Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Mike Escobar

GET OVER HERE!!!  FINISH HIM!!!  FATALITY!!!

Ah yes, some of the best known lines in the gaming world.  Hearing those words can mean nothing more than yet another version of Mortal Kombat has arrived to challenge your skills and offend your parents.  I’ve been a fan of the MK series since it first appeared in the arcade so many years ago.  Back then fighting games were a relatively new genre and didn’t dominate arcades and home systems the way they do now.  It’s hard to believe that the original Mortal Kombat was released 16 years ago!  Heck, I can remember when Sub-Zero was actually a bad guy!  Through it all, Midway has managed to keep the game fresh yet familiar.  That they’ve been able to achieve this balancing act so well for so long is a tribute to their obvious love and dedication to the series.  Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely some gimmicky stops along the way.  Who doesn’t cringe just a little when they play Mortal Kombat II/III and start discovering the Babalities and Animalities.  What could be next?  Functionality?  Mentality??  Criminality???

In the late 1990’s, one of the trends of the multitude of fighting games was the “crossover” version.  Marvel vs. Capcom, King of Fighters, and X-Men vs. Street Fighter are just a few of the titles that went down this path.  While many of these were excellent titles in their own right (Capcom vs. SNK still holds a special place in my heart) some people complained that these games did nothing more than prove that the fighting genre was running out of ideas and would soon fade into obscurity.  Which brings us to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (MKvDC).  This is the first time that Midway has done a crossover-type title and despite some rumors during development to the contrary, this game has turned out quite well.

This is the first next-gen entry in the Mortal Kombat series and the graphics truly shine.  Midway has done an excellent job of not only updating their own stable of characters to HD graphics, they’ve also managed to migrate all the DC heroes into the Mortal Kombat universe in such a way that they fit.  Making Batman seem dark and gritty is a snap, but accomplishing the same thing with characters like Captain Marvel or Superman?  The graphic artists at Midway deserve major kudos for the way they’ve managed this.  The DC heroes look heroic for lack of a better word, yet still come off down and dirty and ready to throw down with the MK rogues gallery.

Beyond the excellent character models, the fight environments look fantastic.  Each environment has its own unique style and presents its own challenges.  With gameplay changes that add both a vertical and horizontal element to the mix (more on this shortly), these settings contribute nicely to the overall feel of the game.

The background music and game sound is solid throughout, but nothing of real note.  The best thing that can be said about the various environment musics are that they are subtle and don't intrude on the gameplay experience.  The voice acting is definitely the high point of the sound and is for the most part outstanding.  The Mortal Kombat characters still have all their familiar voices, but it's the casting on the DC side that is surprisingly good.  Lex Luthor sounds sinister, Batman is gruff, and The Joker is suitably insane.  The only jarring note is Superman's voice.  I'm sure it was a difficult task to have someone who is supposed to be the "Worlds Biggest Boy Scout" sound tough, but he just doesn't sound quite right.

Midway is a big fan of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” school of thought, especially when it comes to game control.  There are no changes to the control scheme since Mortal Kombat first came to the Playstation, and that’s a very good thing.  Anyone who has played a previous MK title will be able to jump right in and start kicking butt with no learning curve whatsoever.

As the latest version of the Mortal Kombat series, this game is solid through and through.  The ultra-sharp graphics and solid control scheme let you dive right into the gameplay, whether it be exploring the story mode or jumping right into arcade mode.

Possibly the biggest surprise in this game is the story mode.  Historically, fighting games have hidden behind extremely thin or clichéd plotlines to give the protagonists a reason to fight.  Not so in MKvDC!  This is a direct result of using comic book veterans Jimmy Palmotti and Justin Gray to write this game’s back story.  Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say that the plot answers all the questions that were raised about this game, such as how could Scorpion hope to fight Superman?  Why are these two sides fighting in the first place?  Some questions though, like why Catwoman’s outfit is unzipped so much, must forever remain a mystery.

When starting story mode, you are prompted to choose the Mortal Kombat or DC Universe side to play.  This results in the same ending, but shows the path of events from each side’s very different perspective.  There are quite a few great moments that make the story mode worth playing through, particularly the DC side’s chapter dedicated to The Joker.

Arcade mode is exactly what you would expect, with one minor twist.  You start off by choosing your character, and then you choose whether you are facing all MK opponents, all DC opponents, or a mix of the two.  You then proceed to make your way up the virtual ladder of enemies until you face the final boss.  Once defeated, you get to see your character’s ending cinematic and unlock it in the Extras section of the main menu for future viewing.

Three new modes of kombat have been added into the mix; Free Fall Kombat, Klose Kombat, and Test Your Might.  Free Fall Kombat is initiated whenever you knock an enemy off the upper tier of an arena and are falling to the lower tier.  During your fall, you trade blows back and forth with your enemy, increasing the damage they will take once they hit the ground.  Be careful though, mid-air switches can occur that will make you the one taking all the damage on impact! 

Pressing the L1 button when near your foe begins Klose Kombat, where the camera zooms in and you’re able to perform a series of punishing attacks.  Again you need to take care, because the enemy can counter (or is it kounter?) your attacks by matching which buttons you press, giving them the opportunity to do a load of damage to you.

In Test Your Might, you do a horizontal version of Free Fall Kombat by slamming your opponent into the walls at the edge of the arena.  The main difference here is that instead of performing different attacks you tap any of your action keys as fast possible to increase the damage incurred at the end of this phase.

With all these good things going on, you might wonder why the game doesn’t get a perfect score when it comes to gameplay.  Unfortunately there are some drawbacks when it comes to MKvDC.  For those of us who have played the Mortal Kombat games for years, we have become spoiled when it comes to content.  There’s no other way to say it.  By the time Mortal Kombat: Armageddon came out (the most recent MK game) we had tons of playable characters, hidden characters, unlockable costumes, unlockable arenas, concept art, etc.  Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has the character endings and only two (!) hidden characters straight out of the box.  With the rumor of downloadable content (DLC) that could include new characters and new moves, this could turn out to be a very minor complaint, but without confirmation from Midway we might not see any of this.

Another misfire this game suffers from is the Kombo Challenge.  In previous MK titles, the training modes were well-rounded out affairs that would start off easy and then progress up to the long list of big damage combos.  In MKvDC you start off by picking whose combos you want to work on, and then who gets to be the recipient of all your damage.  You’re then brought to the arena and given a long list of button presses to try and imitate.  That’s it.  No demonstration of what the successful move should look like.  No feedback if you’re on the right track.  Just you, pounding on your hapless enemy, hoping to get the timing, distance, and button strokes just right to complete the challenge.  This is another minor issue, but for those people wanting to squeeze every trophy they can out of the game, it can become a very frustrating issue.

For all the Mortal Kombat aficionados out there, it should be noted that MKvDC is not part of the official MK canon, meaning that events that occur in this game have no effect on the continuing MK timeline.  We will have to look forward to the next Mortal Kombat game from Midway to enjoy the continuing struggles between Earth and Outland.

Arcade mode adds a ton of replay value to this title, especially with Darkseid and Shao Khan as unlockable characters, but online play is what will keep you coming back to this game over and over.  Online play is done extraordinarily well, keeping everything simple and letting you get to the fights quickly and cleanly.

With options to filter potential opponents, friend lists, and the ability to create your own game channels, MKvDC does a great job of putting everything together in a nice, clean interface that is easy to use.  The presence of User Statistics to track your own fight record and Leaderboards to view worldwide stats rounds out the list of things that players like to see.

While it is unusual for a Mortal Kombat title to have only two unlockable characters, there has been plenty of discussion on Midway’s official forums that additional characters will be included in future DLC, as well as the possibility of new moves, costumes, fatalities, or even arenas.  None of this has been officially confirmed though, so this should not factor into your decision to purchase this game.

From the sharp graphics to the rock solid gameplay, this is a well-implemented game.  Throw in a very entertaining story mode, arcade mode, and online play that have a slick, easy to use interface, and you have a surefire winner.  Longtime fans of the series will be pleased with this entry, and new folks will discover a great fighting game that they can spend hours learning to master.

Gaming Trend Score

91

1. Graphics: 95
2. Audio: 90
3. Controls: 90
4. Gameplay: 90
5. Value/Replay: 90
6. OVERALL:91