UFC: Throwdown

Format PlayStation 2

Developer Ubisoft

Publisher Ubisoft

Genre Beat 'em Up

You thought WWF looked painful? Well this sport actually is, with the blood and broken bones to prove it.

It's nice to think of Bruce Lee as the hardest man in history. In his movies, he takes down gangs of nunchaku-wielding thugs while only getting a few scratches on his chest. But how long would Bruce last in the ring with one of the animals from the Ultimate Fighting Championship? On this evidence, not long.

UFC: Throwdown recreates the most violent legitimate martial arts contest in the world. Two combatants enter the ring, and the bout usually winds up with one on top of the other punching his face in before wriggling into a painful submission position. What initially looks like legalised assault is actually extremely tactical combat, making it perfect game fodder.

Very few fights end in a knockout, so standing toe-to-toe and trying to commit GBH isn't really the way to win. It's simply a means of wearing your opponent down for when the grappling inevitably begins. The controls in the game map left and right kicks and punches to the shape buttons, but it's combinations of these buttons that does the clever stuff like reversals and takedowns.

Action a successful takedown, and your opponent is at your mercy. You're on top, raining in punches as he tries to protect his face. He'll be wriggling about a lot as well, so you've got to be on your guard to prevent him flipping you over and reversing the situation. Then it's a matter of choosing your moment to initialise a painful arm-lock, and fingers crossed the other guy can't find the strength to escape and instead taps out in agony.

While all the fighters are built similarly, fighting styles are subtly different. Little guys like Jens Pulver are plotting a submission take down from the word go, but giant kickboxing champ Chuck Liddell is going to want to boot you in the face for a while before the fight goes to ground. Twenty-eight real-life fighters are being remodelled for the PlayStation 2 version, and the developers are looking at including some UK fighters, hence the release date moving from June into July.

i shall call him mini-me
If the prospect of becoming UFC legend Tito Ortiz leaves you cold, you can build a fighter in your own image in Career mode. Specify stuff like build and hairstyle, and then train in a variety of mini-games to boost your skills and set your style. Work out moves by sparring, then head for the tournaments and make a name for yourself – hopefully one that's in bright lights rather than carved into a tombstone.

The game camera swoops in close to show the on-floor action, so you can see right away if your opponent is vulnerable. Okay, so it can look a bit like the view from a hidden camera in a prison shower, with two almost-naked chaps causing each other pain, but that's UFC for you.

As well as doing a fair approximation of the mechanics of ultimate fighting, the game also features UFC mode, which simulates the elimination rounds of an actual event. Arcade and Exhibition modes are included for those who want a quicker violence fix.

There's no word yet on the inclusion of copious amounts of blood, but we're hopeful. It wouldn't be UFC unless the ring was littered with red patches and bits of broken teeth at the end of each fight.

Dean Scott