Well actually, before heading straight for the ground and pound, I spent the next two hours exploring the game's unbelievably extensive tutorial. Fighting games of this magnitude can be intimidating to new players and THQ's put a lot of work into making UFC Undisputed 3 more accessible. In the four chapter (with fifty-ish sub-chapters!) tutorial, announcer Mike Goldberg walks you through every move in the game while on screen control prompts teach you how to execute them. Honestly, the sheer amount of information here can be overwhelming but the good news is that once you're in the game, toggleable reminder hints continue to pop up. An additional helping hand also comes in the form of a new set of amateur controls designed to help inexperienced players get the hang of things. These controls simplify the expert grapple controls so that transitions, which are usually executed with a controlled spin of the thumbstick, can be done by simply moving the stick up and down or side to side.

Other cool match additions are the fighter “paper dolls” and the new Interval Advice system. The first allows you to display on-screen fighter silhouettes that clearly indicate where each fighter's taking damage and the second allows you, between rounds, to receive strategic suggestions as well as positive and negative feedback from your trainer. Further new features include the ability to fight online mirror matches, set up fantasy/historical matches and record and edit “Highlight Reels” of the last 50 rounds of play. What will probably be the most controversial of the new additions though, is Undisputed 3's new submission mode.

Players having complained that the reasons for winning or losing a submission weren't clear enough, Yuke's came up with a graphic approach to the problem that's likely to prove divisive. Once a submission is attempted, an octagonal track appears on screen with a colored bar on it representing each player. The idea is for the players to move these colored bars around the octagon, trying to either overlap the other player or avoid being overlapped, depending on who initiated the submission. Sounds confusing? Well, it kind of is. The jury's out on whether or not players will adopt and get used to this new mechanic, or reject it completely.

In any case, they're sure to enjoy watching their fighters go from humble WFA beginnings to UFC stardom, building up skills, cred and sponsorships as well as dipping into the game's Tournament, Pride, Title Defense, Ultimate Fights and Event Modes. Ooh, and I almost forgot—in one of the best examples of UFC/THQ cooperation, UFC Undisputed 3 now punctuates key points in your career with interview footage of real UFC fighters instead of pointless 3D cutscenes. Fight your first fight, enjoy your first win or suffer your first defeat? You'll get to see interviews with real UFC fighters talking about their experiences with the very same things. This addition might seem small, but it adds a ton of interest.

With the game's release a mere three weeks away, the build we saw was obviously the finished product or pretty close to it, and it's definitely looking good. Despite questions regarding the new submission system, all indicators point to this UFC game not only holding its own with Undisputed 2010, but thanks to THQ and Yuke's addressing community concerns and adding their own immersive bells and whistles, easily topping it.