EA Sports UFC Reviews Trending Behind Past THQ and EA MMA Efforts

EA Sports UFC is out today and the reviews coming in early peg it as the weakest of the major games representing the sport in recent years. Lack of content and an arcade rather than sim approach are being considered – though fun factor regardless of that has been widely identified and online play appears to offer much more enjoyment than taking on the CPU.

Metacritic Scores
EA Sports UFC (2014) 69/77
UFC Undisputed 3 (2012) 85/86
EA Sports MMA (2010) 79/77
UFC Undisputed 2010 85/84
UFC Undisputed 2009 83/84

Though only a small percentage of the total reviews that will come in over the course of the coming weeks have been posted, it’s safe to expect the overall score to float in the same general vicinity of the mid-70s. Even if it rose slightly higher than that it has to be considered a disappointment that UFC, built for the new consoles with the might of the organization behind it, would struggle to top the critical reception of the Strikeforce-branded MMA game which was unable to reach a wide audience four years ago.

The reasons behind the mediocre reviews will be examined on Friday’s Press Row Hangout along with complete impressions of the game. However the questionable decision to market and design the game with casual consumers most in mind – the same group that would find the controls too complicated among other barriers – would have to be one of the biggest mistakes EA made.