Game review: UFC 2's battle for a KO

Deputy Head of Sport·TimeOut·

31 Mar, 2016 05:30 PM2 mins to read

Forget the Madden Curse - it's the UFC Curse now.

The sport's biggest stars, Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, grace the cover of UFC 2 after both suffering defeats in their most recent fights.

But you can't judge a game by its cover. UFC 2 is a big improvement on the first installment and, despite the fact the sport can make hard viewing for some, with impressive graphics you can almost feel the blood splatter on your couch.

The ground fighting can be slow, which is probably true to real life, but it leaves you wanting to just stay on your feet and trade blows.

One thing that isn't true to UFC is that it seems impossible to end a fight within 30 seconds, something the game's two cover stars have been known to do.

But the mode called quick hit, a kind of slimmed-down version of Street Fighter without the balls of fire, will whet the appetite of those keen for a KO slugfest.

There are plenty of fighters to take into the octagon, including New Zealand's own Mark Hunt and even boxing great Mike Tyson and legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, who died 20 years before UFC was founded.

Career mode is a must-have for all sports games and UFC 2's main feature goes one step further with Ultimate Team, where you create five of your own fighters across different weight classes. But like other features it doesn't have enough variety to last the distance.