedied this, thankfully, by allowing you the option to simulate your training exercises providing you have already completed them once before. This shaves down a lot of time that's better spent in the cage/ring. As mentioned previously, EA have opened up the world of MMA to us, and career mode gives us the opportunity to travel to some of the best gyms in the world to train with the likes of Randy Couture, Pat Miletich and Rickson Gracie among others. Here we can learn upto 14 special moves, including superman punches, flying knees and various submissions, and each trip will cost you only $5000 maximum. Which, you will find, becomes pocket change soon enough as the fight purses become much greater, but there's nothing to spend your hundreds of thousands or even millions on. I think purchasable upgrades, clothing, sponsors etc. would be the obvious solution to this one.
Career mode tends move a lot quicker than it's UFC counterpart, but for this it sacrifices some of the depth, and this becomes apparent when you realise that your fighter, although a Brawler for instance, can pull off a gogoplata or a climbing armbar if you choose to. EA would be wise to examine and emulate the customisable movesets allowed in UFC 2010. Another issue that should be addressed is the option to choose your opponent in career mode, rather than having Bas Rutten choosing for you. Bas makes up for this greatly with some of the funniest voice work you'll ever find in a game about beating the crap out of people.
Sadly Career and Exhibition modes are where the line ends for the single player with no X-Box Live (much like myself.) Online play is definitely becoming the bigger and more developed part of every game these days, which I personally believe to be a way to maipulate more people into getting an online subscription, because I clearly don't spend enough money on games as it is. From what I read and hear however, the EA MMA online features are pretty expansive, with some innovating elements too. But that's not for me to testify to either way.
Some last minute observations on the game now; on the plus side the soundtrack is highly impressive, clearly no expense was spared and it shows. On the negative side, the loading screens are frequent, long and stammering, as if trying to load a million things at once but only coming up with a 10 second animation. The CPU stamina bar has also been recieving some negative remarks as it never seems to diminish, whereas your character is fighting for breath in the corner.
On the whole, EA Sports have stepped into the cage and made an impressive debut. It's not a first round flying knee knockout, but it's not a split-decision points victory either. People will ask if the game is worth the £40 or $60 asking price and I would tell them, with no feelings of deception, that is certainly is. I would hope that they will take in all the suggestions and criticsisms and put them all to work in producing a more refined and in-depth title next year. In which case, next year's EA vs UFC battle for the title is going to be a fight to remember.
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