Slowly but surely the EA Sports UFC series has managed to gradually improve with each offering. The first title offered a solid base, and the sequel revamped the ground game. Now on its third title, it seemed like everything was in place for a content-deep offering that really catered to mixed martial arts fans. Instead, EA Sports UFC 3 feels like yet another gradual step forward rather than a revolution.
The biggest gameplay improvement comes from the actual striking. In past games, it often felt as though characters were overly robotic in their animations. That issue is totally fixed here, and it all builds to create a really satisfying system with plenty of depth. On the other hand, submissions and jiu jitsu largely work as they did in EA Sports UFC 2, which means players will use the right analog stick to choose positions. That’s largely fine, but there is still one issue when playing against computer-controlled characters with high submission ratings: it’s nearly impossible to win the submission minigame if you’re defending. In other words, if they attempt a submission, it’s largely game over. It’s a real oversight that hurts the later stages of the career mode since nearly every fighter you’ll face will have insanely high stats. The career mode has also been overhauled and is framed around trying to become the greatest fighter of all time. Players will have to do a lot more than just winning a championship this time. Instead, the...