There is no doubt that UFC 5 is the most refined MMA gameplay experience currently on the market. Most would hope that this would be the case since the game is less than two weeks old. But the community surrounding UFC 5’s release attempted to prematurely write this title off as “UFC 4.5“. Content creators and the general player base alike seemed to not be impressed by the trailers leading up to launch.
This game was being dragged through the mud all the way up until its early access period. Then people played the game on a 10 hour trial and realized that it’s actually lots of fun.
UFC 5 stays on brand by not completely reinventing itself. However, the central gameplay loops of UFC 4 have been heavily modified in the new title. UFC 5’s changes accommodate a new style of gameplay that is drastically better than UFC 4. And all of these changes come on the new Frostbite engine that looks and feels much more detailed and realistic.
These are 10 new changes in UFC 5 that set it apart as the best in it’s class of MMA fighting games.
Graphical Upgrades/ Frostbite Engine
In game the octagon feels much more lively than in UFC 4. Blood spatters across the canvas as you fight and the crowd behind you is a sea of camera flashes. However the lights aren’t distracting and only add to the atmosphere of the battle taking place. There also seems to be a different filter over the game that makes lighting a tinge darker and bluer than UFC 4. An irrefutable fact is that this game looks magnificent on an XBOX Series X with a monitor that has a refresh rate of 120hz.
The visually updated roster in this game also looks amazing. The new Frostbite engine gives every fighter from last year a more polished appearance. Certain fighters have updated tattoos and body type models. The hair colors of fighters like Dan Hooker and Derek Brunson have updates too.
The fighters in UFC 5 look really good. Most of the character models are very accurate.
Reduced Comboing Capabilities
The fighting itself seems a lot more purposeful and less arcady than UFC 4. In UFC 4, any fighter with a 4 star rating in the “Boxing Combinations” can chain combos infinitely until they tire out. Pretty much every top fighter in the game has 4 stars in this stat as well. This makes the path to victory in online modes in UFC 4 walking forward and spamming this same combos as fast as possible. The ability to punch forever in UFC 4 makes this game untrue to real world human capabilities and makes the fighters you play as feel like toys instead of people.
UFC 5 restricts your ability to chain certain punches and kicks in free flowing combinations. The striking feels heavier and more weighty than in UFC 4. Bigger weight classes swing slowly and pack massive power like in real life. This feeling of encumbrance becomes less apparent moving down the weight classes, but a certain degree of limitation is consistent across the board. The inability to effectively string together 16 punch combos like in UFC 4 makes striking more of a chess match in UFC 5. Both parties have more time to react to things and must be more tactful when mounting their offense. This change dramatically improves gameplay surrounding counter striking and feints.
Pulls and slip counters are amazing in UFC 5.
New Inputs in UFC 5
Uppercuts, overhands, and spinning attacks have all been reworked with new inputs. Uppercuts have been simplified, overhands are just a different button now and spinning attacks have been nerfed by receiving a new and very awkward input. This is fine though because spinning elbow spam and the turning spinning side kick is obscenely strong in UFC 4. Now spinning strikes are harder to combo with and strange to time since the input takes a little longer than before. As for Uppercuts, the old input is now how to clinch in UFC 5. Uppercuts now having the old overhand input makes them much more viable. Being able to throw these strikes easier changes the striking meta for good.
Overhands are the same input as hooks except you hold the button down. Past the initial acclimation period, most will see this striking system as much more responsive and logical than UFC 4’s. The controls feel very natural. Just so you can see what the game looks like, here is some gameplay from one of the best players in the world, Martial Mind.
New Animations
Front kicks, elbows, knees, leg kicks, and hooks have all received new animations. These animation changes alter the flow of combat as lead hooks are no longer lighting fast. Neither are knees and front kicks. Manipulating these strikes and leaving everything else relatively the same as in the last game is a creative way to force players to change their fighting styles.
There is an added chambering movement to the new front kick takes an extra quarter second. This is how a proper front kick is actually thrown in real life.
This would be a negative change if the new animations made the strikes horrible. But they all still work, they just work differently now.
UFC 5’s Grotesque New Cut System
Cuts form on the faces of fighters who have absorbed lots of head damage. These events can trigger medical review cutscenes and doctor stoppages. The doctor mostly only stops fights that are on their way to being over and doesn’t rob wins. But the cut itself is more of a concern than a doctor stoppage in a fight. Not only is the blood that pours out of the gash onto the octagon very gross, whatever side that has been cut takes more damage. Cuts on the bridge of the nose mean that shots up the middle get a damage boost. As do strikes landing on a cut whether it be on the left or right side of the adversary’s head. These cuts seriously matter and can easily set up stuns and knockdowns to finish a fight.
The cageside doctor is not the great pest some make him out to be. He usually only shows up to stop a fight when it is one sided.
Improved Submission System
This is a change I wrote about wanting to see in a list titled 10 Gameplay Improvements for UFC 5 from last month. I only proposed EA reworked the mini games from UFC 4 or revert to the one from UFC 3. Instead they did away with the entire mini game system and completely integrated submission offense and defense into the standard grappling mechanics. Locking in a submission is now just the same as transitioning to a different a position on the ground.
UFC 5 masterfully integrates submissions with the base game grappling HUD.
This makes defending subs contingent on basic denials and reversals. This is the best possible outcome for the submission feature in the game. As now submissions can either be fully committed to or attempted with the purpose of advancing position. This makes hundreds of new getups from bottom or transitions from top available. The ground is much more nuanced due to this adjustment.
Highly Rated Legends
Legacy edition character return in UFC 5. But they aren’t the same snoozers from years prior. The Matt Hughes, Chael Sonnen, and Renan Baron in this game are 4.5 stars and they a night and day contrast to their former variants. I use Renan Barao on UFC 4 as a handicap for myself to feel better about beating Sean O’Malley, but now locking in Renan Barao is the same as picking one of the best active fighters on the roster.
Matt Hughes and BJ Penn each are 4.5 stars in Welterweight.
I like this change a lot, it gives the pool of fighters (which has remained relatively unchanged since UFC 4) more depth. Before high level matchups could only be had between 3-5 fighters per weight class. This number is now 5-8 per weight class on average.
Improved Matchmaking Filters
The online Quick fight matchmaking system is much better now. In UFC 4 there is a single MMA category with filters to dictate the venue, the number of rounds, the clock speed and other options. IN UFC 5 the matchmaking screen sections off into different event types. Main Card, (3 Rounds) Main Event, (5 Rounds) and Title Bout. (5 Rounds Plus Belt Cutscene)
We all know how this rivalry ended.
The Backyard and Kumite also have their own matchmaking event separate from any UFC events. This is the best change to the filtering system from UFC 4. Because in that game, even with the “UFC Venues Only” feature active players would sometimes land in fights taking place in the Backyard or in the Kumite. This is now Impossible.
Ground Elbows Return in UFC 5
These strikes return in a different shade of their former glory. Only one elbow can be landed at a time from postured up positions. But that one elbow does a ton of damage. Opponents who have very little head health remaining can easily be TKO’d via ground elbow and the animation looks really nice. Cheers to EA for listening to our feedback and putting these strikes in the game.
This truly is the people’s elbow.
Quality Replay System
The new post fight replay system is amazing. The grey, washed out filter put over this screen adds drama to the ending of the fight. The angles and footage are never off either. Sometimes in UFC 4 the replay is too early or starts too late. This is a small area where major improvements took place.
There is even enough time to get a cheeky emote in the replay now. RIP Rumble Johnson.
UFC 4.5?
I’ll give more insight into this in a review that will be coming after EA Updates the game a little. I and many others have been having a good time playing and getting familiar with this game. But it is important to take note of how the developers care for UFC 5 in the inaugural weeks of its release. Do they listen to player feedback and make updates to the roster? Will we discover a game breaking mechanic that doesn’t ever receive a patch? Time will tell, EA’s track record is not the greatest with this type of thing. Keeping it all the way real though, I can definitely see myself putting many hours into UFC 5.
