WATCH: 5+ Hours Of UFC 3 Beta Gameplay

There’s no moment more exciting and viscerally rewarding than a knock-out in an online UFC match. You can keep your DOTAs, Overwatches, Counterstrikes, FIFA Goals, and Madden Touchdowns. I’ll take a spinning elbow to the dome, thank you.

When UFC 3 was properly unveiled earlier in November, the February 2nd release date seemed shockingly quick considering the longer ‘lead times’ for games like Madden and FIFA – players had no idea UFC 3 was coming so quickly. As a side note the two year release cadence for the game is pretty refreshing, too – UFC in 2014, UFC 2 in 2016, UFC 3 in 2018. It’s nice.

But now, BAMMO! There’s a back fist of a beta in our faces! From November 27th to December 1st, players can participate in an online Beta, featuring Quick Fight, Ultimate Team, Practice, and Fight Now Classic modes – allowing you to pick from a limited selection of popular fighters, including cover boy Connor McGreggor.

While none of the progress in any of the modes will transfer to release, the Beta is an opportunity to try out the game, see what works, what should change, give valuable feedback, and see if the game is worth your 60 dollars (and your pre-order if you’re going to dive knee-first into Ultimate Team).

The previous two entries in the series, EA Sports UFC and EA Sports UFC 2, were decently received; The second one especially for gameplay refinements and graphical upgrades, although the ‘ground-game’, especially submissions, were derided for being cumbersome and frustrating – using a bizarre stick-based wiggling system that made very little inuitive sense. Based on the footage above and below, it remains to be seen if there’s been and improvements to the submission element of EA’s UFC Franchise.

Of course, being a Beta, ‘seating’ is limited, and it’s possible you’re left out and still curious. Well, look no further. Here’s 3 solid hours of UFC 3 Beta Gameplay, care of YouTuber MMAGame:

As a guy who put nearly 300+ fights into UFC 2’s Ultimate Team mode, I like what I see so far. The game seems smooth and there’s none of the janky lag that plagued UFC 2 – though this is a beta so there’s likely less stress on the servers. There’s been a few hilarious bugs, too warning, bad language).

Perhaps the most noticeable is the enhanced damage and sweat physics, where you can see specific bruises forming on the parts of a fighter’s body, while simultaneously growing more tired and glistening from all the perspiration. Both little details, but they combine to give longer bouts an epic feel as the warriors in the Octagon slowly wear down over time.

Alas, there is no word if there is plans for another beta, so folks on social media clamoring for access may be a out of luck, though as with all EA games you can expect a 10 hour trial if youre an EA Access member, so folks desperate for a chance to try out the game prior to release will have an opportunity.

UFC 3, developed by EA Canada, releases February 2nd, 2018 for The Xbox One and PS4.

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