This game is well made and realistic in terms of graphic and controls. However, this game could be very boring for those who do not play online like me.

First of all, your top player have to be retired after some time on top of ranking.

Also, there are not many other computer players, so eventually when you are on top level of the ranking, you just fight against same guys again and again.

I played a few weeks and stopped because of the reasons mentioned above

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Conventionally, I wouldn't have bought this game. But I like getting a new game every once in a while, and the recent string of games haven't been up to snuff. So I took a risk, and I was surprised.

THQ also makes those wrestling games, which I played a little while back and decided weren't my thing, which was no surprise because wrestling in that sense wasn't my thing either. I was dubious now that they had delved into the world of real fighting.

The controls are like Skate. They say they're intuitive, they aren't, but once you get the hang of them, the learning curve is huge, and they make enough sense. I've gone back to the tutorial not once, not twice, but three times, because every time I learn some more about the game and feel the need to brush up on the finer points.

Options are limited. This isn't some shooter type game where you can alter every last detail. You pick the number of rounds, the arena, and if you really want, which referee you have. And you only have three to choose from. The depth of this game lies in the gameplay.

I personally feel that the game is progressing as I am, and that every time I learn something new the fighters in career mode are just that little bit harder. I rarely play a game with such remarkable pace and challenge from beginning to end. Nothing is ever impossible; nothing is ever simple either.

Certain elements of the career mode, like just basic training, are annoying and time wasting. Other elements, like the camps, are actually useful. While playing, I consciously think "man, I need to work on my ground game", or something similar, which is a feat, because the game is actually making me think like a fighter.

Is this game perfect? No. And I won't make some statement about it coming damn close. But quite frankly, this type of game has never been done before, and it's been done pretty well-without any frills or gimmicks to distract me. Undisputed makes me act and think like fighter, gets me involved, and challenges me just enough. I'm satisfied.

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This would be a great MMA game if it were not so difficult. I usually dominate in most fighting games. Dont get me wrong, the graphics are awesome and the fights are very realistic, a little to realistic!!!. My main problem with this game is that the controls are way to diff. You can hardly win a match on experienced, because the game is just gona grapple you to the ground, get in full mount position, then pumble you until you are K.O. Another thing is that when you play the computer they cheat like never before, I've been in MMA for quite some time and let me tell you, if you get kick in the head by a master kicker something is gona break weather you block or not. Just ask Shamrock, kung lee kicked him in the arm and it broke. So some aspects of the game are very unrealistic especially when playing against the computer, but as a overall its an ok game if you can deal with serious cheating. I dont know but it seems like when they made this game they made it so that you can barley reverse anything that they computer does to you, and that sucks big time, because you're just gonna keep losing matches especially with the way that they cheat when it comes to grappling (I can't stress that enough, trust me) This is this how a match usually goes on on the experienced and up levels. You start you go in doing your thing (Punching, kicked, clenching, or judo throws....ect. you get a couple of strikes off. The computer blocks most of you strikes, then grapples you to the ground. You may get out of a couple of submission that they try, but then after a while you're gona either get K.O. or they will make you tap. you try to reverse or twist out as much as you want, but you're gona tapping trust me. So the game gets pretty boring and meaningless after a while......that my take on it, I'll probably trade it in for some thing better.......If anyone has any advice on how to get pass some this thing I previously discussed please fill me in........shalom

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I cannot give a detailed review of the game since many others have outlined it very well but I have to bring up one very important issue...

The game is great overall with over 80+ to choose from. But the online is very disappointing. I have a decent record and I am at level 18...But as you increase rank, you will meet more quitters and eventually you will face quitters 9/10 times.

If you are just about to win, your opponent will drop the game by pulling the plug (ethernet) on their xbox and it will not penalize them at all. And your win will not be recorded. Because of this, I am going to sell the game since the online was my biggest reason for buying it. What a big disappointment on THQ's part. This is an old trick in the book and they completely overlooked the issue...Real, real shame...This game had a lot of potential of being a great MMA game...

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Pros:

-Unique Fighting engines, alot of diversity to how you want your champion to move.

-Great graphics for a fighting game, Shows blood, sweat, and for my opponents? Tears. hehe.

-Amazing Mobility: You can sprint, and strafe around the ring, dodge punches and kicks by backstepping, etc.

-Control of your character for the most part, You can choose to block your stomach, your face, Reverse blows to your head, and body.

-How real fighting would be, if it were simulated..: You go on the offensive, or even defensive in a variety of positions such as clinching, ground n' pound, You HAVE to block, rather than just run in and dominate your opponent, it requires skill to get out of Submissions, reverse takedowns, and even drop your opponent(s) on their heads!

CONS:

Horrible Online mode : The lag for most fights is so bad, you can see the opponents move before they know they're going to do it, and have alot of time to reverse it..

-Music

It's a great variety of songs, but it's just 1 set of like 6 songs on a constant loop, quite annoying.

-Struggle

In real life, if you go for a submission, you get it or you don't. In this game, you sit on the ground mercilessly rolling the right stick and pressing buttons till' one of the fighter's hands are so tired they give into the submission..

OVERALL:

I LOVE this game, It's a hell of a fun game to play, the online is DOABLE, and it's quite entertaining not knowing what your opponents are going to do, like alot of other fighting games where you have like a 3 button range of moves. I rate this game 5/5 for fun, 4/5 for overall because of the online-mode, If you like the UFC, Then I'd say go for it, You can be just about anyone you can name. In all weight classes (Lightweight, Welterweight, middleweight, light heavy, and heavy) For some of you wrestling fans...yes, It does include the massive wall of a man known as Brock Lesnar. Enjoy :D

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I loved this game .... for the first few days then i tried online terrible you cant even find anyone to play and then the game gets repetitive every fight is the same get really old i tell you this every figt the same thing will happen KO hardly ever submission.....

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Let me start off by saying I am not a fan of wrestling, UFC or anything MMA. I am in no way biased towards this genre, but I do like to kick a little butt via my Xbox 360. I loved Fight Night (round 2 mostly) and a few Wrestling games, and even the previous UFC game. They were all quite fun - But the new "UFC 2009 Undisputed" tops them all. Let me explain why.

I'll start with the first thing that most people look for in picking out a new game: the graphics. I have to say, I was amazed by the graphics of this game. When my girlfriend sees me playing NBA 2k9, she sometimes thinks I am watching a real basketball game. When I first put in UFC 2009 Undisputed, I had to convince her It was a video game opposed to the real thing. The game is friggin' realistic, believe me. The crowd is a bit stale, but still a step up from previous games. For the graphics, I give an A+

Gameplay and Controls. I love the controls, they're perfect. Although this series is just starting, I hope they never change them (and we all know how developers love making new and "innovative" controls).They are easy to learn and become natural to the player pretty quickly. But don't let this fool you, just because the controls are easy it doesn't mean the game is. I have yet to master any aspect of this game, but I would have to give the difficulty a 7.5, with 10 being the hardest.

The gameplay is what what really won me over with UFC 2009. With dozens of real life fighters, there are seemingly hundreds of moves that you can make that ensure every fight is a unique experience. And from what I have seen from real life UFC, the game play here is pretty much identical. One thing I must point out, is that I absolutely hate UFC once the fighters are grappling on the ground. I was certain I would hate it here, but I absolutely love it. It is a very unique gaming experience, but most of the game is still played on your feet. Gameplay and controls: A+

Game modes: So far I have only done career mode and 1 vs 1 against a friend. Both are great. The career mode has its flaws, but not many. It is still difficult for me to navigate through the menus as it seems like they went out of there way to make this take longer than it should. My favorite part is that they gave us character creation. The different appearances that you can give your personal fighter aren't superb, but there are tons of different attributes that you add points to as you progress through your career. For now I made my guy specialize in standing kicks and grapples on the ground, I'll see how that works out for him. As I continue sparring and training between matches, I'll be able to add points to any attribute I please. Career mode A, while multiplayer I give an A+ (I have only played multiplayer for about an hour, but I had a blast.)

Overall, I think you know already, I give the game an A+. My only complaint is the load times, but they are totally expected with all the detail that went into the game. The great thing about this game is that you can invite friends over and play for hours, and then when they leave just load up your career mode and keep going. Sounds like a kind of sad way to spend your Friday night? That's what you think now - but try it, and you'll be hooked.

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Don't waste your time or money on this piece of crap. Rent it at your local video store and you'll be ready to give it back halfway through the rental period. The on-line aspect is such BS I want to find the morons from THQ who put it together along with Dana White and kick them all in the balls. THe Graphics are good, the fighting is fun at first. But the computer is so annoying. No tourny or open weight modes. No com vs. com, no entrances, NOTHING. The create a fighter is trash and so is the "Classics" and career section. The entire game is full of loop holes in the fights it makes me sick. Seriously on-line has turned me into a bi-polar prick. I but it's the only way to enjoy the game until someone quits early, messes with their connection or out right has the stats jacked for their fighter. The DLC was trash, no updated records or anything. Ground mode is annoying. EA pushed back their release which angers me cuz I want something different. I'll rent UFC 2010 for free at work and then decide if it's worth buying later on. They have A LOT to improve on.

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I am not a follower of UFC by any means. I could recognize maybe 4 or 5 of the fighters on the UFC roster, tops. I could not tell you the difference between any of the martial arts styles that fighters use in MMA.

However, I can tell you that UFC 2009 Undisputed is one heck of a video game.

After reading all the hype surrounding this game, I thought I'd give it a try. I remember enjoying playing an old UFC game for Sega Dreamcast back in the day...that, combined with the positive reception to this game, helped me decide to pick UFC 2009 up.

Immediately, I felt overwhelmed by the number of moves and the complex controls. Sounds like a bad thing, right?

Wrong.

After playing through the Tutorial and getting a few exhibition fights in, becoming accustomed to the controls felt not like a chore, but more like training for an actual contest. You had to devote some time to learning the moves. Learning and mastering the controls was a rewarding process.

After getting the basics down, I ventured into the Career mode. While I enjoyed progressing through the career of my fighter (nicknamed 'Big Nasty'), it felt a little shallow. There were plenty of things to do, but training I thought should have been interactive more than it was. Sparring in a shortened fight and Camp work was fine, but for speed, strength and cardio training to be just a button press on a menu was disappointing.

Also, your fighter (or any other fighter, for that matter) never ages. I started with a 24-year-old character and ended, seven years later (after being forced to retire, which is another letdown), with a 24-year-old fighter. Odd, to say the least.

With that said, Career mode has plenty of positive aspects as well. Being able to increase your "CRED" by doing PR work, photo shoots, interview sessions, etc. is a neat idea. Also, customizable trunks are a cool addition, with plenty of real-life company logos to at your disposal.

Graphics are very accurate. Knocking your opponent's mouthpiece across the Octagon never gets old. Realistic bruising and cuts add to the authentic feel of the game. Collision detection is also spot-on.

Commentary is also near perfect. The announcers call the action accurately and little repetition ever appears.

One other gripe I have about the game is the menus. They are unappealing and can be cumbersome to navigate through. I recommend installing this game to your hard drive (I play on Xbox 360). This eliminates a bit of the menu lag and speeds loading times as well.

Finally, I have not played any matches online, so I cannot comment on that area of the game.

Overall, this game appeals to hardcore MMA/UFC fans and casual ones at the same time. I have only caught UFC fights sporadically and know little about the sport. Even with a limited knowledge of UFC and MMA in general, I find myself spending plenty of time with this game. Despite its (minor) flaws, UFC 2009 Undisputed is a great start for THQ and this franchise.

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Graphics and actual fight scenes area good. But trying to get a carreer fighter in the ring and build on his skills is confusing. I found that the menu system for career mode so confusing and annoying with multiple inputs just to get in a fight that i quit the game and will not play it again. In my opinion, the time it takes to get in a fight compared to the time it takes manuvering around in this horrible menu system is not worth the time or money spent on the game.

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UFC 2009 is arcadish at best. EA MMA will use Fight Night Engine. Gameplay will be better for EA MMA. UFC 2009 only has roster advantage.

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Ok, first I would like to state a little bit about my video game preferences, then I will break this game down into Pass/Fail categories.

I like fight games, I like RPG games, and I like games that add some reality to the mix. In theory, I should like this game, but I don't.

****Pass: (the aspects the game does well)****

~Customization

There are a decent amount of options when it comes to the way your fighter looks and what he wears including: shorts, logos, and mouthgaurds.

However, I have to say that most of the choices for shorts are really boring when compared to your typical MMA shorts in real life. It would have been nice to see a few that were more flashy.

Your fighters looks are also widely variable, including the addition of tattoos and scars. However, don't expect any crazy hairstyles or unnatural colors (such as pink, blue, red, green, etc...), which is disappointing as well.

Overall, there are a decent amount of options for a fighting game, but really disappointing compared to RPG's. I wouldn't even compare this game to an RPG if it wasn't trying to imitate one. This game basically tries to be both and fails miserably.

~Voice Acting and Scenes:

The actual voice acting and scenes are pretty cool. While they aren't enough to salvage the game, the graphics are really nice to watch and the commentary is decent.

****Fails (now onto the massive list of aspects the game does poorly)****

~The Fighting

Ok, there are some points where the fighting feels excellent. There are combos, punches, kicks, knees, etc... And then there are moments where it is absolutely ridiculous. I have played this game in all modes and these issues are very present in every mode.

Problem #1: Unrealistic K.O.'s

When playing in Exhibition Mode my wife and I have K.O'ed each other with punches or kicks that have entirely missed the other person. In replays you can see that the hit was either blocked or avoided completely, yet there the game is, calling the fight and declaring a knockout. This is extremely frustrating as it often happens shortly after the fight has begun. I could understand if it happened further in, after one person had been continually pummelled by the other, and they just happened to call a K.O. at the time a bad hit was thrown. That I could forgive. I don't expect perfection from my games. I do, however, expect to be able to play them for more than 30 seconds without a ridiculous end being brought to the fight. That is NO fun for anyone.

In Career Mode this becomes even more problematic, as every fight counts a tremendous amount (you'll find out why later). There are times where you can beat the heck out of the other person for 4 minutes straight, and then in the last minute of the round your opponent will throw a punch that misses or that you block and yet they will call a K.O. You will be laying on the ground with no way of getting up or redeeming yourself, left completely baffled and frustrated. At this point the only option you have is to immediately hit pause and use the menu to restart the fight before it is recorded. Repeat this process until you can defeat the opponent, otherwise forget about ever getting anywhere in career mode.

Problem #2: Grappling

The grappling in this game is downright HORRIBLE! Horrible to the point that they shouldn't have even bothered to put it in here. It simply takes away from the game. Almost all of the moves are done by rolling around the right stick in a ridiculous fashion. The game rarely registers what you are trying to do, leaving big gaps where nothing happens (unless the ref stands you guys back up), or one of you gets pumelled in the head repeatedly. As you can imagine this also causes huge issues in Career Mode, where you will often get opponents who do nothing but takedowns the whole time. Once you are on the bottom it is possible to roll out of the move sometimes, and it is relatively rare that the opponent gets a submission from you. But it is still ridiculously frustrating to have to sit there mashing buttons and rolling your right thumb around in the vague hope that maybe, just maybe, the fight can continue.

Of course the CPU Players have no problem grappling and will easily mount you, punch you, roll you over, try to arm bar you, etc... Then again, there are many times the CPU Players sit there, looking just as baffled as you feel.

There are many ways they could have made the controls for grappling better. This is just lazy game design. There is no excuse for it. There are buttons and triggers and combos they could have utilized to take care of all of the grappling aspects. Instead they demoted grappling to the lowly position of right stick and an occasional button.

I will, however, admit that on the rare occasions that the grappling does work, it looks kind of cool.

~CAREER MODE

This mode gets capitalized as it is the absolute WORST part of the game.

Problem #1: Retirement

I have never before paid money for a game that has forced me to stop playing it. This is my biggest issue with the game, considering how long it takes to get your fighter's stats and techniques up. It takes forever to get him to a happy place, and just when things start looking up, you recieve an "E-mail", telling you that you must retire. This means that when you take up career mode you have a very short and limited time to get through everything you want to accomplish.

When I started playing Career Mode I assumed, that like other games, it would end after I achieved the highest rank possible or finished all the unlockables or whatever. I didn't realize I was being timed, so you can imagine my shock when the game informed me I needed to retire my 22 year old fighter, because he was "getting too old", and "was no longer eligible to compete". That is completely unrealistic.

The time they give you is hardly enough to train your character in his big aspects (cardio, speed, strength), the laundry list of smaller techniques (takedown defense, takedown offense, stand-up punches, stand-up defense, kicks offense, kicks defense, etc...). It takes tons and tons of points from sparring to get these aspects up, so time constraint is a HUGE issue when trying to create a quality fighter.

If you are going to buy this game and do Career Mode, I would suggest rematching the fight everytime you are about to lose so that you can hope to actually get somewhere.

~The Stats:

For lack of a better term, I will be calling the things I mentioned above the "Stats". This includes the Major Stats such as Cardio, Strength, and Speed stats, as well as the stats you get by sparring, which I will refer to as Technique Stats

The Major Stats, you achieve by "training". You can train maybe twice a week, before running out of Stamina and needing to take a whole week to rest. Often one week does not refill your stamina completely, especially when it is highly depleted, so you must often take two weeks out of your schedule.

Sparring also eats up a week and a decent amount of stamina. The kicker of it is, if you do poorly against your opponent you get hardly any points, and it takes A LOT of points to up the laundry list of Technique Stats you have to work with. On average you will score between 60-100 pts in a sparring match. Up until they reach about 30 they cost 1pt, then 3pts, then 5pts, then 10pts, then 25pts. So it becomes increasingly more impossible to improve your stats by any significant amount.

This part of the game quickly becomes tedious and discouraging.

There is another problem with Major Stats. Your cardio and speed can only go so high without lowering your strength and vice versa, so it is nearly impossible to create a well rounded player. Although I did find the speed and cardio more beneficial than strength in the lightweight division.

~Time Management:

This ties right into the problems above.

On average you get about "10 weeks" between fights, and almost every activity takes up a week and a ton of stamina. But, if the problem wasn't bad enough, you also have to deal with:

Publicity Stunts: You will randomly be asked to go to signings, or make a video, which will eat up a week of your time and disrupt your schedule, but it helps your "Cred Points", which earns you sponsorships.

Unplanned Fights: You will randomly be asked to fill in for fights you didn't plan for. Often your stamina will be depleted when they ask, which will cause you to do poorly and lower your overall ranking, taking you further away from your goal of champion. If you choose to ignore the invites you are passing up cred pts and possible advancement.

Training: On top of all the other training they want you to participate in, they also want you to take "Classes" in whatever discipline you chose (i.e. Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu, or Kickboxing and Judo). Here they had a wonderful oppurtunity to help you out, but they blow it big time. In other fighting games, this type of training would include the button combos being displayed while you were instructed to successfully complete the move several times, before you "passed" and moved onto something else. Instead this mode starts with a HUGE list of goals, many of which don't even provide button combos, just the names. You a have a while to review the list before moving into the training. Here you are put into a ring with a partner. The list is not displayed. Combos are not displayed. You are expected to have the whole list memorized and all of the button combos memorized as well. You then get a short amount of time to complete as many as possible. Most of the combos I finished were accidental, and I quickly abandoned this "training" as it seemed pretty useless.

~Junk Mail

Yes, if it wasn't bad enough that we get junk mail all of the time in real life, we now get it in our video games too. At least the UFC thinks we should. As part of Career Mode, you recieve CONSTANT E-mails. This is where they try meagerly to tie in the RPG factor. While some of the E-mails are relevant, such as picking your opponent or deciding whether or not to take an unplanned fight, many of them are random junk. I didn't even read half of them, as I was constantly bombarded by them. Just a bad choice.

~Menus

There are way too many menus to deal with all of the time, especially in Career Mode. You have to scroll through a bunch of them to change your trunks or gear. This is important as you have to switch up your trunks everytime you get a new sponsor. It seems there should be an easier way to access your clothing choices, especially after receiving a new sponsorship. If you don't add the logos, you don't get the extra cred, and it takes longer to progress.

I think that covers the mainpoints, although I'm sure there are a lot I've missed.

After physically sitting down and writing this review, I've realized that this game deserves 1 star instead of the original 2.

It can be fun at times, but the bad outweighs the good.

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