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Review: Mortal Kombat

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Since it’s 1992 debut, I would say that I have had a pretty up and down relationship with the Mortal Kombat franchise.

Not because I have any great criticism of it, but I am, when it comes to beat ’em-ups, a bit of an impatient button masher. This affliction means that I am invariably utterly humiliated by anyone who has put in the time to learn more that just Sub Zero’s “Ice blast” move. So for me to recommend a beat ’em-up, it really does have to be an instant winner. Well, there’s good news…

Let me preface the rest of this review with the fact that I liked Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, quite a lot in fact. I was fished in as a life long comic book fan, who tends to jump all over franchise mergers like this, but I was shocked to find myself really compelled to play on beyond the mandatory, if slightly ludicrous, Batman vs. Superman showdown.

The simple reason for this new appreciation for the genre was the inclusion of a ‘Story Mode’, which instantly made the game far more appealing to me, as a single player experience. But as fun as it was, the downside of the Story Mode was the fact that every three or four bouts you were forced into a new character storyline and had to get the instruction book out again to learn roughly which buttons to mash to progress. That’s because, for all of its new features, MK vs DC Universe still felt like it really required you to know a lot of moves in order to make it as fun as it looked like it could be. Hence why it has sat on my games shelf unused, since I played through the second ‘route’ of the Story Mode.

Where MK9 improves on the Story Mode though, is also what makes the whole game far more enjoyable. What MK9 does so well, is that it doesn’t demand anything of you that you aren’t willing (or probably capable in my case) of giving. So, if you are a button masher, there is enough variation in the moves that you perform (without necessarily performing many special moves) to keep you more than interested, and satisfied, by the damage you are inflicting on your opponent. But equally, if you are a quick-fingered beat ’em-up genius, then there are seemingly countless moved that you can take the time to learn, so that you ultimately still have an edge.

In general, the look and feel of MK9 has returned to a familiar one for Mortal Kombat fans, NetherRealm Studios (formerly Midway) having gone back to a 2D fighting plane. But that said, the graphical improvements and subtle environmental touches, more that make up for any loss of depth you might expect to feel because of it.

As with most beat ’em-ups the level of difficulty you face against the AI characters, all 30+ of them (27 of which are currently playable, but more are set to be released as DLC), ranges from the simple to the ridiculous. You’ll fight through the first dozen or so rounds on Story Mode, happily being switched between characters, and then you’ll suddenly come up against Ermac for the first time and before you can say “Get over here”, you’re down without ever getting inside his half of the screen. It’s not that he’s impossible to beat, you understand, just that he’s the first real test you get and certainly took me by surprise.

But, by and large the Story Mode is a pretty satisfying introduction to the game and something that I think has really given MK an edge in recent releases. The great thing about MK9 though, is that once you’re done with the Story Mode there are plenty of other modes to keep you busy. Challenge Tower, for example, is a series of 300 challenges ranging from breaking concrete blocks to defeating a hoarde of Zombies against the clock. It’s a nice step away from the one on one or tag team modes (also included), which have been done to death already.

For all of its enjoyable qualities, and improved longevity, at the end of the day MK9 is only a fighting game, so it’s limited by the fact that it will never be anything more than that. NetherRealm have certainly done their best to add as many modes as possible to keep it fresh, but there’s nothing that’s truly earth-shatteringly new or exciting about it. It is just another beat ’em-up, it’s just a pretty decent one.

I do, however, have one irritating bugbear with this game, although it may seem a little nitpicky to some. My issue is with the way characters get knocked down at the end of a round. Nine times out of ten the final blow, for arguments sake let’s say it’s to the shin, will inexplicably cause your opponent to stand up straight and fall backwards like you’ve just hit them across the forehead with a shovel! What’s that about? For all of the hard work that’s gone into creating this, largely impressive, game you’d think there would be some kind of impact specific ‘death’ sequence. It’s amusing the first couple of times, but after that it quickly becomes an annoyance.

I will also add that I am yet to experience MK9’s online offerings (largely due to the PSN outage), so I can’t add an opinion on that at the moment. But purely based on its offline modes, I must say that I have very little to criticise about the most recent offering from the chaps at NetherRealm. It’s easy to pick up, tough (certainly for me) to master and there are plenty of modes to keep you coming back, long after you have grown bored with its peers.

In short, I can highly recommend Mortal Kombat, to casual fighters and experienced pros alike. As much as it’s a fun blast from the past, to rival any recent Street Fighter, it’s also a very decent stand-alone example of a modern beat ’em-up.

You can view the latest prices for Mortal Kombat at The Hut.

Platforms: Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 3
Release Date: Out Now

Review Overview: “An essential purchase for any Mortal Kombat fans”

Overall Score: 8.5/10

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 at 6:20 pm and is filed under General Gaming, Playstation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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