EA Sports UFC 5 Gameplay Deep Dive: New Ground-and-Pound System, Referee Stoppages, and More

After teasing the reveal date of UFC 5 in July 2023, the official gameplay trailer of UFC 5 is out.  With UFC 5, EA Sports is trying to provide players with the "most immersive, authentic, and exciting Mixed Martial Arts gameplay experience."

UFC 5 has new features and tweaks like the Real Impact System, Authentic Damage, Doctor Stoppage, Striking Evolution and Seamless Submission System.

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EA Sports UFC 5 To Provide Authentic Gameplay Experience with Authentic Damage, Real Impact System and More

With the coming of UFC 5, EA Sports aims to keep the game as close to reality in terms of graphics, visuals, gameplay and overall impact damage with the Real Impact System. The Real Impact System will showcase how the damage taken by the players will impact their conditions and match results. To make the fight more realistic, UFC 5 will come with Damage Icons, which will signify the impact of hits taken by the player. The various kinds of Damage Icons in UFC 5 are as follows:

• Vision Penalty Icon: When a player gets cut in areas (eyes and forehead) where bleeding could lead to visual impairment. During the penalty period, the damage taken to the affected area increases.
• Breathing Penalty Icon: When a player sustains an injury near the nose or mouth, the Breathing Penalty Icon comes into the picture. The penalty results in a decrease in short-term stamina recovery. 

Note: The penalty is lifted if the player does not suffer further impact on the affected area in 30 seconds or at the start of a new round.

• Stun Icon: Stun Icons are broken down into three types.
  • Head Stun Icon: When a player sustains an injury to the head
  • Body Stun Icon: When a player sustains an injury to the Body
  • Leg Stun Icon: When a player sustains an injury to the leg
• Health Icon: These icons represent the effects a submission attempt can have on an athlete.
  • Heart Icon: This appears when players lose their stamina due to a deep choke. 
  • Arm Health Icon: Signals maximum block health due to a deep arm submission 
  • Leg Health Icon: It appears when the player survives a deep leglock and loses his permanent leg health

As and when the athletes suffer a significant blow, thanks to UFC 5 improved visuals, gamers can see the authentic physical cuts, bruises and swelling. The goal here is to provide an immersive and authentic experience. A Doctor Stoppage icon will appear if a player receives a major facial injury, and users can call a doctor mid-game. After inspecting the damage, if the doctor thinks it's serious, they can signal it to the referee, and the match will end, or the game will continue.

In UFC 5, athletes will get an improved defence mechanism as the footwork, blocking, head movement, and lunges significantly improve. Compared to the previous iteration, relying on athletes' defence will be easier. The head movements and lunges in UFC 5 are faster and take less stamina; lunges will concede less vulnerability. The footwork statistics will also hold great importance in a fight. Improvement in core defence tools will be helpful for the players to showcase their overall skills. 

EA Sports also bragged about their newer punches, kicks, elbows, and knees animations in UFC 5. The improved animation will help players get smoother gameplay alongside an authentic experience with snappy kicks and knees. UFC 5 will also feature newer visual cues and hit reactions to showcase the impact of strikes. A primary example could be a hit to the face and how it ripples after the impact. UFC 5 will also bring an improvement to the clinch. A few upgrades mentioned in their trailer were that now athletes can evade a clinch if they strike their opponent at the perfect time. Athletes can also save themselves from a clinch by executing a retreating attack. 

Seamless Submission is another feature that EA Sports is proud of in UFC 5. After a long wait, players can activate the Submission move without playing a mini-game. Upon starting Submission, players will get two options: to execute their Submission move and force the opponent to tap or advance to another dominant position. 

After releasing the gameplay trailer, fans are excited to get their hands on the latest iteration of the MMA title. UFC 5 will be released on 27 October 2023. Still, fans can pre-order the game's deluxe edition for three-day early access and famous athletes like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Fedor Emelianenko.