MK has Geddeons too

[Dolly Parton]

Get your kicks with latest 'Mortal Kombat'
Posted 10/24/2006 9:09 PM ET
One of the longest-running and most controversial video game series has come to a climactic end on current-generation consoles.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, now available for the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox, should satisfy thrill-seeking fighting game fans for its wealth of game modes and full roster of playable characters.

In fact, Armageddon is the first in the series to feature every character from the 14-year-old Mortal Kombat universe — totaling more than 50 3-D fighters in all — such as Scorpion, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero and Motaro. Like any good fighting game, however, only a handful of characters are available at the start; part of the fun is unlocking the rest, each of whom has his or her own unique look, fighting style and weapon preference.

If you don't want to go with a preexisting character, Armageddon is the first Mortal Kombat game with a Kreate-a-Fighter mode. You can select from thousands of physical features and attributes to design a custom fighter, give him or her a name, and then start a game to test their skills against others.

Fighting, which is fast-paced, requires mastery in three key areas: hand-to-hand combat, weapons and magic. Learning how to punch, kick, jump and spin — not to mention linking successive moves into "combos" — takes some time to get right. Therefore, you won't get very far in this title if you try your luck by random "button mashing." It's also fun to learn how to fight in the air with the many aerial moves offered in this game.

Another Mortal Kombat calling card is the notorious "fatality" move, which refers to the way one fighter can kill the other. In Armageddon, a new Kreate-a-Fatality system gives players the ability to create custom fatalities by stringing together button combinations.

Midway has also expanded a few of its game modes. Aside from the single-player game (against the game's artificial intelligence) and a two-player mode (on the same television), Armageddon also offers a deeper Konquest game (a story-based adventure) and expanded online play for head-to-head matches over the Internet — with faster response times than found in 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception and the ability to play your custom fighter in cyberspace.

But even with all of these additions, Mortal Kombat is still the same old 3-D fighting game: Each player picks a character and fights in a number of different environments. In other words, Armageddon doesn't really evolve the genre much, but rather, just gives the player a lot more of the same stuff," which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Also, while this game's graphics look OK (better on the Xbox than the PlayStation 2), it doesn't compare to fighting games on the Xbox 360 such as Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4.

Mortal Kombat fans can pick up Armageddon for $39.95, or they may opt for the Premium Edition ($49.95), which also includes a playable version of the original Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, more than 60 minutes of bonus DVD video content, a collectible metal case (with four unique box fronts in total), and an animation cell cover art autographed by franchise co–creator Ed Boon.

[Woo Elephant Yeah]

TOASTIE

Looks good for fanboys, but I gave up after the second one.
Still, the original really was a great game.