EA Sports’ UFC 4 brings the Octagon home, but you’ll need to put in the work

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Well, prepare for your plans to be out of the window as if you were taking on “Iron” Mike Tyson in his heavyweight heyday when you load up UFC 4 from EA Sports.

Not merely because you will spend hours on your avatar’s appearance or the Career Mode that the game dumps you straight into.

Mostly its because you will be punched in the face a couple of times or more when the game drops you straight into a backyard fight and asks you to put up your thumbs in earnest.

That’s an honest way for the developers to introduce you. First of all, it is a nod to the Kimbo Slice videos of cover star Jorge Masvidal where “Street Jesus” was gaining disciples out the back of a laundromat, but more importantly it reinforces the message that it is not getting much easier any time soon.

There are other modes of course but this is the headliner and rightly so, where you get a chance to take your fighter from the backyard to the big time, or more accurately being pummeled in a parking lot to packing out the pay-per-view, like Masvidal and fellow cover star Israel Adesanya.

Just like the real UFC, you’ll need to put in the work but the career mode is there to guide you through that, with the help of returning Coach Davis to get you to the pros.

Some users have noted that Coach Davis disappears when you get to the big show (via the WFA path of the past, Dana White’s Contender Series or straight to the UFC) only to come back for your first title bout, disappointed at the loss of interaction with the character.

That is perhaps understandable as his role essentially operates as an elongated tutorial that will prove vital in introducing – or reintroducing – the facets of the game, which has changed noticeably in the near two years since UFC 3 dropped.

Make no mistake, there are still more buttons to push than an old married couple, but unlike many a loveless marriage there is reward.

That is not to say that you can bash those buttons. This is a sport simulation and not a beat ’em up, after all, but there are nods to the culture of fighting video games and the films that inspired them, too.

There is a kumite arena straight out of Bloodsport, the Jean Claude Van Damme film that would inspire Mortal Kombat and the game’s Johnny Cage. This venue, and the backyard, offer a knockout mode that is closer to a normal fighting game.

These new modes are joined by the chance to play as at least 50 UFC fighters, men and women, with more set to be added weekly.

Two other characters are Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, which makes UFC 4 the only option for boxing fans to play a video game of the sweet science right now.

Oddly, Joshua has a chin rating of 97 – the highest of any heavyweight in the game – despite his knock-downs against Andy Ruiz.

Back to the MMA, work has gone into simplifying the clinch, takedown and ground and pound, with the latter proving a basic, reliable path to success – though that goes as much for your opponent – as you get to grips with all the fighting styles.

While the visuals are much improved and Daniel Cormier has been added on commentary duties, UFC 4 also has increased online options. “Blitz Battles” and a global tournament mode to bring it up to date with other EA Sports online offerings, with changing rules to keep fighters on their toes.

These new options add longevity but there’s no escaping that the game rightly leans heavy on its much expanded single-player career mode and there’s no short cut to success. The reward will come with time.

We played the PlayStation 4 version.