Just when you thought Midway's multicoloured ninja brigade, bouncing cleavage warriors and half-naked mutants couldn't get any more camp, they go and team up with DC. There's more lycra, low-cut tops and, erm, capes on offer here than in all of Soho on a warm summer's evening.
Like watching Jimmy Carr or The X Factor where entrants pour their hearts out to a gurning Simon Cowell, Mortal Kombat Vs DC is a guilty pleasure. We should all have got over Midway's frantic, blood-filled beat-'em-up some years ago, but against a backdrop of first-person shooters, racing games and epic story-driven adventures, MK is an instant hit of no-nonsense gaming. There are no moral choices, or stats and 'character progression' is met with a swift kick to tally-whackers.
The gameplay hasn't changed much since past Mortal Kombat titles, with the four face buttons hammered in combination with pushes on the D-pad igniting flourishes of punches, kicks, fireballs, harpoons, lasers, rattling machine-guns, sword swipes... you name it, this roster of fighters have it.
The big difference, on first play, is that this edition of Mortal Kombat has been toned down to appeal to a wider market. The majority of combo attacks are released using the same motions for every character, so one man's toward-toward fireball is another's eye-laser. This means that as soon as you pick up Mortal Kombat Vs DC you're soon firing of a blitz of impression moves with little effort.
This isn't to say the game is easy (in fact, the final boss Dark Kahn is one of the series' trickiest and cheapest to date) because in the hands of good players, these basic move sets can be combined into devastating attacks.
All the characters' basic combos open up lines of juggle hits that can knock off a quarter of an opponent's health in seconds. Raiden is a character hardcore players will adore for just such juggling, his teleport can be combined with electrical attacks to great effect. The Flash's speed attacks are also devastating, Superman's air-punches combined with his Soaring Knockout throw or Inhale Capture attack (a nod to Scorpion's harpoon that enables you to get one last cheap hit in) prove it's not only the Mortal Kombat roster that has lines of combos to master.
To this end, there's a combo practice mode to master these moves. Sure, it's not new. The moves are listed at the top of the screen and you have to match them in order to progress to the next move. For perfectionists - it's a must. By the time you've completed a character you'll know their move set inside out and will be aware how to link certain attacks together. Against the CPU the deeper strings aren't needed, but when facing off against a human opponent, online or off, you'll need the knowledge to be victorious.
Which neatly leads me into the Story mode. Just how do you justify merging the worlds of DC and Mortal Kombat? The script is by pen-for-hire Jimmy Palmiotti (who has the recent Dead Space on his gaming CV) and ties together the two warring sides in to neat chapters.
You flit between characters as they muddle their way through the reason why these two worlds have collided. It keeps the formula fresh as you gradually play as and meet every character in the game, then bap them. By the finale the two sides are fleshed out and set for war - until the real menace shows his face... It's here I thought Midway had missed a trick - a tag system would have been great. Wouldn't it have been fun to tag your way through the DC or MK rosters as it takes the combined might of all the game's heroes to tackle this new villain?
The upshot of the two world's merging is Kombat Rage, a viral power that turns heroes into villains and the world on its head. Aside from enabling Superman to fight Batman, Kombat Rage heightens the strengths of all the heroes and villains - The Joker can now go toe-to-toe with Batman and come out a winner. This is represented by a Rage meter - as you take hits it fills up. Once topped up you can activate it with the shoulder buttons and your attacks will inflict extra damage. Though not an original concept in beat-'em-ups, used tactically it can turn a bout.
What's a little more original, and a lot more fun, is the introduction of Mortal Kombat's mini-game Test Your Might into the main action, along with Klose Kombat and Air Kombat. Test Your Might is activated by ramming an opponent through a wall and into a new arena. As you charge through wall after wall you hammer the buttons to inflict damage as your opponent jabs at his buttons to reduce his damage. Free-Fall Kombat is entered by kicking or throwing your opponent over the edge of the arena to a new fight zone below. As you fall to the new arena you pummel one another - blocking, countering and punching as you drop.
Klose Kombat is activated like a throw - the camera zooms in on the heroes and you enter a mini-game to inflict pain on your enemy. There's a load of brutal animations for arm breaks, groin punches and so forth, but I particularly liked The Joker's eye poke.
The Joker is the game's standout character. His moves and fighting style perfectly replicate the villain's comic book mannerisms. Green Lantern creates hammers, brick walls and giant fists from his ring, Wonder Woman lassoes her victims and drags them about the screen and Captain Marvel is a thunderous character, hurling lightning bolts before standing over his defeated enemy with a smug grin.
The big achievement of Mortal Kombat Vs DC is that it's managed to update its gameplay to become an accessible brawler and merged both worlds in an interesting and fun way.
There are faults. More unlockables, a tag-team mode or secret costumes would have been good. The new Fatalities feel less graphic than in previous games and gameplay feels simpler, the alternate fighting styles and weaponised combat is missed.
Ultimately MK Vs DC is a robust brawler with few extras. The DC line-up feels fresh and fun though - the online mode is going to be chocker with Batman-versus-Superman match-ups and bored men ogling Sonya's new, bouncing porn-alike chest.
A solid update of the classic MK series, made relevant by the introduction of a DC roster, spot-on fighters and accessible gameplay. Not original, but tremendous fun.
I have been playing this is small doses over the last few days. They have it on one of the 360 demo pods in the office.
It is good fun, quite simple and a bit of a throwback to the older Mortal Kombat games in terms of gameplay. As the previous poster said it plays like a 2D fighter.
Took a little getting used to as I play a lot of VF5. It's is very different but that is to be expected. The graphics are decent with some nice details like the torn close and bruised kombatants or sub zero's freeze attack which is nicely animated.
Based on what I have played and given the amount of games we are all trying to buy and complete at the moment, I would say, unless you are a hardcore MK or DC fan rent it for a few days or pick it up on the cheap.
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