PROS: Gorgeous Visuals, back to 2D fighting scheme, being able to kick the snot out of DCCONS: Lack of Story, Light Character Roster, clunky free fall kombat, where's Smoke?
"Fighting games are a thing of the past!" "They're just not the same anymore!" These statements sound familiar? Well, they should seeing as though they are always associated with fighting game releases. The all to familiar stench of those who are bitter haters of the genre that not only defined a generation (the 90's gamer) but also kept arcades going well beyond their prevalent lifespan. The Street Fighter's, Virtual Fighter's, Tekken's and Soul Calibers are surely worth mentioning, however, there is one soul fighting game that is widely considered the creme de le creme: Mortal Kombat. Sure Street Fighter will probably go down as the most
important fighting game ever created (and I whole heartily agree) but we here at Warp are MK Fan Boys until we die and when a new Mk comes out, we play it until our little giblet finger tips fall off...and MK vs DC is no exception!Now, I know what all you non fighting fans out there are thinking: "Mortal Kombat vs DC? They are seriously stretching this franchise way to much these days." Rebuttal: Play it and you will then change that narrow thinking pattern! MK vs DC has not only successfully breathed new life into the series but also opened up new avenues for the company to take in future installments. The game brings to the table a small plethora of features which include online play, arcade mode and a brand new story mode. In this story mode you basically pick a side (MK or DC) and progressively dissipate through the story (which was written by Comic Book writing guru Jimmy Palmiotti. Without giving anything away lets just say that the story mode is decent at best. There's a virus that makes people go berserk. You find out why. You solve the mystery. bang, you're done. The game hand holds you pretty much through the entire experience and decides who you play as in each battle. A little bare bones but to tell you the truth...story mode isn't where the meat is.
"Back to basics!" was the one thing that Ed Boon beat interviewers over the head with. The core game play of MK vs DC is by far the best the series has had in over a decade or perhaps since MK Deception. The creators have pretty much dropped the 3D aspect the series had come to
adopt in the early 2000's and brought the fundamentals of the original MK's back into play. Simply put, back to 2D! Although you can perry, the game pretty much stays on a linear line giving the sense that, yes, you are in a fully rendered 3D world/ring, but combat is point A to point B all the way.Also worth mentioning are the visuals. The game looks fantastic! There's virtually no texture pop ins, no lag or even any character blocking (squared edges etc.). The ambient backgrounds are extremely nice to look at during fights, that's if your not getting punched in the throat. To put it bluntly, Mortal Kombat hasn't looked this good since, well...it hasn't ever looked this good.
Other points that further Boon's "back to basics" concept are there's no more three tiers of fighting styles for each character as seen in previous incantations. You got low powered attacks, medium powered attacks, fierce attack (like the beloved uppercut) as well as your special attacks (i.e. Barakas 1,000 Blade Slice). On a technical standpoint the fighting system
works great. The matches are fluid, fast and brutal. In fact, one cool perk to take notice of is the "real time" signs of damage the characters take. During fights, characters will show permanent signs of damage, such as bruises, blood marks, and broken or torn clothing pieces. For example, Scorpion's mask will fall off if he is hit in the face many times. Another huge point of interest shown over the development cycle of this game was the possibility of no fatalities. However, through the process fans were assured they would be incorporated...and they are! Each of the MK characters and DC villains will have fatalities, while DC heroes will have heroic brutalities which will function similarly to fatalities, except without killing the opponent (as far as the story is concerned).With all the bright points MK vs DC has garnered it isn't to say there are no negatives. One notable flaw in the game is its "mini-button masher" sequences you get when
grappling or tossing someone off a ledge, or as they call it "Free Fall Kombat." It's extremely frustrating to pull off sometimes and usually never comes out the correct way (at least in my experience). The fighting schematics also need tweaking. Sometimes the character's feel a little "floaty" and hard to control. Seeing as though the pacing is quite fast throughout the game's entirety, this awkward mechanic may sometimes hamper your experience. One last gripe (although very nit picky) is the games roster. Now, I know Ed Boon wanted to go back to basics and has stated in past interviews that the roster they chose to use was an "all-star list of characters." But come on! No Johnny Cage? No Kung Lao? We can only prey that Midway follows through on their promise for Character Downloads via Xbox Live's Download Service. The current list is as follows:In a basic (and bloody) nut shell, MK vs DC delivers a nice change in the Mortal Kombat Universe. The series has been around since the early 90's and has finally been given a proper face lift...and it needed it. Brutal, bloody, fast and frantic are just a few of the nitty gritty adjectives used to describe the latest installment of the Mortal Kombat Series...and we here at Warp couldn't be happier with the outcome.
Mortal Kombat vs DC pounds you over the face with an 8 out 1o
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