Oh dear, another UFC title. The last one I cast my eye on caused violent gut pains every time I put it in my machine. I have to point out here that I haven't played a worse game since so this latest instalment has got to do an awful lot wrong in order to truly sink to the bottom of the pile. Well that's a start I suppose.

For those with little idea about the premise of UFC, it was a novelty contest scheduled to last no more than a couple of events to determine which fighting style was the most effective. Violent, bloody, ruthless and utterly real, UFC has grown and grown in its ten or so years of life and is now a hugely popular fighting tournament; it's by far the most visceral brawling event to hit the sporting calendar - I challenge anyone to watch it and not wince at least once every twenty seconds.

On to UFC: Sudden Impact then, and on first impressions things have improved a touch with a more polished feel to the intro and menus. A standard range of play modes greets you at the main menu offering arcade, champion road, tournament, versus, training and story mode. The last of these doesn't actually allow full fighting but lets you customise your character through three years of apprenticeship, adding a move, skill or attribute every month. Successfully performing feats in the training octagon nets you the chance to bolster your standard fighter's moves list and with a fair element of pure luck your training sessions can come off well or badly. A fantastic idea in principle but the majority of tasks last less than the load times and often comprise of little more than pressing one or two buttons.

The other modes feature a touch more than the beat 'em up standards, with a very handy training mode, a straightforward tourney system, the more involved champion road which offers belts based on weight class and an arcade mode that unlocks all the special characters and other bits and bobs. They're much of a muchness however and in each case the load times and amount of dull intros and highlights take so much away from the game that playing becomes a real chore.

And speaking of chores, the matches are decidedly dull with paltry move lists and rather mechanical movement, making for some of the most tedious one-on-one beat 'em up action around. Whilst not being totally dominated by killer tapout moves and featuring a good range of counters and blocks, Sudden Impact suffers from a truly lacklustre command system based around tiny combos and ground grappling. Although the various fighters have their strengths and weaknesses clearly defined, when the action goes to ground there's not much of a difference and it boils down to who has the better timing with the one button combos. If there's one thing to pick out about the gameplay however, it's the lack of pace and excitement so prevalent in the real thing. I can't believe that anyone would have the patience to persevere with this title on the strength of the gameplay and the result is a title that bargain-bin hunters will be seeing a lot of in the pre-owned section.

The UFC franchise has had something of a makeover in many areas of presentation but it's a bit of a cowboy job to be honest. The nicest touch is the damage modelling and the little drops of blood that flood from your fighter's nose after a particularly fierce battering. The animation is jerky and monotonous, lacking any kind of variety and the same can be said of the environments. The whole package in fact, apart from a sweet intro, is dull as dishwater and twice as brown.

A cacophony of grunts and 'oofs' forms the majority of the sound with a rightfully stifled crowd backing up the dreary fights. Again, monotony features in abundance in the audio department and, as with the fighting mechanics, takes away from what should be tense and electrifying bouts. Although not nearly as shabby as the previous UFC title, Sudden Impact comes off as a shoddy title in all aspects of presentation.

I just can't say I enjoyed any area of UFC: Sudden Impact. The idea is a fantastic one and the licence is possibly the best out there, but the delivery is disappointingly poor and saps the entire stimulus from what should be a great game. Whilst being a slight improvement on UFC: Throwdown, this title isn't worth your hard earned cash and is something that only the UFC fan might enjoy, but probably won't. Punching yourself repeatedly in the face will give you a better feeling of what UFC is all about and if you gave me the choice, I know which I would rather do. [AceGamez is not suggesting you punch yourself in the face and takes no liability for any self-injury! Ed].

Reviewed by Tom LeClerc for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).