'EA UFC 3' Career Mode: A deeper experience with added replay value

EA Sports went all-in to make “EA UFC 3” the most authentic mixed martial arts game to date, and that includes an overhaul of the Career Mode experience.

“EA UFC 3,” which is set for a Feb. 2 release on Xbox One and Playstation 4, marks the third title since EA Sports and UFC collaborated for a video game series. Career Mode has often been criticized for being mundane, repetitive and holding little replay value. The next version is deeper than ever, though, and players are sure to get more bang for their buck.

Game creators have done their best to ensure Career Mode in “EA UFC 3” is more lifelike and challenging. The previous games consistent of a rather basic journey through a career: Design a fighter, jump into training camp, try to boost your stats then test your luck on fight night.

Although “EA UFC 3” Career Mode is built off the same fundamental foundation, the depth of that journey has improved tenfold.

Career Mode begins by giving players something new off the bat, and that’s the choice of whether they want a male or female character. You can either design your own fighter with the most customizable creation tools to date, or pick your favorite existing fighter and restart their career from the beginning.

Once a fighter is designed or chosen, it’s off the races. Becoming a UFC fighter isn’t simply gifted, though. A player must earn their way, and there are several avenues available to reach a UFC contract.

When Career Mode launches, your fighter is already signed to the World Fighting Alliance (WFA). Early performances under the WFA banner dictate what happens from there.

After getting some fight experience, a number of possible invitations could come your way. Either an offer to join an upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series will be presented, or, if you’ve really caught the eye of UFC matchmakers, an immediate opportunity to sign with the UFC and jump straight into the octagon.

The quickness with which you reach the UFC is entirely dependent on how well you fight. Every victory takes you one step closer, but losses slow the process. If you go through “The Ultimate Fighter” but don’t win the competition, chances are you’ll be headed back to the WFA to further craft your skills with hopes of getting the call to the big show.

Upon eventually making it to the UFC roster, the newness of Career Mode really starts to show itself. Unlike previous games, a fighter will receive a formal contract offer from the organization. Attached are goals for that contract, both for the long-term and short-term.

Each fight presents a unique opportunity to build toward your ultimate goal of becoming the Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T). The various aspects of that include winning your fights and climbing the rankings, feuding with specific rivals, gathering a following on social media and generating hype around each upcoming bout by participating in a range of activities.

The amount of time a player chooses to spend of each aspect will dictate the progression of a career.

“What was missing in ‘EA UFC 2’ was a sense of, ‘When am I done? When have I beat the game?’ We now have a bar that determines your G.O.A.T status,” Creative Director Brian Hayes told MMAjunkie. “The objective of career mode is to become the Greatest of All Time, and to do that you have to accomplish a certain amount based on long-term goals. You can do well in the octagon, but if no one pays attention to your fights are cares about you, you’re only going to make it so far.”

When it comes to the depth of Career Mode, “EA UFC 3” is night and day from its predecessors. There are interactive press conferences and weigh-ins around certain fights, the ability to select how you conduct yourself on social media and actions that will influence how the public and fellow fighters perceive you.

If a fighter focuses on everything outside the octagon, though, it hinders their performance inside of it. A certain amount of losses or poor performances could lead to being cut from the UFC, and that spells the end of Career Mode. You must give yourself as good a chance of winning fights as possible, and that comes through fight preparation.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Fight preparation is a balancing act that tests a player’s ability to manage time effectively. Each bout comes with a training camp ranging from a few weeks to a few months, and how each week is allocated will have an impact on fight-night performance.

The broadened scope of “EA UFC 3” Career Mode provides multiple training camp choices. There are several true-to-life gyms, and each comes with its own benefit. Want Anderson Silva to teach you a front kick? Go work with him in Los Angeles. Want Demian Maia to assist in taking your rear-naked choke technique to the next level? Visit his gym and put in some rounds.

What training camp essentially comes down to, is deciding whether you want to visit a gym and learn techniques, practice drills to build up fitness and conditioning, or jump into sparring with hopes of gaining more attributes to boost your fighter. It’s all dependent on what you personally deem most important, rather than near-identical preparation for each fight, which was essentially the case in the past.

Michael Bisping

Although the newness of Career Mode is refreshing, Hayes admitted not all criticisms could be addressed. The number of fights in Career Mode likely means there will still be some repetitive moments, such as facing a given opponent more than once, possibly on a timeline which doesn’t make sense. The ability to chance weight classes alleviates a bit of that annoyance, but as Hayes explains, it’s a necessary feature.

“When you start career mode you start in WFA in 2017: By the time you get to winning your first UFC title, a fictional seven, eight or maybe nine years has gone by,” Hayes said. “The same amount of time has not gone by in real life; maybe two or three days. If we retire (fighters) along a realistic timeline, all the UFC fighters will be gone. Nine years from now, from the current top-15 in UFC in any division, who is still going to be around? Maybe one guy?

“We could retire everybody before you get to face them and you end up fighting a bunch of generic created fight. You’re going to end up fighting a 40-something Conor McGregor who still has good ratings. You’re playing career mode because you want to fight against UFC fighters that you know.”

No video game is perfect, but when it comes to Career Mode in “EA UFC 3,” it’s head and shoulders above anything in the series. The ability to control significantly more aspects of your journey to UFC prominence than before will provide hours of gameplay and a very strong foundation for future Career Mode expansion.

For more on the UFC schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.