2003 Midway
There was once a time when Mortal Kombat was the most popular fighting game available. Back in the early 1990's, Mortal Kombat and the subsequent Mortal Kombat II solidified the series as a groundbreaking achievement for the 16-bit era. A combination of clever digitized graphics, unique characters, plenty of gore and quality arcade game play led the series to massive success in North America and across the globe.
However, the success was not to last for very long. The arrival of Mortal Kombat 3, whilst a good game in its own right, signalled a slight stagnation of the series. This stagnation was soon confirmed with the release of games such as Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. It became apparent within a short period of time that Midway was intent on cashing in on the franchises earlier success for as long as possible. And with the release of the generally disliked Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero, many gamers were feeling pretty unhappy about the state of the series.
It is generally accepted that despite the mediocre cash-in attempts, one of the biggest disappointments was the release of Mortal Kombat 4; Midway's attempt to produce the first 3D Mortal Kombat game. This game demonstrated that not only was Midway unable to match the efforts of companies such as Namco and Sega instalment ofwhen it comes to 3D fighers, it was apparently unable to deliver a true 3D Mortal Kombat game. The fourth the series seemed to confirm to many that Mortal Kombat was well and truly dead. The fact that fundamentally, the game's changes were mostly for the worse (the ability to pick up objects was never fully utilized; even the game's speed and intensity lacked the impact of previous 2D editions) only added to the negative sentiment within the gaming community.
And now, here we are; 2003 and an all-new Mortal Kombat game. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is Midway's attempt to ressurrect the failing franchise. This time, the core game play has been significantly tweaked and modified. And so, unlike its predecessor, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is not simply a pretty cosmetic upgrade; it's a very real attempt to rethink the core ideas behind the franchise and to create a 3D fighter from the ground up. So what is different this time around?
For starters, the core fighting engine in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is quite dissimilar from previous incarnations of the franchise. Rather than providing a single fighting style for each character in the game, Midway has included three different fighting styles per character. Whilst each individual fighting style provides its own specific moves, each character still has his or her own special moves that are the same regardless of the style being used. Sure enough, the classic fireballs and ice blasts of previous editions make an appearance as special moves in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. But uniquely, one of the three fighting styles is always a weapons-based style. Thus, each character has his or her own unique weapon to use in the context of a particular fighting style.
In addition to the significant changes in the game's core fighting system, there are a whole host of other extras to sink your teeth into. As you fight in the arcade mode, practice mode, konquest mode or in two player battles, you're rewarded with various "koins". Every time you win a fight or some other challenge, you will be awarded with koins of various colors. These koins are used to open coffins in the krypt; a kind of bonus section where all sorts of goodies can be unlocked. You can use koins to purchase everything from new characters and costumes to sketches, strange videos and even concept videos of various unfinished levels.
Features
- Over 20 new and classic fighters to choose from
- Three unique fighting styles for each character
- Fatality moves make a return
- Unique "Krypt", with literally hundreds of unlockable extras
- History of MK and Making of MK videos included in the game
- New weapons-based fighting capabilities
James Burns: For me, this is a particularly interesting review to write. I was always a huge Mortal Kombat fan; I mastered MKII and MK3 back in the day. And like most everyone else, I was utterly disappointed with the shoddy Mortal Kombat 4. It was unbalanced, sloppy and a chore to play. I returned the game to the store that I'd bought it from, only about 15 minutes after I started to play. I've never done that with any other game.
With that said, I was naturally cautious about another Mortal Kombat. While I was relieved to hear that it wasn't going to be another compilation or spinoff, I still had the bad taste of MK4 in my mouth. I think most people (whether they are MK fans or not) have had a reasonable skepticism about another Mortal Kombat title. And rightly so. Thankfully, I can tell you that Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is probably what Mortal Kombat 4 should have been. Midway has made a significant effort in terms of reinterpreting the MK universe in three dimensions. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance addresses most of the issues with MK4, whilst ultimately providing a fundamentally different game experience.
The core aspect to Deadly Alliance is of course, its fighting system. When you consider the kind of competition in the genre (everything from Virtua Fighter and Tekken to Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur), this game is pitting itself against some of the most high quality fighting games ever produced. Although Deadly Alliance does not necessarily knock any of these games off their respective pedistals, it certainly manages to provide a more complex experience than previous editions of the franchise. In particular, Deadly Alliance focuses on the concept of having multiple fighting styles for each character.
The idea of multiple fighting styles has been implemented very well in Deadly Alliance. The different fighting styles are not a gimmick (like the fatalities), they are a fundamental part of the way this game plays. Learning the entirely seperate moves of each style and knowing when to use different styles (even combining styles for combos) is an important part of the Deadly Alliance experience. For example, you might want to use one style that emphasizes heavier attacks to the head/chest and then, when your enemy is blocking those attacks, you might want to switch to a style that favors lower body attacks. Of course, each style contains variety within itself; both high and low attacks. But there are many differences between the styles themselves. In particular, you'll find some styles more difficult to master, whilst others are relatively simple to utilize. Some fighting styles also work well against certain styles used by your opponent. So, you might have an opponent who is using the "wrestling" style -- a powerful, yet relatively slow style of fighting. To get the upper hand, you might want to use a faster style to give you greater control over the battle. For instance, Sonya's default style uses a pretty even combination of kicks and punches. But with a simple click of the L Button, you can select a style that focuses entirely on a variety of kicks. And so, this style is both faster and provides you with greater attack range; particularly useful against an opponent who is using a slower style.
Within the three fighting styles, you'll also find a weapon-based style. Of course, weapon-based styles contain their own seperate moves. In addition, you'll find that most characters can use a kind of "fatal move" (for lack of a better phrase) that involves their weapons. For instance, Li Mei will stab her sai into the knees of an opponent, with a quick tap of the Z Button. She'll lose the use of her weapons for the rest of that round, but the weapons will remain stuck in the opponent's knees and will slowly drain their health during the round. Each character performs this weapon-based move in a different way and often, you'll find that it's much slower (and thus much easier to counter) than other moves. But if timed correctly, it's a useful move that adds further strategy to the battle.
As mentioned in the description at the top of this review, Deadly Alliance includes a massive number of extras. Hundreds of coffins that contain everything from character artwork to some incredibly weird videos (the Scorpion cooking show is just...frightening). While I personally find many of these extras to be pretty useless (I can't say that I get too excited about looking through hundreds of character sketches on my TV screen), I'm sure that some of the ultra-hardcore MK fans will absolutely love them. And certainly, the krypt offers players a chance to spend their hard-earned koins, which are won throughout the game. You can win koins by winning arcade battles, by winning mini-games and by completing practice challenges. You can even wager a number of koins when playing with a friend -- you simply each load your profiles (by using your own custom button code) and you can use your available funds to make bets on who will win. The extras are interesting and varied, which demonstrates that the addition of koins isn't a superficial gimmick; there are so many uses for the koins you earn, including the unlocking of new characters and arenas.
In terms of play control, I believe that Deadly Alliance is a clear example of the GameCube being adequate for fighters. In particular, I had no problems with the GameCube controller. The four main moves (high and low punching and kicking) are mapped to the face buttons, which works very well. The throw/special move button is Z, which isn't as bad as you'd think. You will only really use the Z Button occasionally during battle, so it's not something that you constantly need to press, which prevents it from ruining your experience. The R Button is used to block and the L Button is used to change styles (which is an instantaneous process; you don't need to worry about being attacked while you change styles mid-battle). In terms of movement, it's most appropriate to use the D-Pad. Afterall, this game was really designed with a digital control system in mind. And really, it works quite well. Deadly Alliance feels better on the smaller GCN D-Pad than on the broken up PS2 D-Pad (which I find to be quite uncomfortable with extended use, particularly in a game where you need to roll your thumb around the pad for certain moves). Of course, some gamers really dislike the GCN D-Pad no matter what, so obviously it won't feel very different in Deadly Alliance.
Visually, Deadly Alliance does the job but is certainly nothing spectacular. Environments are often quite pretty in terms of their artistic design. But certainly, various aspects of the environments can be a little mediocre. In one level, there are monks beating large gongs just outside the arena where you fight. And yet, even when you pass close to one, you'll notice that the monk is about 25% your size; the sense of scale is completely off and it looks quite jarring. There are a few instances like this throughout the game and while they are noticeable, they're certainly not an overriding factor.
Characters are another issue. From a distance, they look quite good. Character animation is satisfactory and generally, character movement is quite smoothe. However, when the camera zooms in on a character you begin to notice a few problems. These problems are not actually technical issues, they are more related to basic design problems. For instance, Sonya looks like a disgruntled truck driver most of the time. With her square head, sharp jawline and massive gorilla-like arms, Sonya just doesn't feel like she did in previous MK games. It's disappointing. The same can be said about various other characters. Li Mei's breasts are about as jelly-like as you can possibly get (they'd even put Dead or Alive to shame; they really have a mind of their own). And with most characters, you notice how ridiculously massive their arms are when the camera zooms in. In general, I get the sense that character proportions just aren't what they should be. Perhaps this is so jarring because of the digitized characters in previous MK games; because they were digitized, they kind of needed to be in proportion by default. And so, some characters look a little warped in Deadly Alliance. However, clothing, skin textures and such are all done quite well.
In terms of sound, there really isn't much that can be said. Musically, Deadly Alliance is unimpressive but not horrible. The music is very "MK-fare", which means that the tunes sound pretty similar to older games in the series. Music in Deadly Alliance is generally quite moody and subtle, which can sometimes work to the game's benefit. But generally, the music is pretty forgettable; not actually terrible, but nothing very memorable either. Sound effects are, as with music, very similar to the 16-bit games. The quality is higher and the sounds are more varied, but generally there is nothing particularly outstanding about the range or quality of sound effects in the game.
Ultimately, I've decided to give Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance a thumbs up. I can confidently say that this game completely redefines the Mortal Kombat franchise. In many ways, this is a game that restores my faith in the series. Deadly Alliance also provides a strong base from which future Mortal Kombat games can draw. Despite the generally ho-hum nature of graphics and sound, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is a satisfying game to play. The fighting system is unique and manages to stand on its own two feet when faced with other games in the genre. And when you include the massive number of interesting extras, a satisfying multiplayer component and the general ease of control, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance presents a strong case for purchase.