Retired wrestler CM Punk is yet to have his first MMA match after agreeing a deal with UFC in December 2014, but the company has announced that he’s in its upcoming, EA-developed video game anyway. Excellent news, right? Not if you’re a devotee of all things octagonal. Fans have reacted in fury at the 85/100 overall rating he’s been granted by developer EA Canada in UFC 2 – and the notoriously outspoken ex-WWE champ has responded in kind.
Here's first image of @CMPunk from the new EA UFC 2 video game. His character was rated 85 out of 100 when I played. https://t.co/E6IfqanpxkJanuary 11, 2016
Not since Samus Aran was revealed to be a woman have dummies been this butt hurt about a video game.January 11, 2016
Going by the ratings found in the first UFC game, Punk’s video game cage-fighting skills are on par with Martin Kampmann (20 real life wins in 27 fights), Erik Perez (15 wins in 21) and Pascal Krauss (11 in 13). Again, that’s compared with precisely zero wins from zero bouts for Punk. So the “dummies” do have a point, no matter how urgent their need for Preparation H.
Lost amid the din created by Punk’s inclusion are new gameplay details, which with any luck will finally enable EA’s MMA games to surpass THQ’s long-dead-but-still-brilliant Undisputed series. Standing submissions should add to the sense that a fight can be finished in an instant and from any position, while the dev says improved physics will mean better defensive options: defter head sways, subtler dodging mechanics, and so forth.
(The caveat being that what sports game doesn’t feature improved physics with each passing year? “Yeah, we tried to make it more robotic. Clunkier than the mechanical shark in Jaws. Booyah!” said no developer, ever.)
Oh, and there are loads of cool new KO animations too. Hit the trailer to see for yourself:
UFC 2 is released for PS4 and Xbox One on 17 March.
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