StarDestroyer.Net BBS

[commence snark]

Look, I don't know what all the people are complaining about. The AI is perfect. Playing as Mayhem against Shields all he has done in the 5 or so fights I've done is thrown a jab and then a) shot for a takedown or b) clinched and then gone for the takedown. It's just like watching a Jake Shields fight.

I suppose this is why they've never shown off a human v AI fight before. Because the AI is fucking borked. Everytime you clear Shields off you, you don't even get time to stand up before he shoots in again or goes to a standing guard. Should you be on top and stand up, then he shoots in straight away.

But I suppose that it's all OK because I've been able to rack up 3 subs in a row. A statistic that is unheard of in Undisputed. Oh wait. Did I mention that all 3 were first round? And that 2 of the 3 were in the first 30 seconds? Turns out that it's fucking easy to win the joint lock mini-game against a medium AI. The choke minigame I've only been in once as an attacker and failed, and once as a defender and won.

The controls feel awkward still and I find myself going to the Undisputed controls for everything. Maybe with some more time it'll grow on me. I guess I'll see how Overeem plays and whether I have "eat a horse" as a special move.

This game needs a shit ton of balancing and AI tweaking for it to even be passable. Also, someone needs to tell Jimmy Lennon Jr that just because his dad was a great announcer doesn't mean that he is. I'm just glad that the commentary isn't in yet, probably because they haven't sedated Gus Johnson for transport yet. Seriously, that man's commentary just about destroyed Madden 11 with his "I'm FUCKING PUMPED! THIS IS THE PLAY OF THE GAME! BROUGHT TO YOU BY FUCKING SNICKERS!" schtick. Or maybe they couldn't get the commentary working, which is why they've spent so much time playing up the live commentary for special online events.

Are you sure this isnt an instance of the developers switching off the AI for the demo?

I've seen this happen with too many games to take demo AI even remotely seriously anymore.

Considering that it's a fighting game, then you probably want to make a damn good impression with the demo's AI.

And they have. Every single impression that I've read has been the same. The AI does nothing but relentlessly chase takedowns. It's not just annoying it's downright stupid.

Does it play anything like the UFC games? Because UFC 2009 was incredibly boring.

Well, they've dumbed down grappling to be: Press A to advance, Press B to block. At least the stick movements in UFC made it possible to do minor or major transitions and choose what side you wanted to go to (minor matter, but if you are playing against a human it makes big difference in octagon control strategies).

The Fight Night style striking system is... Well I don't know. Because you never have a chance to use it because the opponents do nothing but take you down. ALL THE TIME. I'm sure that just like in fight night it'll end up being pretty intuitive, but you've got the right stick to control the strikes, the left trigger to switch between punches and kicks and the right bumper to modify high/low. Oh yeah - and a lot of the special moves require a precisely timed left stick flick as well apparently. It's a bit too fiddly I think. But again, more time might help. Or it might just lead to me getting more frustrated as the AI continues to do nothing but takedowns.

weemadando wrote:Well, they've dumbed down grappling to be: Press A to advance, Press B to block. At least the stick movements in UFC made it possible to do minor or major transitions and choose what side you wanted to go to (minor matter, but if you are playing against a human it makes big difference in octagon control strategies).

The Fight Night style striking system is... Well I don't know. Because you never have a chance to use it because the opponents do nothing but take you down. ALL THE TIME. I'm sure that just like in fight night it'll end up being pretty intuitive, but you've got the right stick to control the strikes, the left trigger to switch between punches and kicks and the right bumper to modify high/low. Oh yeah - and a lot of the special moves require a precisely timed left stick flick as well apparently. It's a bit too fiddly I think. But again, more time might help. Or it might just lead to me getting more frustrated as the AI continues to do nothing but takedowns.

So there's basically no reason I'd want to play this instead of Super Street Fighter 4, Tekken 6 or Blazblue. Good to know.

"Look, I don't know what all the people are complaining about. The AI is perfect. Playing as Mayhem against Shields all he has done in the 5 or so fights I've done is thrown a jab and then a) shot for a takedown or b) clinched and then gone for the takedown. It's just like watching a Jake Shields fight."

Actually, General Zod, this is the real problem. Although unlike him, my Jake Shields was a lot more willing to "stand and bang"... possibly because he had a habit of outstriking my Miller. Although, for all of the AI's "instant" success at takedowns (anyone see where my Takedown Defense went? Unless it was done as a counter, it was never this instanteous in the UFC game other than the infamous Outside Leg Trip), my AI Shields SUCKED at keeping position on the ground, much less really advancing, though he "fought" the clinch hard, and never tried for a submission ONCE.

For anyone here not familiar with it, the Fight Now option gives you the choice of either Alistair Overeem vs. Bobby Lashley (yes the former WWE pro wrestler) at heavyweight or Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Jake Shields at middleweight, in both cases under Strikeforce rules and in a six-sided cage, while MMA 101 is literally just Miller vs. Shields in a ring and with the game giving you controls "instructions" when certain actions occur, as opposed to a set and actually useful tutorial like UFC 2010 does (though they left it out of the UFC game's demo).

The demo has the Unlock "Classic" Couture 'option'... where you're given a list of your Friends, and choosing any that hasn't been Invited or that hasn't already Downloaded the demo will send an automated "try out the demo" message, getting you 25 credits per invite, more if the invitee actually downloads the demo... but you only need 300 credits to unlock "classic" Randy Couture in the full game, so just spam 12 of your PSN Friends, whether or not they're MMA fans.

weemadando wrote:Also, someone needs to tell Jimmy Lennon Jr that just because his dad was a great announcer doesn't mean that he is.

*Shrug* It's them making do with what Strikeforce gives them... and in the full game, whenever possible just play in Japan so that you can Lenne Hardt crooning your name, "WEEEEEMAAADAAAAAAAAAAAAANDOOOOOO!"

In my experience, I like the simplicity of the grappling (A/B on the ground, or Y/B for the clinch) because... well, I have NO luck with fine-tuning my analog stick use (read: the precision) enough to actually make the "quarter circle" motion a MERE quarter-circle. Seriously, trying to do a spinning back fist should be a half-circle motion, but with my PS3 controller I have no luck at making it work, much less flying knee attempts (only time I got one off was as Overeem... yet no KO), and I can't even get elbows going from any position except the standing clinch. (Could be because this is Strikeforce rules, aka why I can't GNP with elbows or soccer kick people in the face...) Keeping the Muay Thai clinch is seemingly a lot harder though, and one thing that definitely bothered me was how quickly Mayhem gassed just from Shields blocking his knee strikes. What the HELL. Oh, and it seems that the rumble function is broken on my controller, so no vibration with which to play the choke minigame!

My biggest problem with licensed fighting games like this is that they usually come off more as advertisements with a poor fighting sim tacked on than a proper fighting game.

Funny you mention that, considering the discussion/issues over advertising in games nowadays, such as the infamous Peace Walker promotional stuff that I believe also had a press conference just for them.

Oh, and because of an alleged Danish law against energy drink advertisements, EA Sports has chosen to not release the game in Denmark rather than compromise (paraphrasing) "the complete MMA experience."

HOLY SHIT at the graphics sharpness with HDMI though... and after yesterday, Alistair probably needs a higher Stand Up rating.

Also, if it's a decision, apparently the scoring is actually WORSE than IRL... which is absolutely terrifying. Weemadando's not the only one to complain about the AI's takedown spam either, as supposedly EA's had to release "how to play videos" after the demo's release, defeating the point of the tutorial... while the AI goes for takedowns even more than the fighters' RL counterparts, but is absolute shit at KEEPING top position. Here's some of the complaints in the comments, as Monday afternoon the poster will be on conference call with EA.

Just to make it crazier, other than Ground (87), all of Shields' overall attributes are worse than Miller's, with the exception of apparently a whopping 99 for passing. It may or may not be coincidental that Shields defeated Miller, then Dan Henderson (who Strikeforce pretty much WANTED to win), then basically started a hilariously wrong brawl, only to up and leave for the UFC. (Strangely enough, he's called a "Wrestling" guy while Miller is "Jiu-Jitsu.")

Unfortunately, as for the infamous grounded stomps and soccer kicks, one guy on BE's claiming that they're 'finishing' only because "[t]hey said they had to make it this way to ensure the Teen rating." Read: You can't be Wanderlei Silva or Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and spam those.

Here's one of those tutorial videos from EA Sports (on their YouTube channel), you can find the rest there.