While at gamescom this year we managed to attend a UFC Undisputed 3 demonstration and get some hands-on time with the game to see what it’s all about. Of course, it’s all about UFC fighting, but… you know what I mean.

The big change in Undisputed 3 is the addition of an ‘amateur’ control scheme, devised to make the game more accessible, while the previous control scheme is now called ‘pro.’ Let me describe them both for those not familiar with the series.

UFC is a fighting game where grabs, holds and submissions are very important, and movements from one of these positions to another has in the past been affected by performing quarter and half circle movements with the right analog stick. Depending on the particular movement performed you will transition to a different position. With the new amateur controls, however, instead of performing these quarter or half circles all you need to do is flick up or flick down on the right stick. This is obviously a lot simpler to perform and it’s much easier to do what you want to do.

There are still advantages to the pro mode - the transition is completed once the circle movement is done so you have complete control over when the transition finishes and how long it takes. With the amateur mode flicks the control is digital - the transition starts when the flick occurs. This won’t be a problem to most players who want to play casually, but I expect that, in order to compete online with serious UFC fighters, you will still need to learn pro mode.

Also new in Undisputed 3 is ‘Pride’ fighting. This was a Japanese form of cage fighting that was quite brutal, but like UFC, this style later became more regulated. We weren’t shown Pride so I can’t say how different it looks just yet. There are a bunch of other new features: 150 fighters, 7 weight classes and lots of new game rules settings; competition mode takes out the random parts of the game; and equalized stats mode is the same as competition mode but with stats normalised, so this game type is more about different move sets and mastery of controls, which is more suitable for really competitive play.

You can also set it to simulation mode, where stamina and damage is modelled as if in real life, making it much more realistic. New statistics for each fight have been added, too - footwork was added as a stat and the ground grapple stat was split into ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ ground grapple.

Fighter entrances have made their way into UFC Undisputed 3, too, and some fighters will do a signature move as they enter the ring. In career mode you will be able to customize your entrance - what move you do, what music plays, everything. The look of the game is much improved as well, with the implementation of depth of field effects and dynamic lighting to improve the atmosphere of the fights.

One of the biggest features of UFC Undisputed 3 is its focus on accessibility, as indicated by the amateur control scheme. In-game education is another effort to make the game more understandable for the average player. Instead of a tutorial the game will give you hints as you get into different in-game, in-fight situations. For example, the first time you are near to your opponent the game will pause and indicate how to punch and kick. If you get closer still, it will tell you how to grapple your opponent, and once you’re in a grab it will explain how to get into a more dominant position.

Whenever a new situation arises it offers these hints, which I found very useful when I got to play the game. You can turn the hints off if you want to by going to the options screen. Between rounds the game will also give you hints about what you can do to beat the opponent - where you have the advantage and what you’re not doing well. These hints will help you to change your tactics to match your strengths and your opponents’ weaknesses.

The final improvement to player feedback is the submission mechanics. When you attempt a submission an octagon appears on screen with red and blue bars around it. Each player’s bar will be a different size depending on their submission or defence skills, as well as their current energy levels, and the idea is to cover your opponent’s bar with your bar by moving your bar around the octagon with your right analog stick. All the time your bar is covering the opponent’s (if you’re attacking) points will be added, and if you get enough points in the time given your submission will be a success.

Many more tweaks were also added. You can check a low kick by lifting your leg and your opponent will be hurt instead of you. You can also cancel strikes by holding the right bumper and right trigger at the same time. You can perform quick strikes if you alternate your punches, and quick strikes will interrupt strong strikes (made by pushing the left stick and punching). The animations were tuned to be more fluid and the game is running at a constant 60fps - in-game it does feel very fluid and responsive. The clinch system has changed so that you can just hold back to get out of a clinch in an attempt to prevent people spamming clinches.

In my half-hour with the game I went from being a UFC novice to a UFC novice with half an hour experience, but I had fun in the process and felt like I at least knew what I was doing when I did it. I still had trouble winning bouts but that’s to be expected with so little experience. Nevertheless, without playing a separate tutorial I was able to perform a number of moves and understand the flow from standing to grappling to more dominant grabs to submissions, and felt like what I was doing with the controller translated into to the right movements in game. This is an impressive feat because MMA games have been a little intractable to me.

UFC Undisputed 3 looks like a big step up from the previous Undisputed, so I’m sure fans of that game will enjoy this one. With all the accessibility additions to this game (while not dumbing anything down for experienced players) I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a more popular version of the game than the last, in keeping with the sport’s rise in popularity.

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