EA Sports UFC 4
Cover art featuring Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal and Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya
Developer(s)EA Vancouver
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Director(s)Brian Hayes
Producer(s)Nate McDonald
SeriesEA Sports UFC
EngineIgnite
Platform(s)
ReleaseAugust 14, 2020
Genre(s)Fighting, sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

EA Sports UFC 4 is a mixed martial arts fighting video game developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. Serving as the sequel to EA Sports UFC 3 (2018), it was released on August 14, 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, UFC 4 is a fighting game based on the mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). There are 229 unique fighters, with 81 alternate versions. The game features a career mode, which was designed to be an "onboarding experience" to teach the player the basics of four MMA disciplines which include boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and jiujitsu. The goal of the career mode, which allows players to create their own custom fighter, is to become the G.O.A.T. (which stands for "greatest of all time"). As players progress in the game, they can choose to accept or decline fights, which will affect the development of the fighter's career. The control scheme was also improved and streamlined to make the game more accessible.[1] Multiplayer modes, including Blitz Battles, and Online World Championships, would also be available. In addition to fighting in The Octagon, players can also fight in Backyard and Kumite, which resembles an underground fighting arena.[2] However, unlike its predecessor, Ultimate Team would not return in UFC 4.[3]

Development

The game was officially announced on July 12, 2020. Similar to UFC 3, the game utilized the Real Player Motion technology, which was designed to make clinches believable. The tech also helped create new takedown animations which respond to how players play the game. EA also recruited Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik to provide commentary for the game. Joe Rogan, who provided the commentary for previous games, did not return due to his dislike for voiceover in video games.[2] Players who pre-ordered the game would get exclusive access to play as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. On the day of announcement, EA also revealed that Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal and Israel "The Last Stylebender" Adesanya would be the cover fighters for the game.[4] The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 14, 2020.[5]

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received generally positive reviews upon release.[6][7]

IGN praised the new submission system and career mode, but said that "longstanding problems still remain in the ground game and some dated visuals".[11] Push Square stated that it was "significantly better" than its predecessor,[12] however, Hardcore Gamer said it was "fun albeit bland". GamesRadar praised the clinches but criticised the camera.[9] Brian Shea, writing for Game Informer, described the submission system as one of the game's best additions. He further described the game as the "terrific next step" for EA's UFC franchise.[8]

The game was heavily criticised by fans for the addition of in-game advertisements that were added two weeks after the game's release.[13] A post on Reddit showing advertisements in the game for the second season premiere of the Amazon Prime Video television series The Boys, which included two full-screen pop-ups at the beginning and end of the replay, a smaller pop-up on the timer overlay during gameplay, and the show and service's logos layered in the middle of the Octagon canvas, garnered over 86,000 upvotes as of September 5, 2020.[13][14] EA later apologised for the inconvenience and removed the pop-up advertising in response to the backlash.[13]

During the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated EA Sports UFC 4 for "Fighting Game of the Year", which was ultimately awarded to Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate.[15]

The game topped the sales chart in the UK,[16] however first-week physical sales were down 47% on UFC 3.[17] The game was also number 1 in Australia, New Zealand,[18] and the EMEA,[18] but only got to number 28 in Japan.[19] It got to number 2 in the USA, behind Madden, setting a sales record for the franchise.[20] In North America, it was the 16th most downloaded game of 2021 on PSN. It was still in the top 10 of the PS4 download charts in both the US and Europe in April 2023.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Sarker, Samit (July 11, 2020). "EA Sports UFC 4 coming in August on PS4 and Xbox One". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Makuch, Eddie (July 19, 2020). "EA Sports UFC 4 Announced, Won't Have Ultimate Team Or Joe Rogan". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ Shea, Brian (July 11, 2020). "EA Sports UFC 4 Does Not Have Ultimate Team Mode". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ Bankhurst, Adam (July 12, 2020). "EA Sports UFC 4 Release Date Announced Alongside Reveal Trailer". IGN. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Ben (July 11, 2020). "UFC 4 release date confirmed for August, Jorge Masvidal and Israel Adesanya to share cover". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "EA Sports UFC 4 for PlayStation 4 review". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  7. 1 2 "EA SPORTS UFC 4 for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Shea, Brian. "UFC 4 Review – Another Worthy Title Defense". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  9. 1 2 August 2020, Dave Meikleham 25 (25 August 2020). "UFC 4 review: "Improved mixed-martial arts sim doesn't reinvent the double-leg takedown wheel"". gamesradar. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "Review: EA Sports UFC 4 - Hardcore Gamer". August 14, 2020. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Saltzmann, Mitchell (January 14, 2021). "EA Sports UFC 4 review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Square, Push (August 17, 2020). "EA Sports UFC 4 - A Strong Sequel That Knows What Players Want". Push Square. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 Yin-Poole, Wesley (September 5, 2020). "EA responds to fan backlash to in-game ads in UFC 4". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 6, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  14. ↑ Ydino (September 4, 2020). "EA decided to add full-on commercials in the middle of gameplay in a $60 game a month after its release so it wasn't talked about in reviews". Reddit. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ "2021 Awards Category Details Fighting Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Square, Push (August 17, 2020). "UK Sales Charts: UFC 4 Dominates as Ghost of Tsushima Falls Back". Push Square. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  17. ↑ "UK Charts: EA Sports UFC 4 battles to No.1". GamesIndustry.biz. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  18. 1 2 D'Angelo, William (2020-08-25). "EA Sports UFC 4 Debuts in 1st on the Australian Charts". VGChartz. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  19. ↑ "Famitsu Sales: 8/3/20 – 8/16/20 [Update]". Gematsu. August 20, 2020. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  20. ↑ @MatPiscatella (September 14, 2020). "US NPD SW - UFC 4 was the second best-selling game of the month, setting a new franchise launch month sales record…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ↑ "PS5's Top 10 Most-Downloaded Games for April 2023 Revealed". Archived from the original on 2023-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
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