UFC 4 Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs
1. Striking System
In a game which has clearly put a lot of time and effort into breaking down, streamlining and successfully producing a much more realistic and enjoyable in-fight experience when it comes to grappling, it's a massive shame that the titanic UFC 4 striking system hasn't been improved, trimmed or altered much at all in the time since UFC 3 hit shelves in 2018.
Apart from slightly changing a few of the more complex button combinations (strikes can now differ depending on whether your holding or just pressing a button in some cases) everything feels pretty much as dense and overwhelming as ever when it comes to figuring out what punch or kick you're going to throw next.
Inevitably, players will begin to revert to combos and strikes which feel familiar, effective and easy to pull off for them. This means that large parts of their fighter's back catalogue (especially if they're a skilled boxer or kickboxer) are usually left untouched due to casual players not wanting to waste time looking through the gameplay manual and sussing out each and every possible move/combination.
The Top Moves stats which can be accessed before choosing your fighter definitely help highlight a couple of particularly strong manoeuvres and their required inputs, but even this can result in a player relying too heavily on one move and producing a rather tedious contest whilst online.
This is an issue which has plagued UFC games for what seems like an eternity, but at this point it feels like there's not exactly a clear solution as to how the dense variety of strikes can be simplified.
Instead, players will probably have to just deal with this mind-numbing reality for the rest of the UFC 4 experience. But, I guess there's worse things in life than having too many options to comprehend. And, in all honesty, you won't hear me complaining when I catch Stipe Miocic with an accidental head kick when I was trying to give him a body hook.
Overall, UFC 4 is a step in the right direction for EA, but there's still a few tweaks to be made before it can be classed as the combat sports game G.O.A.T.