EA Sports UFC 5 comes out today for Deluxe Edition owners, and later this week for all owners of the game. We've got plenty to cover, ranging from gameplay, story, and many other features. EA Sports has been developing UFC games for almost a decade now, and now it's time to see how far their hard work and effort has taken them for the latest installment. Let's dive in and take a look at the latest UFC game.

UFC 5 Release Date – October 27th, 2023

UFC 5's release date is Friday, October 27th, 2023. The game comes out for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game comes in two separate editions:

  • Standard Edition ($69.99 USD) – Pre-order bonuses include:
    • 2 Alter Egos
    • 30th Anniversary Vanity Bundle
    • Online Career Mode XP Boosts (x5)
    • Muhammad Ali
  • Deluxe Edition ($99.99)
    • 3-Days Early Access (October 24th Release Date)
    • Mike Tyson
    • Fedor Emelianeko
    • Muhammad Ali
    • Bruce Lee Bundle
    • 4 Alter Egos
    • Origins Bundle
    • 30th Anniversary Vanity Bundle
    • Online Career Mode XP Boosts (x5)

That means players who pre-order or purchase the Deluxe Edition receive the game today, October 24th. Additionally, EA Play members get a free 10-hour trial of the game when it launches, as well as a 10% discount.

So if you're a big UFC fan, or pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition, feel free to get a head start by playing the game earlier this week. However, if you don't mind waiting, the base game launches later this week.

UFC 5 Gameplay

UFC 5 brings a gameplay experience similar to previous installments of the series. However, EA Sports implemented plenty of new changes and additions to make UFC 5 a brand new game.

UFC 5's Gameplay, powered by Frostbite Engine, features Authentic Damage,which includes over 64,000 possible combinations of facial damage. Additionally, with authentic damage means ringside doctors, who step in and assess the damage, if need be. That's right, at any point during a fight, a ref can step in and call for the ringside doctor to check on the fighters.

For the player, new Strikes and hit reactions make their way into UFC 5. This includes new animations for ground and pound elbows, spinning attacks, and more. Additionally, new striking animations have been implemented to grow more accurate to the real experience.

A new Seamless Submission system takes away all the unnecessary mini-game type sequence from previous installments. Now, Submissions should be much more simple to perform, keeping the match fast and fluid with very little to take you away from the action.

UFC 5 also plans to add two new fighters to roster each month, which should help keep players interested and coming back to the game to try new fighters. Speaking of fighters, EA Sports also released fighter ratings for both men and women in all their respective divisions. So if you're interested to see where your favorite fighter landed, be sure to check out our UFC 5 Fighter ratings.

Lastly, a “Revamped extension” of the grappling system allows for faster moves and no more mini-games. This should offer a more authentic experience for this aspect of gameplay.

UFC 5 Comes with many familiar game modes, but it's also coming with a brand new one that follows the real UFC schedule as well. Fight Week is an all-New series of challenges that “sync the real world fight events.” For reference, think of the F1 World Mode from F1 23. Here's how it works:

  • After the weekly update, you get new Fight Week Challenges. Each challenge presents new objectives, which you can complete rewards.
    • Rewards include vanity items, player profile customization assets, emotes, and Alter Egos.
  • Players can make Fight Picks in-game before the events to make predictions for every PPV. Afterwards, they get seeded into leaderboards, where the best players receive UFC Coins.
  • Fight Week Contracts are daily challenges where you fight AI opponents under preset conditions. Completing Contracst earns you some Coins too.

Fight Picks in-game before real-world UFC events, so you can make predictions for the main card of every PPV. You’ll automatically be seeded into a Fight Pick leaderboard after making your picks, and the top-ranking players on the leaderboard after each event will earn in-game UFC Coins.

New Progression Rewards make their way into UFC 5. Players can earn a set of predetermined awards, including:

    • In-game currency
    • Player profile customizations
    • Created fighter vanity items
    • And alter egos
      • Additionally, completing profile challenges rewards you with XP to level up your Punch Card's earning capability.

Additionally, UFC 5's presentation received some new upgrades. Cinematic K.O Replays create for great moments to share with friends, while more finishers got added to the game.

Like many other EA Sports games, UFC 5 is powered by the Frostbite Engine. While we feel it didn't really work in Madden 24, Frostbite might benefit the gameplay and feel of UFC 5. The player models of all fighters, both men and women, do look very nice. Hopefully this translates into the gameplay as well, and we might have a really good game on our hands.

UFC 5 Story

Like the last game, UFC 5's Story is contained to a Career Mode. Whether it's Solo or Online, this mode allows you to create the fighter of your dreams and fight your way to the top. However, Online Career mode comes with a few nice changes.

Introducing Online Fighter Evolution. Players earn evolution points to improved their fighter's attributes. Prestige your character to reset your points but increase your level cap to get more moves. Additionally, XP boosts increase the rate you earn Evolution Points. Acquirable via in-game rewards

An all-new skill-based matchmaking system involves division progression, as well as title chases across four divisions. Generally, players compete with different created fighters in each division, allowing you to switch around freely.

Those are all the new features coming to UFC 5. As a reminder, UFC 5 comes out today for all Deluxe Edition owners. Additionally, the game launches later this week for everyone else who purchased or pre-ordered the game.

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