• Posted November 10th, 2008 at 11:28 EDT by Steven Williamson
• 16 Comments

What better way can there be than to re-invent the Mortal Kombat series by throwing into the melee some of the best loved heroes and villains from the immensely popular DC Universe?

In theory, the concept of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a stroke of genius. Immediately it conjures up images of spectacular battles between the likes Superman with his famous arsenal of powers and the might of Raiden with his electric decapitation, or Sub-Zero with his deep freeze uppercut against Batman and his arsenal of funky gadgets. It’s undeniably an exciting prospect.

However, despite the premise having great storyline potential, we were still slightly concerned that by bringing these two game worlds together the developer could actually compromise the very essence of what has essentially made the Mortal Kombat games so appealing. Through the toning down of its trademark over-the-top violence, so as to appeal to the younger fans of DC Universe, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe could potentially alienate a large chunk of its target audience.

Having had some hands-on time with the UK version of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe our faith has been somewhat renewed. It appears that developer, Midway, has retained the fast-paced gameplay of old, whilst pushing its violent theme to the very edge of acceptance of the current rating system and in the process has managed to move along with the times by offering up a stylish next-gen makeover, an impressive DC Universe roster and some entertaining new features, all of which have been undoubtedly facilitated by the game’s movie-style budget.

Midway is throwing everything at Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in order to make it a success, with huge amounts of money spent on its marketing campaign. Expect to see huge billboards, TV spots and cinema ads between now and the holiday season.

However, it’s blatantly clear from the outset that it has also spent masses of money on the game itself. The DC Universe crowd, who are used to seeing their heroes on the big-screen, will expect nothing less than a top quality production. They should be very happy with the outcome.

Aside from a rather manly-looking Wonder Woman, the character models are exquisitely realized, with each one individually motion-captured to ensure fluidity of movement on the screen as they pull off their arsenal of visually arresting moves, whereas next-gen touches, such as damage modeling and motion blur, help to give the fights flair and intensity.

Throughout each of the battles we fought in, whether it was Raiden vs. The Flash, The Joker vs. Sonya Blade or Batman vs. Kano, the soundtrack builds the tension perfectly and manages to get that adrenaline pumping by building up slowly and rising to a crashing crescendo.

From the Joker’s evil cackle to Batman’s deep booming tones, the slew of over-the-top superhero-esque voices effectively adds to the whole MK/DC-soaked atmosphere, whilst the multi-tiered fighting arenas, such as the Gotham city rooftops or the Lin Kuei temple are impressive platforms to fight on.

Whilst the overall look and sound of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is top notch, the makeover also crosses over into the gameplay. For the first time in the Mortal Kombat series we can expect multiple fighting systems. One of those is ‘Free Fall Kombat’, a mini-game that is triggered when you throw an opponent off a stage.

This particular sequence, which saw us falling through mid-air whilst trading blows with our opponent, restricts the amount of moves you are able to perform. We had to tap corresponding buttons that appeared on the screen and if we managed to get the combination spot-on then we could execute a special move to bring our opponent to the ground with an almighty thud.

Whilst ‘Free Fall Kombat’ is certainly as fun as it is visually impressive, it does break up and somewhat hamper the flow of the gameplay. It does add to the spectacle of the fight, but the style-over-substance approach could be deemed as a bit of a ‘kop out’, or even a ‘novelty’ feature by hardened Mortal Kombat fans. It remains to be seen, after substantially more gameplay, whether 'Free Fall Kombat' will actually become more of ... (continued on next page)

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