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Its been a long time since we've seen a Mortal Kombat game. Some would argue that its been even longer since we've seen a good one. I was able to get some hands-on time with the newest iteration of the series yesterday in all of its bloody and fatality-laden glory, and I think we may just have a good one on our hands.
First and foremost, Mortal Kombat has been able to hit that balance of old school nostalgia while still updating the series into something that can hold its own in the new deep-sea of expectations that fighting games have found themselves in today. Its certainly a hard note to hit, but it's one that the developers were able to hit perfectly. And good thing. A Mortal Kombat of yesteryear would have no place being released today. We have just come too far in terms of fighting mechanic for it to fly. Even if they beefed up the gore tenfold, that would be nothing more than a gimmick and that gimmick would be good for maybe 10 minutes of gameplay before it wore extremely thin. Thankfully, the game does make the necessary advancements, and it may just be a high-water mark of the series.
It should also be noted that Mortal Kombat is not for everyone. Yes, new functionality has been added allowing it to compete with the contemporary expectations of what a fighting game should bring. But the series has always offered a very different experience. A much slower experience which can make it seem downright banal when put next to exceedingly frantic games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3. What Mortal Kombat lacks in activity it more than makes up in style. Mortal Kombat is spurting with it.
Thankfully, 3D has been left behind, and the series has found itself returning to its 2D roots, this time taking a middle of the road approach with a 2.5D perspective. Even the camera begins to turn inward when the fights move to the out edges of the arena, adding a great sense of depth and perspective to the fighting space. Special moves are shown in Street Fighter IV vignettes, with the best of these being “X-Ray” hits which shows a translucent view of the fighter as their bones are shown breaking under the force of the attackers blows.
5 characters were playable, but 28 character boxes were visible with one of them ominously labeled “DLC.” No word on new characters, and honestly I'm not sure if its even necessary. The Mortal Kombat series is filled to the rim with interesting characters and, personally, I would rather see some classic ones get improved than some getting created whole cloth. Speaking of which, all special moves have been improved with having both primary and flourished attacks. The latter of which do more damage. For example Reptile's poison spit has two modes, with one being a short spit and the other being a prolonged deluge of poison which coats the fighter being attacked.
Fighters also display persistent damage which makes the fights seem especially more brutal as they progress. And of course all of this violence and brutality crescendo's to the games Fatalities which have been completely redone for all the characters and are now much more violent then they ever have been. Heads are sliced, bodies torn apart, legs nailed to the floor. The violence is so over the top, actually, that it becomes almost comical. I can't think that anyone will even take it especially seriously...though I won't be surprised if this new Mortal Kombat joins the same scapegoat crew that GTA IV has found itself.
Mortal Kombat probably won't win over any of the hearts that have been taken by the likes of Tetsunoko Vs. Capcom or BlazBlue, but it will certainly bring some of those fans back and attract some people who haven't been enamored with the new waves of fighting games which have come out the past couple of years. I, for one, intend to be on board for this one.
Comments
13 years, 7 months ago
Beast...
13 years, 7 months ago
Vast amounts of my childhood game playing were consumed with Mortal Kombat for the Sega Genesis. I love fast paced fighting games but I have always had a special place on my gaming shelf for Mortal Kombat games and that will not change. If this is going to be the last, I hope they go out with a bang.
13 years, 7 months ago
Yeah, this was one of the last games I played at PAX, but I really enjoyed it. I have never really been enamored with the previous iterations of the Mortal Kombat series, but I did like the "feel" of this newest addition.
13 years, 7 months ago
Unfortuantly, I'm one the people that MK doesn't appeal to. Great article Joseph, I might rent it, just because I'd like to see any beloved series make a good return.
And becuase all my mates will play the living shit out of it in search of nosteligia, and I don't want to be left out. Like a circle jerk, not really interested, but I don't want to just sit in the corner by myself.
13 years, 7 months ago
I really enjoyed the original, i had it on the playstation. It was great with all the fatalities and abiities and at the time and up until the present has been one of the only fighting games i played consistently. The only thing that sucks nowadays about playing fighting games is everyone who has access to the internet goes on you tube and learns every combo under the sun, making the match go along the lines of this
3. . . .2 . . ..1 FIGHT. Punch, Kick, Special, SUPER, ULTRA K.O!!!!!!!
So if i do get it, probably just for single player, or a challenge mode.
13 years, 7 months ago
Am very excited :]
13 years, 7 months ago
4PP is epic most of the time but i thank them for the mortal kombat refrence cause i play it when i can, if its new, and beat it. um can you create a character still?
13 years, 7 months ago
also i like to think that subzero has all the ice powers without frost in there. she was a pain in the kaneshke aka pelvis area. i like the new Bad @ss version of the classic for the reason of look vs 3D 2d was always cool 2.5d is better cause atleast you dont have to angle your camara like crazy.also some of the charters like Shang tsung, Quan shi, Raiden, Lu Kang, Kung lou ,reptile, scorpion, subzero, katana, jacks, johny cage,gorro, and so forth are going to be the most common used in the game. noob and smoke are a team in all games so i would hate to see a 2 on 1 fight cause of what jaun says from valkerie (i can go another round). i would also like to see the 4pp cast a special mortal kombat gradual increase thing like play the new one then an older one and compare.
13 years, 7 months ago
the thing that made mortal kombat brutal to me was the realism of the character design. That style of photo 32 bit graphics made them appear to be real people and so the spikes with heads and heads flying was brutal to watch. If you take things too over the top you start becoming Killer Instinct or No More Heroes where you might as well have a disco blood mode cheat. I think that they should invest in making those photo realistic characters seem three dimentional rather than creating an entirely new character who doesn't exist as an actor does. Between the dark colors and the photo characters providing non artistic and simply more realistic body proportions along with skin tones and colors of the outfits I realized Mortal Kombat is very graphic centered and I feel I can't get that mortal kombat feel from these 3d artist made characters. They just seem average and not brutal to me. "Fake" if you will. I'm not hating because Mortal Kombat is still a fun ride. I'm just saying what I personally feel about the game and how it could possibly even futrther progress in the future.
13 years, 7 months ago
So, uh, 2.5d is an actual industry term now? Goddamn it.
13 years, 7 months ago
As long as the game is properly tested. Mortal Kombat games are notorious for lacking in that respect. (infinite uppercut anyone)?
13 years, 7 months ago
I can't wait for this game. I always loved Mortal Kombat. I wanna saw someone in half with my hat. win!
13 years, 7 months ago
This game doesnt interest me in the slightest, despite the fact that i loved mostly all of the mortal kombats up to Armageddon. Ed Boon had become the Peter Molyneux of fighting games.
Deadly Alliance was a game in the right direction,: fighting styles/special moves, the blood trickling down the bodies as they moved around. Deception was even better with stage fatalities and an awesome konquest mode. then armageddon comes out, and it was completely rushed with written ending,similar final boss as armageddon that fight and die the same exact way,very basic character customization...you get the point
MK DC was shoddy: it wasnt a very fun fighting engine and the only real feature in this game was fighting DC characters..and I dont really like DC characters too much. the only thing that looks sorta cool, is the blitz the league like thing where you see bones and limbs crack..other than that, its over played and over done. Do something new,ed.
13 years, 7 months ago
MK has always been a guilty pleasure for me. The last one I really enjoyed was Deception (Shaolin Monks was fucking awesome also but not a fighter) but they lost me around Armageddon and I didn't even play MK DC. Hope this game re-sparks my interest.
13 years, 7 months ago
All right! This is exciting. I missed the gore and stomp-fests of Mortal Kombat and I'm glad to hear its getting redeemed. The screenshots look pretty good, from what I've seen, so can't wait to play it and see those changes you've been talking about. A refreshed Mortal Kombat... makes me hopeful.