We spent the next 30 seconds feeling each other out, spending more time blocking and dodging than actually throwing punches. But even in my first bout against Hayes, the pace came to a standstill once we got down to each of us having one hit point left. It's easy to assume that the Knockout Mode environment would result in quick fights where both combatants simply rush each other and mash buttons.

The game will track wins for player one and player two as long as you don't exit the mode, making for a fun way to compete with your buddies for bragging rights. These bouts go quickly, so it's easy to keep going with rematches or even new combatants. When you get down to one segment of your health bar, the next attack will knock you out. (Basic strikes like jabs and leg kicks don't count.) You can make the bout more strategic by enabling parry recovery, which will allow a fighter to regain a hit point if they successfully parry an attack. The mode also lets you adjust each combatant's health up or down, if you want to shorten or lengthen fights (or give one person a handicap).Įach time somebody lands a strike, their opponent loses a hit point. When you go into Knockout Mode, you can set the matches to sudden death, a best of three or a best of five. If you don't feel like engaging in a proper fight, Knockout Mode is a great alternative for its faster pace, but that doesn't mean it doesn't impart some important skills to take with you. It's also designed to show off the considerable work that developer EA Canada has put into the EA Sports UFC 2 physics engine, into making every jab, spinning elbow and roundhouse look more painful than ever. It's meant to be played in a more casual setting than the game's standard fights, like a party where you and your friends pass the controller around while drinking some beers. Knockout Mode, one of many new elements in EA Sports UFC 2, serves a twofold purpose. 'It used to be an impossible problem to solve.' 'We clearly couldn't have mo-capped a knockout for that situation,' said the victor of the bout, EA Sports UFC 2 creative director Brian Hayes, after wincing with an 'oh my God, your neck' as we watched a replay. But alas, he caught me with a spinning heel kick while I was in midair, and I fell unconscious to the mat, landing on my head.

Knowing that we both had one hit point left, I leaped toward my opponent for a superman punch. Our bodies battered, our faces bloodied, we slowed things down and began circling each other in the Octagon. Neither of us could take much more punishment.

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