The Maritime Nerd EA Sports UFC 6 Review

UFC 6 Review Stepping back into the Octagon has never felt so fresh. After a long three-year wait, UFC finally makes its return with UFC 6. Following the disappointing launch of Undisputed, it's time for combat sports games to make a comeback. With new gameplay features and additional game modes, does UFC 6 take home the championship belt, or does it remain the number-one contender? Let's find out. Gameplay Stand-Up The striking feels noticeably better this time around. Punches and kicks have much more impact, making every exchange feel satisfying. One of the biggest improvements is how combos flow together. Instead of feeling robotic, attacks transition more naturally from one strike to the next. If you don't like the default feel, there are gameplay settings that let you adjust the striking to be even more fluid. One new feature is a slow-motion dodge mechanic. During key moments in a fight, time slows down, making it easier to evade incoming strikes. While it's a neat idea, I found that it made the game far too easy, so I turned it off after only two fights. Another addition is the Flow State mechanic. Activating Flow State temporarily slows the action while making your fighter significantly faster and stronger. Personally, I wasn't a fan. It made the gameplay feel much more arcade-like than I would have liked. I only used it a couple of times, mainly when objectives required it or when my opponent activated theirs. Despite those additions, the stand-up game is the best it's been in the UFC series. After making a few adjustments in the settings, it delivers a much more enjoyable and realistic experience. One detail I really appreciated is that fighters finally feel unique. They no longer fight like generic versions of one another. Many of them capture the styles and tendencies they display in the real Octagon, adding authenticity that helps UFC 6 stand out from previous entries. Grappling Grappling is virtually unchanged from UFC 5. Aside from the addition of the new Caged Butterfly position, everything feels familiar. If you enjoyed the grappling system in the previous game, you'll feel right at home here, but don't expect any major innovations. Game Modes Fight Now Fight Now is exactly what you'd expect. Choose your favourite fighter and compete against either the AI or a friend. You can also customize matches by changing the rules. Whether you want a traditional MMA fight, a stand-and-bang match, or a knockout-only mode complete with arcade-style health bars, there are plenty of options to keep things interesting. Contracts Contracts make a welcome return. Each week, EA provides a rotating list of challenges featuring predetermined fighters, match types, and difficulty settings. Completing these challenges rewards you with experience and in-game currency, making it a great way to level up while trying fighters you might not normally use. It's a mode I found myself checking every week. The Legacy The Legacy is UFC 6's new story mode, following the career of Chris Carter from his humble beginnings fighting in a basement MMA gym all the way to the bright lights of the UFC. I was honestly surprised by how short it was. From start to finish, it only took me around three hours to complete. Chris is a talented wrestler whose father was also a successful fighter. Throughout the story, it's clear that Chris feels like he's constantly living in his father's shadow while trying to build his own legacy. Early on, you're introduced to your coach and your training partner, Danny Lopez. As your career begins to take off, Danny grows jealous of your success. After a bar fight involving you, Danny, and your coach, he's kicked out of the gym, setting up the central rivalry of the story. From there, you work your way through the WFA before eventually earning a UFC contract. Between fights, you'll complete training sessions that function almost identically to Career Mode from UFC 5. Unfortunately, there isn't much new here. The story is told through occasional cutscenes between fights, eventually leading to the showdown between Chris and Danny inside the Octagon. After that fight, you can choose whether to end the rivalry or continue it. Unfortunately, that's where the story ends. For me, this mode had so much more potential. It reminded me of Fight Night Champion's Champion Mode, but that game delivered a much stronger story with better writing and more memorable characters. Once The Legacy concludes, it simply transitions into Career Mode, making the ending feel somewhat abrupt. Career Mode Career Mode returns once again, and it's still my favourite mode in the game. You create your own fighter, choose a fighting style, train, climb the rankings, and chase UFC championship gold while attempting to become the greatest of all time. Outside of the fights themselves, Career Mode is nearly identical to UFC 5. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping for more meaningful changes. One area that desperately needs improvement is training. Most of your preparation still consists of sparring sessions or hitting a heavy bag. I'd love to see more variety. For example: • A speed bag mini-game for improving hand speed. • A maize bag mini-game to practice head movement. • Or even the return of the classic training mini-games from THQ's UFC Undisputed series. I started my career on Hard difficulty, but after winning fifteen straight fights without a loss, I increased the difficulty to Pro and eventually Greatest of All Time. There was definitely a noticeable increase in challenge, although I still managed to win most of my fights. One fighter who absolutely gave me problems was Sean Strickland. He was easily the toughest opponent I faced during Career Mode. After around twenty-five wins, however, the repetitive nature of the mode started to wear on me. The fights themselves remained exciting, but I found myself simulating most of the training because I consistently earned A grades in every sparring session. Hall of Legends Hall of Legends ended up being one of my favourite modes in UFC 6. In this mode, you experience the careers of three UFC superstars: • Max Holloway • Alex Pereira • Zhang Weili Before each fight, you'll watch short documentary-style videos covering each fighter's background, career, and fighting style. These videos were surprisingly well done and gave each fighter a lot of personality. Each legend has three fights, with every fight featuring two or three optional objectives that reward additional points upon completion. None of the challenges are overly difficult, and the entire mode took me roughly an hour and a half to finish. I genuinely hope EA continues expanding this mode with downloadable content because it's one of the strongest additions to UFC 6. Conclusion Overall, UFC 6 is a solid addition to the franchise. It's not a revolutionary leap forward, but it introduces enough new ideas to make the experience feel fresh. Many of the new gameplay mechanics are clearly designed to make the game more accessible for newcomers, and thankfully, most of them can be disabled in the settings for players looking for a more realistic experience. The striking feels more impactful, the fighters finally have distinct identities, and Hall of Legends is an excellent new mode. While The Legacy story mode feels underdeveloped and Career Mode could use more variety, there's still plenty here for both longtime fans and newcomers to enjoy. At the end of the day, UFC 6 may not be the undisputed champion of sports games, but it's easily the strongest entry in EA's UFC franchise to date. Final Score UFC 6 – 7/10