Overall, EA Sports UFC 3 is the best entry in the franchise yet – but falls a bit short of being the best MMA game ever. The roster is lean on legends, which hurts the ability to do dream matches compared to games like UFC Undisputed 3. The career mode is a huge improvement over past games and the revamped bobbing and weaving system makes combat more enjoyable and intuitive. Anyone who has enjoyed past entries can safely pick up this incarnation and jump right in, while newcomers would be best served trying out prior versions to avoid being in over their head.
EA Sports UFC 3 is the best the series has ever looked, sounded or played and, despite a small handful of minor shortcomings, is quite simply the best UFC title to date and a very real contender for the fighting game throne in 2018.
UFC 3 is the best UFC game so far. UFC 4 and UFC 5 control scheme is worse than UFC 3. Why did EA mess with it? I loved playing UFC 3. UFC 4 and UFC 5 doesn't interest me one bit. They messed with one of my favourite games. I'm so disappointed
UFC 3 feels the most like a video game in the pool of big sports simulations. Being a one-on-one combat sim, it still feels like you’re at the mercy of your own ability even though there are stats. A punch is a punch, and while some chins are more durable than others, patience and care can help you overcome the odds. It feels like a different kind of fighting game for folks interested in real-life martial arts, with a cumbersome grappling system and some branded bumbling with numbers and menus to appeal to the core audience. UFC 3 is fun and exciting, and I can see it acting as a potential entry point for its real-life counterpart.
Besides dealing with computer-controlled submission attempts, I largely feel that EA Sports UFC 3 is the best playing mixed martial arts game to date. That’s why it was so disappointing to find out that so few of the modes managed to capture my interest.
A game of two halves: one gripping, strategic and beautifully balanced, the other dull and grinding. Unfortunately, you have to be able to to deal with both.
EA Sports UFC 3 feels like one step forward and two steps back. Striking is more realistic than ever, but submissions and the ground game remain convoluted. The new G.O.A.T. Career mode has flashes of brilliance, but bogs you down in menus while losing the human side of fights. As well, Ultimate Team just feels like yet another cash grab. There is a decent core in UFC 3, but it needs a lot more time in the gym to become champion material.
I really, really like UFC 3, but there are some huge issues with certain aspects of the game.
I've put a lot of time into Career Mode and feel that I have enough experience with the game to voice an opinion.
As a whole the game is really solid, it looks good and there are plenty of game-modes to keep everyone busy.
Where the game lets itself down is the AI.
I understand how damage, stamina and stats work but some of the things that the AI does is simply superhuman. I don't care how good a certain fighter is in the real world but when they are rocked twice in quick succession and knocked down they are not going to be able to whip out an arm bar from the bottom position when you are at near full stamina.
It feels like the game was almost ready but EA or maybe UFC demanded it be released without that little bit of polish that it needed.
Some of the physics are kind of janky too, the collision detection at times is all over the place, but again, on a whole the game is really good.
Its a technical fighter, almost a strategy game where you need to think and pick your punches. Its nothing like the cartoony violence like MK or SF. The blows are brutal and the damage is visceral. You can really feel the hits.
Overall, there is a really good game here if you want to put the time in and work past the AI inconsistencies. I'm going to keep playing, because there's nothing else out there like it and I am looking forward to UFC 4. I just wish people would stop moaning about it like they do, its pretty cheap now on PSN and if you're a UFC fan you really owe it to yourself to give it a go. 7/10
There are 2 kinds of UFC players and you need to keep this in mind before read reviews. 1) Casual players; 2) Deep players (MMA lovers that take their time to learn the game).
I'm in the second group. UFC series have being my most played game since 2010. So, I pay attention to the details (the relevant ones) and things that most of the reviews might miss. I don't think the game should be a pure MMA simulator. Instead, I think the perfect level is somewhere between arcade and simulator (more toward simulator though)
UFC 3 makes good steps forward, but it does a few steps backwards too. The biggest upset in my opinion is the damage / stamina system, it's so easy to rock someone and so easy to get gassed. Another huge backward is the simplification of striking attributes. Now, kicks and punches are ruled by the sames stats of power and kicks. What the heck??? That nonsense is unanimous on the UFC official forum: nobody approved!
Others problems are: overpowered submissions, zero improvement on customization, no real training in Career mode, overhaul of Ultimate Team probably to worse, insanely difficult to do certain moves that require press up to 5 buttons, worse Ultimate Team, troubles to find an opponent in online matches.
So, if you ask me if UFC 3 is better than 2, I'm almost certainly that it is not. UFC 2 had poor customization, poor campaing, small number of modes, poor AI, but it was a hell of fun and had a Ultimate Team mode that kept you playing. UFC 3 doesn't go very far from UFC 2 and perhaps got worse.
Updates can fix many big gameplay issues, but I doubt it will.
Grappling in this game still is absolutely terrible, Career mode is an improvement over UFC 2 still needs work though especially when I fought Cris Cyborg 5 times in a row as Champion I think the game registered 2 different Cris Cyborgs one at Featherweight and one at Bantamweight. The grappling needs a complete rework as well as submissions. Also if you knock someone down 3 or 4 times in a row and completely recover doesn't seem very realistic your body will go through wear and tear and it should make it harder and harder for you to come back into a fight
SummaryReal Player Motion - New cutting-edge animation technology makes every move, strike, and combination more realistic, responsive, and rewarding. G.O.A.T. Career Mode - Build hype to gain fans and create rivalries that capture the world’s attention. Then fight to dominate the Octagon. Multiplayer Mode - New customizable multiplayer modes l...