As long as there's solid gameplay, Logan Booker doesn't mind the odd disembowelment.
Within the soul of each and every gamer lurks a creature that feeds on gore, guts and dismemberment. Such a monster is hard to keep satiated, but somehow, in this turbulent world of political correctness and extreme censorship, we, as a community, have always found a way to satisfy this curious inner beast. And for the past decade, the bread-stuffed turkey at every feast has been Mortal Kombat.
In the words of Austin Powers, it’s all blood baby, and lots of it. Shagadelic, maybe, but the rich red spurts and decapitation have been a strong and succulent draw card for many a twelve-year old. And while Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance keeps with this age old premise, it has also discarded much to refresh the series.
Most will be happy to know that MK:DA sheds its old skin for a new, sharp, story-based one. Gone are the numerous ‘-atalities’ that complicated gameplay. Instead, the new game focuses on the turmoil erupting after some good old power usurping.
Deadly Alliance begins a few years after the MK 4. Liu Kang is up to his oriental antics, Shao Khan graces his mighty throne with his mighty arse, and Shang Tsung and his new, pallid-faced friend, Quan Chi, form an alliance. Soon after, Liu Kang sees some neck-twisting action, and Shao Khan’s rule as Emperor of the Outworld comes to a violent, sticky end. Out comes the Dragon King’s (who?) army, and the deadly duo conspire to control the undead force. Narration is courtesy of Rayden, who sounds like he should be doing voiceovers for movie previews. It’s a big change from the high-pitched pseudo-Japanese of previous titles. The story is flat, and very linear -- as you’ll soon discover no matter who you finish the game with, their fate, and that of Earthrealm, is always the same.
Like the previous game, MK:DA is 3D. Gone are the poorly videoed actors, replaced by some nicely flavoured graphics and animation. Serious work has gone into designing and crafting the arenas, and it’s pleasantly noticeable in the textures and lighting.
The game has your standard arcade and versus modes, however, strangely absent are survival, time trial and tag team modes that appear in DOA and Tekken. There is an original mode though, called ‘Konquest’, that lets you play through a quick history of each character, and learn about their past and their major combos in the process. It’s a welcome addition, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of other game modes.
Developer Midway has countered this with ‘The Krypt’ -- a room full of coffins that contains additional content such as extra characters, photos and alternate costumes.
There are some 600 containers, which can only be opened by spending jade, platinum, gold, sapphire, onyx or ruby ‘koins’. These are earned by fighting and ‘tests’ of might or sight (where you have to guess which cup a koin is hidden under after they are moved around).
On fighting styles -- MK:DA has almost every real world technique covered. Be it the Li Mei’s ‘Lui He Ba Fa’ style that’s very reminiscent of Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or Shang Tsung’s Crane stance, which is painfully familiar to that seen in The Karate Kid. Each character has three combat styles, two involving martial arts, and the last a weapon. Combos can be linked between styles, allowing for some nifty looking attacks. As a bonus for hitting your opponent, you’ll be rewarded with a fountain of blood, and one could come to the quick conclusion that all the characters are hemophiliacs with vitae to spend.
The character models, in motion, are comical and abstract. All male characters look like Steven Segal, and female characters could easily be outcasts from an audition for a Tomb Raider game. The animations are still very fluid though, and you’ll quickly come to appreciate the overly buoyant breasts -- explainable only by the presence of some unseen and gigantic planetary body or demonic possession.
When it’s all over, you’ve got your one fatality. That’s right, each character has just one fatality. And as far as fatalities go, they’re not that imaginative or spectacular -- the ‘wow’ factor just isn’t there.
In its favour, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance has furious and solid gameplay. The controls are easily handled, and the smooth character animations are enjoyable to play with and watch. Unfortunately, the lack of game modes, abysmal fatalities, and depressingly linear and flat story leaves you with the feeling that the departure from the original Mortal Kombat formula wasn’t a smart one.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012