UFC Undisputed 3 - Our First Look at Pride

Last weekend in Las Vegas, THQ held a UFC Undisputed 3 reveal party to formally showcase the game and some of its new features. We flew down to Las Vegas to take part in some of the festivities and had the opportunity to spend time with the game, as well as chat with people involved with the game. On top of that, we got to spend time with the athletes themselves and managed to get tips on how we could become better fighters. Of course, we probably don't have what it takes to make it big, but it was still pretty cool to learn something new.

Because most of the points brought up that Friday were not new to us--we covered most of them in our hands-on preview of the game back in August, the real focus was the first hands-on with classic fighters who once graced Pride FC. For the unfamiliar, Pride was the biggest MMA organization at one time in the world. It was based in Tokyo and was where most notable fighters of the sport fought. Its popularity was based on its tournament structure where fighters had to fight multiple matches in short succession in a bracket format.

If you followed the sport at any time between 1997 and 2007, chances are that the fighters you heard about were fighting and making a name for themselves in Pride. Fighters like Mirko "Cro Cop," Dan Henderson, "Shogun" Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and "Rampage" Jackson all made their mark in Pride and would later have continued success in the UFC.

In UFC Undisputed 3, players will have the opportunity to fight with a large collection of Pride fighters in Pride mode. The rules of Pride are slightly different from standard UFC rules. The size of the ring is different as Pride didn't use the octagon-shaped ring that the UFC uses. Match lengths also varied with the first round and lasted 10 minutes, with each sub sequential round running five minutes in length. There were only four weight classes as well (heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, and lightweight). Other differences included the inability to use elbow strikes, and the judging point system was different in that matches were viewed on the whole rather than a per-round structure.

Pride mode in our demo of Undisputed 3 included exhibition matches that allowed us to play with a large number of Pride fighters. Not every notable Pride fighter was available (Fedor Emelianenko was omitted for obvious reasons), but we were able play as any of the fighters mentioned above, as well as a slew of others. In an interesting spin on the mode, fighters were modeled to look as they did nearly a decade ago. For example, "Rampage" Jackson was known for wearing American-flag shorts in his fights and his Pride fighter here donned the same pair of shorts.

Although not shown at the event, Pride implementation goes beyond Exhibition matches. You will be able to take part in a “Best of Pride” mode which allows you to re-play some of the best fights that ever took place, including featuring actual footage from those particular matches. On top of that, the Career mode will also let you compete in Pride. While playing as an up-and-coming MMA fighter, opportunities to fight in Pride will appear and, if you’re good enough, have the chance to become a Pride Champion.

There are still a few months before the game hits stores, so we should expect to see more of it in action and spend some time with the additional Pride content. UFC Undisputed 3 hits stores in February on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.