I was expecting to take a beating in UFC, I just wasn't expecting it during the tutorial.

Some presumably highly regarded UFC face takes you through the moves you need to know... and you need to stuff your tiny brain with an absolute skip-load of violence.

Tutorial over and... ooh, how do I knee him in the teeth again? No, can't remember, I'll have to mash the buttons, hope this massive Swedish guy falls for my fancy dancing and go through the blimmin' training again.

UFC demands your dedication. Skimp on this and you'll have your face smeared across the Octagon.

This is EA's first punch thrown at UFC after THQ's impressive run. Annoyingly, the fierce impacts the THQ efforts brought to the party have been lost in the transition. If it looks like a couple of pixelated guys swinging at each other then there's a good reason for that, but when you got smacked in the mouth in the THQ version, you felt it.

And I could have done without the giant chuntering heads interrupting lengthy load times and filling me in on their illustrious careers and opinions of the finer points of mixed martial arts.

One you've got the moves down (it only takes about three hours...) putting them to good use is satisfying, but it's relatively easy to progress through the levels. Online is a better test of your skills, but it's a shame the fighter creation facility isn't strong on variety. (I can give him a giant purple beard but no afro? Ridiculous.)

It's not one of EA's finer simulations but the UFC-appreciative will find hours of gleeful teeth-shattering funtimes.

Out on Xbox One, PS4