On the surface EA MMA is a simple, easy to pick up mixed martial arts fighter. The casual gamer can learn the button scheme relatively quickly and start throwing it down in the virtual octagon within minutes. A does this, X does that, etc. Simple enough. That's where the genius of this game comes into play. This game finds a great blend of fun (for everyone), ease of use (for the casual) and strategy (for the hardcore). The game has an extreme amount of depth and strategy, all while keeping the control scheme simple. Rather than having to pull off nearly impossible analog rotations within a fraction of a second, the user knows what button to press and can focus on stuffing a takedown or defending a pass when the situation dictates. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy UFC 2010 and still play it to this day. The game just doesn't have the level of strategy I look for in a videogame. The game is catered to the casual MMA fan who knows Brock Lesnar as "that guy that used to wrestle in the WWE". Playing against the CPU A.I. leaves you without any other choice but to get into a slugfest. Every fight ends the same way (flashy knockout) and submissions are based on how fast you can "shine" your analog stick. Thirty seconds into the fight, we're watching a Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonner replay, everytime. EA MMA comes down to the players skill level and reaction time. You also must have a knowledge of your fighter's strengths and weaknesses because the fighters feel different due to discipline and weight class. To think, this is just scratching the surface of the strategic genius in this game.

Stamina is something that hardcore sports gamers have always had a beef with game companies. "Players tire out to fast..." or "...players can stay on the field/court too long" and so on. Each year the forums here at OS are littered with stamina threads no matter how great a game is or the sport. EA MMA has come up with the best stamina system to date in any sports game across the board. If you don't manage your stamina in this game you will lose. Not much else to say about it. It's done very well and needs to be accounted for during the fight if you're going to have any kind of success.

Controller rumble. Let's think about what games use controller rumble for: A big hit, a tense moment, a huge explosion. These are all common situations where you will feel your controller shaking in your hands. This adds a pseudo-effect to the experience but really doesn't add anything to the gameplay. Something that is used more for show. So, when making a fighting game it only seems logical to use that rumble your fighter gets hit. No big deal, anyone who's been playing videogames for some time could've come up with that one. Now, when you add a rumble to transitions in the clinch/ground your cooking with gas. One user tries to mask transition attempts with strikes and the other needs to decide whether to block a strike or transition. Let the battle within the battle begin.

Titles like this one remind me of last-gen sports games. They have more strategic elements and the winner is truly decided by the users stick skills and gameplay is much more enjoyable. With all the turmoil over at EA and their talk of "idea sharing", hopefully more sports games under EA can carry this formula over to their game.

BrngDaRckus