Revamped Create-a-Fighter and Career Modes are two of the more exciting additions to
UFC Undisputed 2010. Create-a-Fighter has received a few notable upgrades - both cosmetic and mechanically. When creating your fighter, you can now choose from a list of around 100 first and last names and fifty nicknames. It's a small thing, but hearing Bruce Buffer announce your fighter's name, not just his pre-set nickname, adds a lot to the experience.
UFC Undisputed 2010 also offers the ability to customize your fighter's look, including his trunks, accessories and even tattoos. It's the small things that make all the difference.
On the mechanical side, you can now set custom navigation styles. Rather than sticking to one fighting posture, you can now set one that more accurately reflects your fighter's style. Building off the navigation styles, you can also set either a lefty or righty preference, which translates into more in-game damage from the favored hand.
Delving deeper into your fighter's styles, you're no longer limited in what techniques your fighter can learn. Instead, you select a base style, but then use what developers refer to as an "a la carte" system to fill out your fighter's personal attack style. Once you make it to the professional ranks, you can learn moves from some of the top MMA Camps in the world and even top coaches like Sean Tompkins. After choosing a Fight Camp and move, you'll earn points by performing tasks like accurately hitting the pads. This is harder than it sounds because I routinely punched my trainer in the face when I should have been kicking low. With enough points banked, you'll earn a new move to add to your repertoire. Once learned, you can then rank the move up and even earn the right to add the camp's logo to your clothing.
Out of everything in Career Mode, I think creating my own custom style was my favorite aspect. It took a while to get used to all the new systems in Career Mode, but once I found my way through the system, I eagerly dived into the various camps to create a fighter that completely fit my play style. Of course, the morning workout helped give me an added bit of perspective, but even without the workout the system it is incredibly rewarding once you manage to scale the learning curve. After a demoralizing hour of getting the snot knocked out of my fighter, I was loudly cheering once I captured my first win.
Moves, like nearly every other aspect of Career Mode, are in some way tied to your fighter's stats. While creating a character, you are given a set allocation of points to distribute among a number of stats, including Striking Offense and Defense and Grappling Offense or Defense. Skills are rated 0 - 100 and play into what sort of fighter you want to bring into the Octagon.