Pros: Detailed Models, Wide Range of motion captured moves, creative design
Cons: Only 1 fatality per character, S-Type controller is twitchy with this one
The Bottom Line: The first successful 3D implementation of Mortal Kombat, relying on a diverse fighting system instead of gore. Not Dead or Alive 3, but a comfy second place.
mr_chupon99's Full Review: Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance for Xbox
Mortal Kombat has been struggling with breaking into the realm of 3D fighting for some time now. The 4th in the series was pretty lame, although everything after the second MK I regarded as beating a dead horse. The MK franchaise started out with blood and fatalities as being it's signature. The 3rd and 4th games didn't have anything to hold them together because they were still based around this principle marketing ploy. It's nice to see Midway try to make a game which can stand on it's fighting engine, than have to rely on gore.
The game encourages you to buy it by keeping half the characters in the game locked away; you must purchase them though earning money (annoying note: Everything is spelled with a K in the game, ie. Koins). You earn money by going through the training missions (10 for each character, teaching you special moves and combos), or playing against the computer, or the mini games the game has. You can also bet earned money against another human player in Vs. mode. By going to the Krypt to spend money, you can unlock characters, extra costumes, and tons of production pictures.
The gameplay is fairly well thought out. Aside from the fact that you cannot use the analog sticks for the game (probably the game's worst flaw), and the S-Type control pad isn't that responsive for getting off moves. They tried to limit characters' special moves by not letting you continually use them repeatedly one after another, but you can still be very very cheap in the game. The 3 modes of fighting are two kung-fu modes (each unique and well represented to each character), and a weapon mode. Some characters also get certain priviledges in combat. Some can impale you with their weapon (leading to very cheap run away tactics because being impaled constantly drains your health), while others can perform reversals a la Dead or Alive (grab your punch in mid swing and attack you). It's not as balanced as I would have liked, but it still makes for a fun fighting game.
The graphics are very good, with detailed textures and unique player models. The motion capturing is top notch for the moves, and the sound effects are of a wide range and good quality. The music, while not annoying, certainly isn't anything to write home about. You cannot access X Box soundtracks with this game unfortunitly, which I feel would've added a lot to the game (yeah, I know I could just play a CD outside the game, but having the music synch to the game is what I was looking for). Finally, the fatalities, with a few exceptions, are all very new and original, and will not dissappoint your questionable thirst for gorely last moves.
I would reccommend buying this game used, because of game prices nowadays. It's not Dead or Alive 3, but it's in the top 3 fighting games for the X Box right now (Do we even have 3 fighting games?)
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