For years on end, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts had not spawned a game that could be defined as even a synonym of the word “good.” However, in the year 2009, a partnership between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and THQ saw developer Yukes create UFC Undisputed 2009, which was a huge hit, selling millions of copies, and even winning a Spike Video Game Award for Best Combat Sports Game. However, like anything, the game wasn’t without its faults. There were ways to make a “Super Create-A-Fighter,” catch people in a motion glitch for an easy knockout, some fighters felt like clones of one another, and all created fighters stylistically felt like clones as well. So, when it comes to the sequel, it not only has some big shoes to fill, but some mending to do to those shoes as well. Does it succeed?

When it comes to the presentation, the first big detail that you will probably notice is how detailed the fighters themselves look. Though the original game had some fighters that were very close to the real thing, there were still others that seemed like they were put together in the Create A Fighter mode. However, in this game, Yukes took the extra trouble to make sure each fighter looks fantastic, with a couple of exceptions. Another thing to note is that UFC color commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg’s video game avatars look a little off.

In the fights themselves, the octagon looks very true to life, though the crowd doesn’t seem as lively as it could be. Truthfully, though, you may not notice while you’re watching the elbows that you’re throwing open huge, nasty looking gashes on the faces on your opponent. Eyes swell, cuts open and bleed, and by the end of a battle, your fighters will look like their faces were used to test the durability of baseball bats. During the war, though, you’ll notice that the color commentary from Goldberg and Rogan is engaging to listen to, and transitions from phrase to phrase very well, especially when someone gets knocked out, or placed in a submission.

If you fart, I will knee you in the balls.

Outside of the fights themselves, you’ll notice that in many game modes you have the option to either play through or simulate a full card of mixed martial arts bouts. During these little programs, you’ll notice that from beginning to end, they are structured and presented like the events that they’re simulating, whether they are the UFC Fight Night events on Spike, or the numbered Pay Per View events, such as the recently passed UFC 116. From the audio standpoint, UFC Undisputed 2010 has switched the generic metal from the previous game, and replaced it with an orchestral score, and God bless them for it. Many people I know got incredibly sick of the song Click Click Boom, and ended up turning the background music down, if not off.

As for the features, one of the newest is the Tournament mode, which allows you to match up to sixteen people in an offline elimination tournament, whether it be in an Arcade mode where simply the people with the controllers advance and pick fighters each round, or a Simulation mode where fighters are picked from the outset. From there, you can either have a group of people fight each other, or have a group of simulated matches. The mode itself is unpredictable, to say the least. Due to the nature of the sport, what may seem like an easy win for a certain fighter may see that specific individual get the tides turned on him, and one slip can mean the end of the fight. There’s also an event mode that lets you download a preset card from an upcoming event. However, not all the data is accurate, due to the fact that despite the huge roster, there are still some fighters missing.

The best feature of UFC Undisputed 2010 is the career mode, by far. From the outset, you’re thrust into the rich Create-A-Fighter mode, which gives you plenty of hairstyles, beards, face customization options, and so forth to make whatever sort of fighter you want. There are also several preset names and nicknames so you can either create a fighter that isn’t in the game originally (though some names have been changed, such as when trying to make Fedor Emelianenko, you’ll have to use the Russian translation of his name, Fyodor) or you can make your own crazy creation. From here, you’ll be thrust into your first MMA bout as a fighter, and then be given the option to fight as an amateur for a while to get a handle on the game (or take time to get your stats at a stable level so they don’t degrade), or you can instantly turn professional.