Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

The game seems eager to severe its ties with previous installments by immediately killing of Liu Kang in the opening movie. "Yes!" I exclaimed, having once been fond of Kang until his transition to mediocrity in MK3, and his further transition to just plain annoying in MK4. "Thank God a development team finally had it in them to kill off their main character!" Now please let him stay dead! Luckily, he did … at least, as far as Deadly Alliance was concerned.

Shang Tsung makes a return to the series as part of the titular "Deadly Alliance." He and Quan Chi have combined forces to once again threaten Earthrealm, and you know the rest. After a notable absence in MK4, Tsung's return is a welcomed one until 1, I caught a glimpse of his new design (what is with the shoulders?), and 2, realized he lost the power to shape shift in game (although, he still morphs in the intro.) Needless to say the two sorcerers make up the final two battles of the game.

Deadly Alliance makes the jump to 3D. Well, real 3D. As in revamping the fighting engine to take advantage of the Z-axis. Players can now sidestep freely (a la water downed 8-Way Run from SC), and to survive against the AI one must learn to sidestep. Jumping remains possible; however, like other 3D fighting games, its significance has dropped drastically from the 2D games. In Deadly Alliance, I jump mainly to avoid "earthquake" moves.

The sidestep ability adds a layer of depth (and flavor) to the returning dial-a-combo system introduced in MK3. Giving the AI a new venue for frustrating the player—where UMK3's AI ran up and launched the appropriate counter attack, Deadly Alliance's AI simply side-steps and combos (or, some lucky characters get to perform perfectly timed "Reversals".) An additional enhancement comes in the form of three styles available to each combatant (2 unarmed, 1 weapon). The 3 styles, plus the 3rd dimension makes Deadly Alliance play worlds apart from its 2D counterpart – kind of a strange marriage between DOA and SC minus the depth and fluidity. Don't get the wrong idea, however, we're still playing Mortal Kombat.

There's a notable oddity with Deadly Alliance's AI: the more consecutive victories the player racks up, the more difficult the AI becomes. So after 7 wins, Kano will miraculously be able to spin through 2 fighting styles to perform his Reversal move (in precisely 0.2 seconds) and then unleash his most potent branching combo. In that same fight, he'll demonstrate the physics engine does not apply to CPU characters since he can block low attacks with a high block (?!), and then he demonstrates his uncanny ability to side-step every attack, to unleash yet more branching combos for an impossible fight. However, the moment you lose and continue, Kano makes the amazing transformation into "sitting duck man" where you can waltz up to him and punish to your heart's content.

Returning characters include Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Jax, Johnny Cage, Kano, Kitana, Kung Lao, Quan Chi, Raiden, Reptile, Scorpion, Sonya, and Sub-Zero. None of whom feel even remotely like their 2D counterparts, and several have lost their signature moves. Shang Tsung no longer shapeshifts. Raiden no longer flies across the screen. No more handstands for Sonya. Don't expect Reptile to turn invisible. And forget about Jax's mid-air backbreaker or "Gotcha!" Maybe that's just as well. The signature moves that make a return (Scorpion's Spear, Kitana's fanwave, Sub-Zero's Freeze, etc) feel very very different. In the 2D games, truthfully, the characters differed only in Fatalities and special moves. Now that the characters have gone their separate ways and earned a level of distinctness, the game shifts its focus more on the dial-a-combos than individual special moves.

A new game typically means new characters, and this game gets an ensemble of mostly "bleh" characters including Bo Rai Cho, the overweight trainer with the ability to puke on command; Li Mei, the scantily clad warrior out to save her village; Mavado, a nobody in a trench coat with a few industrial sized rubber bands; Hsu Hao, the Village People reject; Frost, a female Sub-Zero; Nitara, the vampire in the wrong game; Kenshi, the only interesting new character who, incidentally, is blind; and Drahmin, the rotting demon with absolutely no combos.

The new sub-boss, Moloch, continues the trend of over-sized sub-bosses made difficult because the programmers decided to just program in a few immunities and high priorities. For example, one of Raiden's branching combos makes his opponent stumble backwards. Moloch never stumbles, so Raiden's combo deals a fair amount of damage leaves him a sitting duck to Moloch's abuse. However, that's not what makes Moloch nearly ruin the entire gaming experience that is Deadly Alliance. The fact that Moloch has a whopping half-dozen moves in his entire arsenal makes the fight rather boring. Compounded with the fact that when in range, Moloch is content to poke with his uber-high priority, tracking "quick punch." This is the worst sub-boss in the entire Mortal Kombat franchise; furthermore, it is the single most monotonous fight in fighting game history.

Lastly, most of the games secrets come in the form of "the Krypt" which Midway has loaded to the brim with extras. A great concept, except Midway over-indulged themselves and crammed too much into a 26 X 26 grid of things to unlock (requiring somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000 Koins to unlock everything.) While characters and alternate lurk in a few of the 676 coffins, most house artwork, silly pictures, photos, etc. Plus the occasional "Hint" and empty coffin just in case you're not frustrated enough.

All in all, a flawed but welcomed addition to the Mortal Kombat family. Perhaps the best Mortal Kombat since UMK3 (arcade.) Most importantly, it delivered a new experience, and the next generation of Mortal Kompetition.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Evil sorcerer Quan Chi has escaped from his confinement in the Neverrealm and has formed his 'deadly alliance' with the deadly Shang Tsung.Together they plan to resurrect the army of the long forgotten dragon king and have total domination of the two realms unless the resistance can stop them.

This is absolutely brilliant for the audience it appeals to.The fight scenes are in no way toned down as you play them,treating us to seemingly none stop blood letting and wetting our sadistic appetites no end.This comes to ahead when the game allows you to perform a 'fatality' on your opponent,where you get to dismember any certain vital body organ,causing your agitator to die the slowest,most painful death you can imagine.

There is a veriatable array of colourful characters to choose from,my particular favourite,were I put on the spot,probably being Scorpion,who has the ability to yank his opponents to and from him and can do wicked wonders with his two swords.

Delightful fun,and,in some ways,a rather guilty pleasure.****

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.!!

Very few flaws can be detected in this latest rendition of the classic series. Fatalities lack the disturbing power of the first MK, Lui Kang(whom I didn't like anyway) is killed off, and your selection of characters, at first start up, is extremely limited(9). Even though these "flaws" may seem like game-killers, they are not. After choosing my character for the first time, Scorpion, I was greeted by what seemed to be the shortest load screen in the history of MK on a CD form. That was just the beginning of me being surprised. The stage opened up with a very cool rotation effect as the camera zoomed in on me and my advisary, Sub-Zero. I was enraptured by the background, and I almost missed the unforgettable sound of "Fight!!!". I was a pure button masher for nearly the entire round. As Scorpion, I had to try back, back, X. Only to realize later on that, that had been changed to back, forward, X. Scorpion's spear spewed relentlessly from his palm and caught Sub-Zero in mid air. The last few hit to kill my advisary became a flurry of button mashing, until Sub-Zero fell to the ground(in a bloody mess). As if you didn't already know, the blood that falls to the ground remains there until the very end of the fight. What happened next in the fight was a pure stroke of genius for Ed Boon and the other creators. There is no load between fight rounds, Sub-Zero merely stood up and dusted himself off and he was ready to fight. The very first thing Sub-Zero did was pull out his sword, I tried to block his attacks, but was unsuccessful. Sub-Zero ran me through with his sword, and the sword styed there, spewind my blood to the ground and I continually lost life. Long story short, I managed to kick the crap out of him and was screamed at by that familiar voice to "Finish Him!!!". I walked backward from Sub-Zero and tried to remember the Fatality combination I had seen on the Internet. (Back, back, down, back+attack 4). The screen went black and I caught my first glimpse of good violence in a video game for the PS2. Scorpion threw out his spear and it went through Sub-Zero's head. Scorpion then proceeded to try and tear the head off of the body, he succeeds and sends Sub-Zero's body sprawling to the ground. "Fatality!!!", I hear, and the match is over. In record time for an MK game too(less than a minute).

Superb graphics, and great controls help this to be the greatest MK of all. MK Trilogy is just as good.

9 out of 10

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.