Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Always enjoyed this one more than the other MK's. The weapons added a lot more fun and strategy, and the move sets were easier for me to master.

"Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance" is perhaps the most thorough and complex fighting game that this long-running series has seen yet. The Playstation 2 video game console has some of the most impressive titles of any actively popular system today, and I am glad that "Deadly Alliance" has been allowed to grace it.

Fighting games, "Mortal Kombat" in particular, have come a long way since the days of 2D platform combat, where the two combatants are confined to a narrow stretch of area on the screen and fight to the death. Now, most games today have expanded to all-out arena fighting and with "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance," the fifth installment in this incredibly bloody and successful series of games, "Kombat" has been taken to an all new level of gameplay.

As an avid player of "Mortal Kombat" since 1993, I am pleased to see that this title takes full advantage of a revamped fighting engine, but still manages to remain faithful to the old school way of kombat. But like any of the previous titles, this "Kombat" doesn't skimp on the blood and brutal, yet spectacular displays of outlandish martial arts chain-combos.

But in this level of joy, I've neglected to inform about how +deadly+ this title is. Along with the massively improved fighting system, there is also the introduction of the "Konquest" mode, which is a sort of story mode within "Deadly Alliance." Like any low-budget kung-fu flick that we have ever seen, it has a worthless plot and you assume the identity of any of the fighters available and you complete a quest.

And like the plot of the general game (which is equally thoughtless), where the sorcerers Shang Tsung and Quan Chi have entered into a +deadly alliance+, you, the player, has to stop them before they can reanimate the Dragon King's undead army. So you can choose any one of the available characters, including some familiars like Scorpion (my favorite), Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade or Jax, or play as any of the newcomers like Bo' Rai Cho, Mavado, Li Mei, or Hsu Hao.

As with any previous "Kombat" game, the difficulty reaches ridiculous heights as you embark on your "Game of Death"-style quest to the top in regular arcade mode. Much of the difficulty is brought on with the introduction of style-branching combos or "chain" combos, where a single deft move against you can cross three different fighting styles - two fighting styles and one weapon style - and if timed correctly, could deplete you of about half your health. (Just as a random example, I could be my #1 fighter Scorpion and be kombating against Johnny Cage, who would hit me up with a style-branching combo, which would cover Cage's three styles of Karate, Jeet Kune Do, and Nunchaku, and I'd be half-dead in one single movement.) This intense level of uneven difficulty is just ridiculous to me, as it might make it impossible to complete the arcade mode.

This deadly new enhancement in "Kombat" is also indicative of the game's greatest flaw, which could require the manual dexterity of someone with the quickest hand-eye coordination, which many of us in the game-playing community have yet to be graced with through our human evolution. (This would also prove to be an even bigger b**ch on the "Deadly Alliance" sequel, "Mortal Kombat: Deception," which was released in 2004.) In addition to that, mini-games are also scattered throughout the arcade portion of the game, which serve as a way to achieve rarer "kurrency" and provide a welcome break to the kombat-related carnage.

Alongside that main criticism, not many of the new characters are that interesting, particularly my personal displeasure with the fighter known as "Drahmin," an Oni that is a walking, rotting corpse in this game, or Nitara, who's a female vampire. And let's not forget the end boss, Moloch - let's just say that neither Goro, Motaro, or Kintaro had anything on him - Moloch would later be outmatched by the ridiculously hard Dragon King in "Deception."

Aside from these grievances, "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance" is a worthy addition to the series and is an excellent display of progress over the years.

7/10

When I first heard about this game, I was admittedly uninterested.Mortal Kombat's last attempt at 3-D fell short so why should MK:DA be any different? Overall MK just seemed dated and I doubted MK:DA would be any good. Was I ever wrong.Since I own an XBox, fighting games are hard to come by and as such I decided to rent MK:DA. For starters, this attempt at 3-d works quite well as it is a true 3-d fighter.Graphics are lush and beautiful.The game also has alot of replayability as a new feature, the Kyrpt has been incorperated.Much in the vain of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2's shop mode, you can buy hidden charecters, new outfits, artwork and even videos among other things with Kredits earned in the game.

As for the storyline, its probably the best and most gutiest yet.In the three minute intro to the game we find out that Quan Chi has escaped from the Netherealm and has discovered the infamous army of the dead Dragon King.Of course this does Quan Chi little good as all the soliders are dead, but what is dead can be revived.For this, Quan Chi forms an alliance with Shang Tsung("Deadly Alliance"), who's powers with soul transplantation can be used to resurrect the army. This new alliance first must elimate those who could pose a threat to their plans.The first is Shao Khan.They approach him, declaring a false alliegnece to him and then charge at him while he's sitting on his throne.The next scene a loud scream is heard and Khan's helmet falls, covbered with blood.Next the Alliance travels to Earth to eliminate Lou Kang.Kang takes on Tsung and gains the upper hand but is then hit from behind by Quan Chi.Tsung takes the oppertunity and snaps Lou Kang's next, killing him.He then absorbs his soul.The intro concludes with images of Tsung resurrecting the army and Raiden telling the remaining Earth fighters"We must stop this Deadly Alliance"

The cast is nice and varied with returning favorites(No Lou Kang obviously) and some new charecters.The old charecters have recieved some very nice resigns.As for the fighting, each fighter can switch to one of two different fighting styles or one weapon style.This adds great variety to the game.

I went and bought this game immediatly after returning the rental.I highly recommend this game, especially to long time MK fans. 5/5

Ahh yes we have just recently entered The PS2 era and Mortal Kombat has risen from the grave after a terrible experience of Mortal Kombat 4 and appalling side scrolling Mortal Kombat Mythologies Sub Zero and Mortal Kombat Special Forces so how does Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance on PS2 compare...Absolutely amazing that's what yeah we have have Mortal Kombat back in 3D and this time it is a much better experience then Mortal Kombat 4 cause the visuals look stunning and now characters can pull out weapons with a simple button as well as different types of martial arts along with a training mode too.

The best MORTAL KOMBAT game ever. Period.

Before getting into the review, let's refresh our memory with the impact that MORTAL KOMBAT games caused worldwide.

The world of Arcades, and console video games changed back in 1992 when a game called MORTAL KOMBAT took the attention of the entire world. BLood, non-stop martial arts action, motion capture graphics never seen before, and the infamous FATALITIES were the elements that made MK a success, and the game that changed and took the fighting genre to another direction. The game featured 7 deadly warriors with special powers, and ready to fight. MORTAL KOMBAT was a great game, but lacked of more scenarios, more characers, and a best fighting style... ..in 1993 the video game industry changed abruptly again when MORTAL KOMBAT II appeared on the Arcades. MK II featured 12 playable characters : 7 new, and 5 returning characters including Scorpion, Liu Kang, Raiden, Sub-Zero. This time, Shang Tsung and Reptile were playable. The gameplay was awesome, you could never get tired of it. The graphics were improved, and were as realistic as they could be. The score, and f/x were damn good. Overall, MK II is the best fighting game of the period 1990-1995. How could I forget about FATALITIES? These finishing moves are brutal, and will remain as the best fatality moves in the MK saga. It wasn't a game for young players, it was dedicated to mature fighters. It's said to be the best MK game.

In 1995, MORTAL KOMBAT III took a new direction which was not very welcomed by fans. Personally, I think that it's a great game, with a new combo system that allowed the MK experts to have a better fighting experience. Fatalities weren't improved, in fact, some of them weren't cool enough like in part II. Featuring 15 playable characters (one of them hidden)), 2 finishing moves per character, a friendship, a babality, and 1 animality, made MKIII one of the hughest fighting games of it's time. And I mean, HUGE. As a HUGE fan of the series, I'd say that this time the FATALITIES filled our expectations... but got boring soon. Anyways, MKIII had the best storyline of the saga making it a dark and "dangerous" game to play.

1997 saw the birth of MORTAL KOMBAT IV, a game that was even less welcomed by fans. To play this game you need to be objective, and realize that MORTAL KOMBAT need a change. It's gameplay is damn fun! The weapons were a fun addition to the series, but got boring pretty fast. This time we can choose from 15 playable characters, that sadly were similar one to each other. With the exception of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Raiden, the other fighters were similar in their design and fighting style. That was where MK IV failed.

FORMAL REVIEW. Five LONG YEARS LATER, fans around the world expected the re-birth of the series with number 5. NOW, imagine a combination of MORTAL KOMBAT II, III, and IV into one game. That's how we get DEADLY ALLIANCE. It's the most impressive MORTAL KOMBAT GAME EVER! with excelent graphics, great character design, a cool soundtrack and chilling sound F/X !!! What else can you ask for? Characters from the past include the infamous Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Reptile, Kitana, Kano, Johnny Cage, Sonia, Jax, Quan Chi, Cyrax, are joined by new members and let me say, that they are very welcome. The gameplay is great, it's nice to see our loved characters into the next gen fighting genre. The fatalities are as brutal as in PART II, and that's something good. This game is filled with tons of secrets, excelent animations, and anything else you could dream about in a MK game.

Take my word, this is the MORTAL KOMBAT game that fans (like me)waited for 5 long years. It's the best fighting game out there, and by far it's the best fighting game in 10 years. BUY IT RIGHT NOW, Mortal Kombat fans.!!