EA’s UFC 4 has been out a few weeks and has already received a number of patches and tweaks to address issues and improve the gameplay and add additional moves to the fighters. There are likely to be several more on the way that will hopefully deal with problems like an overpowered clinch mechanic or adding elbows back into the ground game.
However, even without these updates, UFC 4 is one of the most complex fighting games ever developed. While the game does a great job of making it more accessible to players, there is still a lot to learn if one wants to master its mechanics and deal with fighters either in the game or online.
10 Play The Harder Difficulties
The computer-controlled opponents in EA’s UFC 4 are no slouch, it’s smart and at times can be a little unfair but one of the best ways to improve playing against the game is to not get complacent. Playing against the computer on normal difficulty is a balanced experience that's a lot of fun and quite challenging.
However, even in the normal setting, the game is still very capable of beating anyone that doesn’t up their game. One of the best ways to do this is to try fighting against the game on a level of higher difficulty than one has become accustomed to. Naturally, this will go a long way into improving a player’s game against human opponents too.
9 Fight Against People Who Are Better Than You
Playing against people online in UFC 4 can be a bit inconsistent when it comes to matching players up of a similar skillset. More often than not someone new at the game will find themselves going up against a much higher-ranked opponent.
As intimidating as this can be, however, it’s also a great opportunity for players to get better at the game. Playing against other gamers who are better than they are is a great way to learn different styles, strategies, and approaches in combat. When playing, simply be polite, touch gloves and use the in-game messaging system to be respectful, and request a rematch, most good players will be happy to oblige.
8 Study Your Opponents
Whether one is playing against the computer or a real-life opponent, players really need to study their opponent's attack patterns. For example, using a striker like Israel Adesanya and pitting him against a wrestler will mean that the AI will go for takedowns a lot. As a result, it’s a good way to learn how to keep the fight standing.
However, when playing online, real-life players will more often than not have a go-to combination that they’ll rely on for the majority of the fight. Whether it’s a four-hit combo to break a fighter’s block or someone that likes pick their opponents apart by keeping the distance they’ll usually stick to the same gameplan until they get taken out of their comfort zone.
7 Use The Game’s Strike Recording Feature
There will always be a move a countermove or a big punch that players will find themselves falling victim to time and time again. Thankfully, UFC 4 has a strike recording feature within the game’s practice mode which allows players to switch to the AI fighter and get perform any moves or takedowns they want.
This will allow players, to figure out the best strategies for defending takedowns, moving out of the way of a massive overhand punch, or any other moves they are struggling to defend against in the game.
6 Stuffing The Takedown
Getting taken down over and over again in UFC 4 can be one of the most frustrating experiences in the game especially if one hasn’t got to grips with all of the wrestling mechanics yet. However, there is a way to deny most of the takedown attempts depending on a fighter’s stamina.
In order to stuff a takedown attempt the player needs to make sure that they have the LT and RT (or L2 and R2 on the PS4), trigger buttons either before or just after grapple has been made. If the player already has the trigger buttons held down to pre-deny the attempts they should automatically stuff the takedown. However, players need to keep the trigger buttons held down until the animation has completed. This is also the perfect time to make use of the game’s strike recording feature that is mentioned above to practice stuffing the takedown attempts.
5 How To Perform Takedown Reversals
In addition to blocking the takedown attempts, some fighters are capable of reversing the move and automatically getting themselves into the dominant position. Again, this is a reversal that’s best practiced in the game’s strike recording feature.
In order to initiate the takedown reversal, players need to hold down the L2 and R2 (LT and RT on the Xbox) trigger buttons and the R1 (RB) prior to the takedown. This will automatically reverse the takedown for the player character.
4 How To Perform Submission Reversals
Just like the takedown reversals, there are fighters that are capable of reversing the takedown attempt and immediately locking in a submission. The process is similar to the takedown reversal where the player needs to hold the L2 and R2 triggers (LT and RT) but instead of R1 (RB), the L1 (LB) button needs to be held down preemptively before the takedown attempt.
The player needs to make sure that the fighter has the correct moves and abilities under submissions in the game like Gilbert Burns who has the full range of Guillotine Reversals in his move set.
3 Post The Arm To Defend Hooks On The Ground
Defending the ground and pound on the bottom position can be a scary place to be in even when the opponent is locked up in one’s guard. Thankfully, there are several ways to avoid taking a lot of hits on the ground.
One of the most effective defensive maneuvers is to post the arm to block the hooks because most fighters will go for the more damaging hooks to finish the ground and pound. Moving the head side to side doesn’t avoid the hook but pressing L1 (or LB) and then moving the right stick in the direction of where the hook is coming from will block it and drain the opponent of their stamina.
2 Go High Then Low And Vice Versa
There are a lot of effective combinations to throw in the game and the most common that players will be faced with online is usually a one-two combo or a one-two jab followed by a one-two hook to break the opponent’s block.
However, relying on the same strategy over and over again will make the player predictable in a fight. It’s better to mix it up and go for the body and the legs to break down an opponent’s stamina and their legs to slow them down and keep them guessing.
1 Dealing With Pressure Fighters
Some of the most difficult fighters to deal with on the feet are pressure fighters. They rely on backing up their opponents and blasting their block with a variety of punches that are usually designed to break the block and wipe their opponents out early. However, the best way to deal with these kinds of fighters is to keep the distance with moves like a push kick to the body and to use a side step lunge to get away from the cage and hit with a devastating counter move and make them miss so they lose stamina.
To lunge away players need to hold down the L1 (LB) and move the Right stick up or down to get a better position. Furthermore, players can also use R2 (RT) and R1 (RB) and move away from their opponent at arm's length. To push opponents away, players can also hold down the R2 (RT) and either Square and X or Triangle and Circle depending on which hand they’re leading with push fighters away.