THE BIG GAME EA SPORTS UFC
great opportunity for us to help push the sport into new markets and support it.”
TAKING BETS
Hayes is a betting man. That much became clear upon sitting down with the producer, who opened the interview by placing a £20 wager with an EA PR over the last time he visited the UK. It’s something that has bled into his expectations for UFC, too. And whilst he’s not quite so bullish on the title reaching the success of FIFA or Madden just yet, it’s something that he certainly has in mind looking into the future. “As much as I would love for
this game to sell as many units as FIFA in its first year – I won’t bet £20 on it,” jokes Hayes. “But is the potential there for it to perform somewhere close to that five or six years down the road? Possibly. And that’s why it’s a long-term partnership.” EA has high expectations for UFC. And for good reason, because UFC has been a hit games brand for some time. The first UFC title launched in 2000, and three sequels followed before THQ took over the licence in 2007. But the sport has been missing from shelves since the publisher’s demise in 2013 and its last entry UFC Undisputed 3. Yet Hayes is not one for looking back. In his eyes, EA’s take on UFC is something completely new. “From a technological standpoint it’s a completely new game and we built it all from scratch. There are bound to be similarities because we made a UFC game and THQ made a UFC game. So certain things are going to exist in both for sure. “We didn’t necessarily try to carry on anything or get away from anything that came before, such as other EA Sports products, or games made by THQ, or other titles like Fight Night. We really just looked at what works, what doesn’t work, what can be improved and what are the innovations we can really make.”
June 13th 2014
KEEPING UP APPEARENCES Upon first-look at EA Sports UFC it’s the visuals that immediately jump out. There’s everything you would expect from a game that fixates on two men kicking the living daylight out of each other. Blood, sweat, and perhaps even the odd tooth flying. Pummelling an opponent in the face with your firsts will, rightly so, leave them looking like a swollen, bloody mess.
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
There are next-gen early adopters who want something that shows off what their console can do.
Brian Hayes, EA UFC shouldn’t be judged
merely on its looks as it boasts one of the most comprehensive control systems going. But Hayes himself confesses that the visuals delivered by EA’s Ignite Engine are likely to prove a major selling- point for prospective buyers. “The visuals are going to be tied
for the No.1 selling-point if not No.1. The other major selling-point right now being the inclusion of Bruce Lee,” says Hayes. “We remember what it was like when Fight Night Round 3 came out for the Xbox 360 and PS3. What that game accomplished visually was what set it up for its level of commercial success. “We know there are next- gen early adopters who want something that shows off what their console can do. And if that just happens to be a game that’s really fun to knock people out or choke people out then that’s all the better. That’s definitely something we focused on. We wanted to make sure we made visuals as mind-blowing as possible. “Obviously, I’m a little biased
and I won’t be the final say on the matter. But our hopes are that fans and critics will feel the same way: that this is really one of the first games that proves the next-gen has arrived.”
24
www.mcvuk.com
ONE of the most talked about features of EA Sports UFC isn’t its graphics. Or its gameplay. It isn’t even a fighter on the current UFC roster. Everyone is talking about Bruce Lee. The legendary icon was a late addition to the game. And although it might sound like a cool idea to most, not everyone is convinced. “I actually had this discussion with Shannon Lee (Bruce Lee’s daughter) herself. She asked ‘what do you think hardcore UFC fans might say?’ given that he wasn’t a fighter, he was an actor. He never competed and might not belong in UFC,” says creative director Brian Hayes. UFC fans are lamenting the
use of Lee in a sport where they feel he doesn’t belong.
Bruce Lee is a fully-playable character in UFC
Meanwhile, Jeet Kune Do practicioners (the martial arts method for which Lee made his name) argue that the UFC is far from an accurate representation of the fighting style. But on the topic of these critics, Hayes keeps it short and sweet. “I just don’t care. You have those UFC fans here and the Jeet Kune Do fans here. Take a one- inch step to the side and you have everyone else in between. That’s who this is really for. “There are so many people
in the middle that love Bruce Lee’s movies, love the UFC and think it would be cool to take him into the Octagon and perform a spinning backfist into Jose Aldo’s face. That’s far more important than a YouTube comment or anything else.”
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