After being given three years to cook, EA Games is back with UFC 5, and with it is the franchise's first M-rating. While many of EA's sports titles see annual releases, UFC 4 was released in 2020. Since then, its developer has been able to use that time to upgrade the franchise significantly. During an exclusive preview, EA Games proved that the jump from UFC 4 to UFC 5 will be one of its most dramatic upgrades yet.

UFC 5 will be the franchise's first game to take advantage of EA's popular and continuously impressive Frostbite engine. With the upgraded engine, UFC 5 has taken its presentation to the next level thanks to advanced lighting, more realistic arenas, and fighters that all promise to run at 60fps. Besides visuals, gameplay has also been significantly improved thanks to player and a new brutal damage system that will force players to take specific hurt areas into during battles, especially after recovering from an epic blow in the game's incredibly satisfying slow-mo KO replays.

UFC 5's Presentation Raises The Bar, Then Punches Through It

UFC 5 will not be available on generation 4 consoles, so the developer is no longer being held back by the PS4 or Xbox One's nearly ten-year-old hardware. The Frostbite engine is capable of incredible things, especially on current-gen hardware, like with EA's release of the Dead Space Remake earlier this year. Dramatic lighting, sound design, and especially the blood have been fine-turned on the Frostbite engine to look more realistic than ever before. Judging by the virtual preview for UFC 5 that Screen Rant was invited to, EA has evolved it even further to deliver a fighting game that finally feels visually impressive enough to be considered next-gen.

EA has also upgraded its methods for capturing the likeness of the many fighters players can control in UFC 5. Face rigging has allowed the developers to more accurately capture the facial features and fighter expressions to match their likeness further. EA is also adding strand-based hair to UFC 5, a first for the developer. This advanced technique will make many of the game's different hairstyles look more realistic than ever, with technology that previous generation hardware could not keep up with. These additions will help the next game feel much more authentic to a real MMA fight, especially when combined with its massively improved fighter damage mechanics.

One of the biggest reasons UFC 5 will be rated M for Mature is because the damage and wounds players can inflict on each other are so realistic. Faces will get swollen, cuts bleed, bruises form, and injuries will accumulate and affect gameplay. If something gets too damaged, a doctor will intervene and call the match. By applying more pressure to an opponent's specific limb, it will get weaker and eventually grow into an opening that can score more damage. While sixty-four thousand different combinations of injuries can occur, developers chose to recreate the most common injuries rather than the rarest, grossest ones.

Tutorials and Story Mode Will Train New Fighters Into Champs

EA Sports has taken player over the years to make UFC 5 a game that fans have wanted. However, the developers are also taking steps to make sure new players can enjoy it, too. The game's updated Career mode brings back Coach Davis and one of the game's cover athletes, Valentina Shevchenko, to help players learn the ins and outs of UFC 5's gameplay in the modes Training Camp lessons. And if players learn and work their way through their careers, Locker Room cinematics will add more to the story and help hype players up before milestone fights take place.

Besides upgraded tutorials, there have also been several changes to how UFC 5's combat controls that will make gameplay more accessible for players of varying skill levels. One aspect that helped Street Fighter 6 be a perfect entry fighting game was its Dynamic control option, and UFC 5 aims to have a similar opportunity. When players press an input to punch, the AI-assisted control style will decide what type of punch best fits the situation, and the same goes for other attacks. If EA Games does it well, the new controller option and the wholly updated submission system will allow new players to complete impressive combos and have more fun as they grow more comfortable with the game.

Test Your Fighter Skills And Knowledge On UFC 5's Online Modes

Creating a custom fighter and fighting through the Career Mode will only be the first step before jumping into UFC 5's Online Career Mode. Players will battle with their customized fighters and level up their skill points to raise and learn specific talents, much like a well-thought-out RPG. Four separate divisions must be conquered to become the best online fighter who can keep evolving after reaching the max level by prestiging their rank to learn even more abilities. However, creating a feared warrior that instills fear in other online players isn't the only multiplayer component coming to UFC 5.

Real-world UFC events will be coordinating with UFC 5 to deliver special matches and challenges for players to complete leading up to the big fights. Completing specific challenges called Contracts unlock exclusive gear as well as increase in difficulty as the week goes on. Another feature called Fight Picks will give players a chance to pick the winners, methods, and more of what they expect from UFC real-life fights, a feature that Fantasy Sports aficionados should be able to lose much time with as their knowledge and luck will help raise them up in the game's leaderboards.

EA Games has used the extra development time well to make UFC 5 look like a game that can only work on current-gen hardware like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The developer put much work into making this next installment look as authentic as possible, and judging by the game's M-rating, UFC 5 captures how visceral mixed martial arts can be. Players can unlock legendary fighters like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Fedor Emelianenko by preordering the game and experience UFC 5's improved gameplay, presentation, modes, and fighters on its release date of October 27, 2023.

Source: EA Sports UFC/YouTube

EA Games invited Screen Rant to a virtual preview event for the purposes of this article. UFC 5 will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S on October 27, 2023.