Bellator MMA Onslaught Review

Game Reviewed: Bellator MMA Onslaught

Release Date: July 4th, 2012

Developer: Kung Fu Factory

Publisher: 345 Games

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3

Genre: Fighting

Rated: T for Teens

Doesn’t it feel absolutely awesome to beat the crap out of someone? Not in real life of course, but the legal way; through boxing, kung fu, mixed martial arts, and of course video games.  Yes, gaming shall be categorized here. It’s the bragging rights that makes the fight worth it when all is said and done.

The primary focus here is MMA for gamers, but at the fraction of the cost of UFC Undisputed or EA Sports’ previous title “MMA.”  Kung Fu Factory has released its latest ass-kicker, Bellator MMA Onslaught.  With the title going straight to XBLA and PSN with a $14.99 price point, the only question at hand is what can Onslaught deliver to MMA fans?

Let’s begin with the in-ring experience. The game consists of only 8 fighters in the lightweight and featherweight division. To ease the pain now, it isn’t as glamorous as UFC or EA’s MMA. In fact, it doesn’t stand a chance against 505 Games’ Supremacy MMA. With that said, MMA Onslaught still holds on. As the old saying goes, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s about the size of the fight in the dog.”

Controls are easy to catch on to as the fighting mechanics are similar to most MMA titles . Your face buttons will control your punches and kicks. Depending on your movement around the arena, your punches will land differently.

Using your right analogue will initiate a takedown and also help you transition into various positions to ground and pound or perform a submission.

When locking in a submission, you’ll need to seriously mash the hell out of your face buttons to fill the meter, making your opponent submit or slide out of the hold.

To be victorious in the ring you must make your opponent submit or knock them out. Be cautious though, momentum can be in your favor and easily slip away at any moment. This type of loss is called a flash KO.

Two meters are above your player, health and stamina. The more you swing, obviously, the more stamina it takes. Using too much stamina will wind your fighter and add a danger notification next to your player. Keep at it and your fighter will have a red beam flash around his body. Taking one powerful punch will drop your player down faster than a shot from Kimbo Slice.That’s the glitz and glamour of this fighting game.

Now for the bad.

You won’t find a ref conducting these matches making for a distinct lack of the commentary that normally sets a starting tone for MMA games. Still spotlights manage to reflect over character models during introductions and blood seems to splatter everywhere except where you land your moves.

At on point at the beginning of the first round, my opponent ran towards me. I immediately performed a roundhouse kick to his midsection and blood fell to the ground. My only assumption to this is that my player’s toe nail cut my opponents stomach, and that cut had to have been pretty damn deep.

There’s other times when you’ll notice bloody knees though no contact had ever taken place.

Another key factor in almost every fighting game, is the joy of seeing your final moments replayed. Be prepared to have photographic memory because Onslaught completely drops the ball here as there is no way to catch any match highlights.

So far, this game seems best played as a demo. Wait, though, there’s more.

You can also choose to create a fighter choosing a pre-rendered face, customizing your fighting style and later unlocking new moves to tweak your player’s abilities.

Now with this created player or previous fighter, your choice, can venture into the Road to Championship. This a quick 8-fight tournament where once you lose, you start from scratch. There are no re-matches.

Unfortunately, Onslaught doesn’t give you enough to care for replay value. You’re limited to 8 players and horrible graphics.  To make matters worse, and warrants this being a broken title, there’s no audio during the game’s intro. If you have a chat window open on XBOX, each screen while booting up looks like a defective Nintendo game. So for this title I suggest you keep every dollar in your pocket as, sadly, it is not even worth your spare change.

The Scores

Gameplay: 2.5/5

Visuals: 3/5

Audio: 2.5/5

Controls: 3.75/5

Value: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5