Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Mortal Kombat Hands-On Preview for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Mortal Kombat Hands-On Preview for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Living With Mortality

It’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in the bloody world of Mortal Kombat. Since back in the arcade days of the early 90s, to be exact. There were some fond memories back then, but unfortunately the game’s enchantment didn’t last long. However, that all changed when I got to experience its unique brand of hypnotizing gore during a recent hands-on session with the upcoming Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat Screenshot

Bringing the franchise back to the 2D fighting plane is the biggest fan-service anyone could have asked for. Although the game is still fully-rendered with 3D graphics, it once again looks and feels like it was back home in the arcade. The developers have even re-imagined some of the franchise’s most notable stages from the first three games, to coincide with some very drastic plot changes.

NetherRealm Studios will essentially erase the entire canonical history by creating an alternate reality in the Mortal Kombat universe. This retelling of the original trilogy is based around an extremely crucial moment between Raiden and Shao Khan. In the events proceeding Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Shao Khan held Raiden in the clutches of death. However, before Khan could deliver the final blow, Raiden was able to send a mental message to his former self. With a new enlightenment concerning his future, his past self begins a desperate attempt to change this course of events. It’s certainly a bold move for a franchise with so much history and detail, but at least it won’t change the amount of violence they’re known for.

Mortal Kombat Screenshot

Mortal Kombat’s gore has assuredly maintained a strong focal point in the game’s presentation. Players will battle it out in the most gruesome of ways, with blood and limbs scattered about like an explosion at a piñata party. Characters maintain persistent damage to show off their war wounds, and the game now features x-ray attacks that give an inside look at some bone-shattering maneuvers. Players need to charge their Super Meter before they can use these new attacks, which can be achieved by successfully landing hits on your target. However, once they’re finally executed, you’ll be treated to a barrage of slow-motion sequences featuring broken backs and shattered skulls. These moves can look pretty intense, but their savageness pales in comparison to the Fatalities for which the game is so famous.

Although most involve your standard limb chopping, there were a few finishing moves that went above and beyond in creating a spectacle. Kung-Lao gets kudos for a cringe-filled nod to James Bond fans. Upon executing the proper button presses, he implants his razor-rimmed hat into the ground like a circular saw, drags his captive through it, and splits the poor sap in two. As if this death wasn’t shameful enough, he then proceeds to flaunt his victim like a pair of prize-winning fish. But, believe it or not, the most disturbing is Mileena’s Fatality. While unmasked, she seductively leans in for what at first appears to be a kiss, but suddenly rips off her victims head and begins to eat their face. It’s not very subtle, but it gets the job done if you’re looking for shock value. For some, these Fatalities could be a bit troublesome to pull off at the drop of a hat. Luckily, there is a new Fatality trainer mode to give inexperienced players much-needed practice.

Mortal Kombat Screenshot

Aside from the standard versus mode, there are also two modes that will be a first for the series. The biggest, and easily the most complex, is a new single-player mode called the Challenge Tower. It features three hundred individual missions that will task players with completing random objectives, training scenarios, or fighting through matches under very specific conditions. These can range anywhere from battling without arms to experiencing an entire match with the screen flipped upside-down. There will even be some familiar mini-games included, such as Test Your Might and Test Your Sight, as well as newer additions like Test Your Strike and Test Your Luck. According to the developers, these challenges are meant to help diversify your playing style, but if something gets a bit too difficult, it can always be skipped.

The gameplay can be simplistic, but it also has a deep combo system for hardcore fans. Each face button is assigned to a specific limb, and combos can be strung together with great ease and swiftness. It’s definitely the most fluid combat I’ve felt in a Mortal Kombat game since the arcade days, and even the more intricate moves can be accomplished easily with a little finesse. Even if you find yourself forgetting a particular maneuver or Fatality, a completely detailed list is just a button press away in the start menu.

Being away from the series for so long had surprisingly little impact on how natural it felt to pick up the controls again. Mortal Kombat is perfectly suited for hardcore gamers looking for a deep fighting experience, and casual gamers who might normally be hesitant to try out something so complex. Returning to their franchise roots will certainly make a lot of fans happy, and the fact that it’s been so finely tuned in the process is all the more exciting. Its release date on April 19th, 2011 is just around the corner, and even if you’re a newcomer to the world of Mortal Kombat, you’d be amiss to let this one slip by unnoticed.

Game Features:

  • Fatalities make a triumphant return to their original form as Mortal Kombat gives its fans what they’ve been demanding. Graphic details that were never before possible are presented with the most sophisticated graphics engine in MK history.
  • By returning to its classic 2D fighting plane, mature presentation, and up to four-player tag-team kombat, Mortal Kombat introduces an all-new fighting mechanic that’s both accessible and provides the in-depth fighting game players look for.
  • Featuring the deepest story mode of any fighting game. Players are taken back to the original Mortal Kombat tournament where they alter the events of the past in an attempt to save the future.
  • Characters, environments, and fatalities have never been presented with as much gory detail as in this next generation of Mortal Kombat. From internal organs to the most realistic blood effects; Mortal Kombat has never looked this good.
  • In addition to an enhanced online feature set, Mortal Kombat introduces co-op arcade mode and other new modes like Tag Team and Challenge Tower.


  • There Will Be Blood

    In the 1990s, Mortal Kombat was the game that every parent was afraid their kids would get into. Its gratuitous levels of gore on top of the hyper-realistic characters brought an onslaught of debate over how much blood was too much in a video game. In fact, this series was one of the reasons the ESRB was created in the first place. But, as they say, all publicity is good publicity, and the backlash against Mortal Kombat made it into the gift every gamer kid desperately wanted.

    Then the beloved 2D format of the original series was forsaken, and Mortal Kombat didn’t feel quite right anymore. Sure, all the gore was still present, as were many of the characters we’d come to expect, but we could all tell something was missing. So we moved on.

    Mortal Kombat Screenshot

    But in 2011, Mortal Kombat is going back to its roots. Not only will the next game in the series simply be called Mortal Kombat (no numbers, no subtitles, just plain Mortal Kombat), but it also returns to the 2D format of long ago. Well, technically you would call this 2.5D (3D rendered characters that can only move along a two-dimensional plain). But the results are astounding, and gamers who long for the glory days of the 2D fighter should be pleased that MK promises to be true to that classic style.

    Another thing that will be revisited this time around is the plot, with a new twist: this game is basically an alternate retelling of the original three games in the series. Apparently Raiden gets a telepathic message from a future version of himself and uses this new knowledge to manipulate events in the past. This is sure to give players a new perspective on events from the first three MK games.

    Mortal Kombat Screenshot

    And what would a Mortal Kombat game be without its fatalities? Those are back, as gory as ever. In MK’s stage demo at E3 2010, gameplay footage showed Scorpion hack Sub-Zero into three pieces, kick him over, then slash his head in half. Reptile was thrown into a spike pit, where he was impaled with his liver stuck at the tip of a spike. Most violent of all was probably Kung Lao dragging Johnny Cage groin-first over a blade until he was split completely in half. Yes, this game will have an M rating. At the stage demo, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon talked about the M rating as something he felt gamers expected from the series, not something to shy away from. He seemed pretty satisfied with the feedback MK has received so far.

    Of course, 2011’s Mortal Kombat will not completely ignore the advances in technology of the past two decades. The graphics are completely redone, and they look great. Old backgrounds are revisited, but with a level of detail not possible in the 1990s. You will see fully animated (and often disturbing) background elements, like people being dipped in acid and having their skin melted off. There is even an added attack type called an X-ray move that allows players to witness the internal injuries that they inflict upon their opponents. And yes, they are brutal. Expect to see shattered bones and ruptured internal organs.

    Mortal Kombat Screenshot

    One complaint that players had about the original MK games was that, besides the combos and fatalities, every character played basically the same. This time around, every character will have a unique play style. You will be able to tell which character you are playing just by the way that character handles.

    A gameplay mode new to the MK series, tag-team, will allow four players to face off. There are, of course, a few twists on the classic tag-team formula. While calling in a fellow player at the right time is a handy skill to have, bringing a teammate in to assist you in a combo is even better. It’s even possible to perform a “special entry attack” where the summoned player enters the match with an attack while the other player hops out.

    The internet is not ignored either. There will be online play. There’s even a new feature that allows up to eight players to enter a “room” and observe matches while they wait to challenge the winner. These players on the sidelines can make comments and give out “respect points” to the fighters.

    Mortal Kombat Screenshot

    And DLC will eventually be available as well. Though the details are still being worked out, it sounds like players will be able to download characters and arenas from MK games more recent than the original three, as well as additional fatalities. How this affects balance between players has not yet been revealed.

    Going back to its original gameplay style may be the best thing that’s happened to this series since the 1990s. Let’s just hope it lives up to its predecessors. Its original predecessors. Perhaps there will even be some angry parents, just like the good old days.

    Game Features:

  • Captivating storyline that rewrites the history of the Mortal Kombat Tournament
  • State-of-the art technology showcasing stunning 3D environments and characters
  • Re-invigorating the franchise with new multiplayer components
  • First fighting game to be displayed in Stereoscopic 3D

  • To top