It seemed like EA Sports UFC 3 just came out, yet they already have a fourth game in the works for Xbox One and PS4. The new game received an overview trailer clocking in at nearly four and a half minutes, covering the high impact moments, the real-player movement for the clench and takedowns, and an overall ground-and-pound and submission system.

I don’t know why Electronic Arts has a fetish for ruination, but every time they do something right they decide to take three steps forward and two steps back for each new iteration in every new game they make.

The trailer starts with the new “High Impact Moments”, which basically makes the screen all blurry and red.

The High Impact Moments was not well received by the community due to the fact that it obscures the action.

They also overhauled the striking combinations and techniques. Instead of using the bumper modifiers or triggers for harder hits, you now tap the face button for jabs and light strikes, or hold down the button to perform harder hits, making it more like the WWE 2K games, which is not a good thing.

One thing they did actually improve upon is the takedowns. I never really liked the system, which was basically either/or – either it worked or it didn’t. Now the takedowns are more dynamic, and there’s even locomotion behind takedown attempts instead of them either being successful or failing due to the player tapping the takedown-defense button to evade the maneuver.

I’ll admit that he new RPM takedowns look really good, and the ability to perform float-over transfers either offensively or defensively once on the ground looks gorgeous.

The new clinch system, however, could be a plus or minus. I never really cared for the previous clinch system because it felt clunky and mechanical, but if they can make it as smooth and fun as the clinch from THQ’s UFC Undisputed series or AKI Corp’s Virtual Pro Wrestling series, then I’m all game.

They’ve also overhauled the ground submissions… AGAIN!

I don’t know why they find something that works and then overhaul each new entry so you have to re-learn the controls all over again.

This time around they’ve “simplified” the ground controls for both offense and defense, allowing you to utilize three mechanical options from both positions: Getup, Submit, or Ground & Pound.

The new submission system is also now almost identical to Yukes’ WWE 2K games. It’s embarrassing.

For those of you who don’t know what the submission system looks like in the WWE 2K games, you can check out the video demonstration below courtesy of TCIH619 – TheChampIsHere619.

The only decent thing about the revamped submissions is that they added new counter-submissions during clinches, standing grappling, and takedown attempts. However, they didn’t have to mimic WWE 2K to implement additional submission positions.

Anyway, this game was announced on July 11th and it’s due out on August 14th. So that speaks to how little faith EA has in this latest outing. It feels more like a glorified expansion pack than a full-fledged game. I mean, announcing a game a month before release? That’s something I would expect from an indie company.

Then again, expectations need to be kept low since EA is on the Traitors of America master list.