UFC 5 Review (PlayStation 5)

by Jim Smale · Published October 27, 2023 · Updated October 27, 2023

For this UFC 5 Review, we do battle with our favorite fighters who now have unparalleled character likenesses to complement next-level environment fidelity that’ll make their walk to the Octagon feel like a PPV main event. The all-new Real Impact System brings the intensity and strategy of a fight to life, as cuts and strikes absorbed can affect mobility, defense, stamina, and more. Take too much damage, and the doctor will check to see if you’re able to continue. For lovers of the ground game, Seamless Submissions makes grappling feel more fluid and realistic than ever before. And if you like to admire your handiwork, new Cinematic K.O. Replays capture your fight-ending finishes in all their punishing glory.

UFC 5 Review Pros:

Stunning graphics.
39.24GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Five difficulties – Easy, normal, hard, pro, and legendary.
Simple controls – on/off.
Grapple assist – assist, Legacy, and hybrid.
Four game styles – simulation, Knockout, stand and bang, and competitive.
Full Haptic feedback integration. (can be turned off)
Colorblind support.
You can turn off-camera flashes.
The opening match with tutorial prompts – Jon Jones Vs Stipe Miocic.
The combat feels so impactful with you feeling every shot, every block.
Four ways to play – fight contracts (daily events with unique settings and modifiers), fight night (pick a fighter and event), career, and online.
Event creator for a tournament or event.
Create a fighter – appearance, tattoos complete with layering, clothing, Fighter style, stance, and sliders for every body part.
Career mode allows five saves and you can import or create your own Fighter.
Men and women’s divisions.
The career mode has you starting in the backyard scene and features in-game cutscenes.
Complete challenges to get evolution points.
End-of-match breakdown for – cash, fans, longevity, move evolution, evolution points, punch card, player level, and challenges.
Full fight stats are shown at the end along with a replay.
Cuts and injured body parts play a huge part now as you take more damage on those injured places.
You can learn and earn new moves just by playing, every punch, kick and grapple levels up as you do them effectively and regularly.
Evolution points let you upgrade your stats half a star at a time.
Stamina plays a huge part as you use it for punching, kicking, grappling, and even blocking.
It’s a really cool game to play now and I Look forward to playing it.
The soundtrack is a mix of new music and you can edit what plays.
TV-like presentations to fights.
The career mode is well-paced with a mix of sparring challenges and events.
You do get quite a bit of control over your career characters outside of stats as you decide on contracts, fights, and bonuses.
The Fighters get visibly messed up and you can see cuts bleeding faces swelling and limps etc.
You can get injured in career mode from fights and sparring which can affect your stats and moves. You can fix this with money because money is the best medicine.
In career mode you can choose your social media posts with multiple choice entries, pay to learn opponents’ moves and tactics, etc.
Learn moves from other Fighters in career mode.
Career mode can throw up match cancellations and optional last-minute changes.
Earn exp from all modes and level up to get rewards like new clothing and coins.
Bars pop up showing damage dealt and sustained on both Fighters in real-time.
Any knockouts trigger a set of slow-mo replays from multiple angles and lighting choices.
Icons will pop up to show if you are gassed, injured, tired, etc.
When you get tagged (take substantial damage) the screen flashes red and noise plays out.
The screen briefly flashes red when you give or get cut.
In between matches in career mode, you have a lot of choices on what to do including how long your camps are.
If you get rocked (stunned from a shot) then your character wobbles around.
Create connections with other Fighters in career mode to learn their moves.
Fitness levels play a huge part in the career mode with you being able to fatigue before you even fight.
Created characters can unlock and equip different moves from how you punch to how you block but they can also have perks for a huge gain like better recovery or less stamina used in grapples.
Online modes are – online career (same as offline but with real opponents), ranked championships, blitz battles (short matches with ever-changing rules), quick fight, and invite.
Uses the system whereby timing shots will determine power, if an opponent is leaning forward with a punch but you punch faster then the punch will be stronger than if the opponent was stood still.
The career mode is very fleshed out and deep.

UFC 5 Review Cons:

The camera is not great especially when in grapples.
So much to take in and remember.
They have made the ground game more accessible but it still feels alien to me.
You have to use a pre-made last name.
The list of places you are from is terrible from a UK perspective… Why no Bristol!
In-app purchases.
No intros for low-tier and created characters.
It’s the same canned end-of-match ring walk-around.
Doesn’t allow you to go full heel and mess up pressers or call people out.
During camp weeks it is very hard to regain fitness in career mode.
Cannot rebind controls.
A few athletes have been done dirty with the character models.
Occasional weird glitchy movements.

UFC 5:

Official website.

Developer: EA Games

Publisher: EA Games

Store Links –

PlayStation

9/10
Graphics - 9/10
8/10
Sound - 8/10
8/10
Accessibility - 8/10
9/10
Length - 9/10
9/10
Fun Factor - 9/10

8.6/10

Summary

UFC 5 is a visually stunning game with a download size of 39.24GB. It offers five difficulty levels and four game styles, providing a variety of experiences for players. The controls are simple and there’s full haptic feedback integration, which can be turned off if desired. The game also supports colorblind players and allows camera flashes to be turned off.

The opening match features Jon Jones Vs Stipe Miocic with tutorial prompts, and the combat feels impactful, making you feel every shot and block. There are four ways to play: fight contracts, fight night, career, and online. You can create your own fighter, complete with appearance customization, tattoos, clothing, fighter style, stance, and sliders for every body part.

Career mode is particularly immersive, starting you in the backyard scene with in-game cutscenes. You can complete challenges to get evolution points and see a full breakdown of your match results. Stamina plays a huge role in the game as it’s used for punching, kicking, grappling, and blocking. Perks add another layer of customisation and you can unlock additional slots to add even more.

However, the game does have some downsides. The camera isn’t great during grapples and there’s a lot to remember. The ground game feels alien despite attempts to make it more accessible. There are also limitations on using pre-made last names and the list of places you’re from is lacking from a UK perspective. In-app purchases are present and there’s no option to rebind controls. Some character models don’t do justice to the athletes they represent and there are occasional glitchy movements.

Despite these issues, UFC 5 offers a deep, rewarding, and engaging experience for fighting fans. The soundtrack is a mix of new music that you can edit the playlist to your liking and fighters entrance music, and the TV-like presentations add to the immersion. The career mode is well-paced with a mix of sparring challenges and events. You have control over your career characters outside of stats as you decide on contracts, fights, and bonuses.

Overall, UFC 5 is an immersive fighting game with stunning graphics and a variety of gameplay options that will keep you engaged for hours on end. If you are debating which version to get then I would like to add that the haptic feedback is implemented really well and makes it the defacto version as you feel every hit, every block and it is just a next level of immersion. And I can say with no doubt at all that this is the best UFC game to date and a huge leap forward for the game series, It is a UFC game and it has me wanting to go back time after time, I just love how it nailed the atmosphere and gameplay because I mean at any time one well-timed punch or kick will end you, The career is so deep and rich in content that you always have a reason and I strongly urge you to create a character and go in hard. If you wanna bang UFC 5 will let you bang.