Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance [Player's Choice]

• Release Date: 2003 10
• Genre: Fighting
• Style: 3D Fighting

Game Description

The fifth Mortal Kombat fighting game is the first to be designed exclusively for home consoles instead of the arcades. The game features a new 3D engine to support the familiar combination of weapon and hand-to-hand combat, but moves are now based on real-life martial arts styles, such as Crane, Snake, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Tang Soo Doo, and more. Fighting styles can be switched at any time during a match, and the damage a character receives will be visible on his or her face, body, clothing, or movements.

Returning characters from the best-selling series include Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Cyrax, Jax, Raiden, Sonya, Kitana, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Reptile. Characters making their debut in Deadly Alliance include a female counterpart for Sub-Zero, a blind samurai, and a masked tribal warrior. Arenas take place in fully 3D environments, fraught with spiked pits, pools of acid, and other deadly hazards. New special moves and gruesome fatalities will also be included as the franchise makes its debut on the next-generation systems.

Review: Overall

Mortal Kombat remains one of the most controversial game franchises in the industry's history to date. Its predilection for displaying over-the-top graphic violence and gore created a media circus during the mid-'90s, making it a suitable target for concerned parents' groups and political activists. While its popularity fueled numerous sequels and spin-offs, few titles, aside from Mortal Kombat II, significantly improved upon the original's gameplay. Although Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance can still be criticized for adding little originality to the genre, the final product is an immensely enjoyable one and a welcome return to form for the long-running series.

While it remains Mortal Kombat at its bloody heart, the introduction of fully 3D arenas and the ability to instantly switch between fighting styles have had a profound effect on the action. Gone are the limited moves from previous versions, as characters in Deadly Alliance execute attacks based on their current fighting style. This system adds more variety to the fighting, but gameplay still boils down to learning specific button combinations to execute moves and the so-called "Dial-a-Combo" chain attacks. Since the fighting engine relies on tap and double-tap maneuvers, the game offers no support for the analog stick. Yet despite its small size, the GameCube's Control Pad proves remarkably comfortable and easy to use.

Matches are often fast and unforgiving, and players who have not mastered the style-branch combination attacks and the 3D movement will suffer at the hands of the game's AI. The learning curve is almost non-existent, going from opponents who are complete pushovers to fighters capable of feats of dexterity no ordinary mortal could ever hope to achieve. After the initial learning period, many players will find themselves gravitating toward the two-player mode to satisfy the fighting urges.

The arenas themselves feature a modicum of interactive elements, from acid-spewing statues to destructible pillars of ice. Unfortunately, there are no stage fatalities whatsoever, with the game instead offering only a single fatality per character. It's a pity Midway skimped on the one facet that is entirely MK-centric. That said, many of the fatalities are decidedly more elaborate (and sillier) than in past games and, thanks to the new graphics engine, better looking as well. As is to be expected, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is the best-looking title in the series, but it also stands up remarkably well against such respected fighters as Virtua Fighter 4 and Tekken 4. For the most part, animation is smooth and unhindered, only occasionally appearing stilted, while little touches such as facial damage, moving clothing, and flying debris round out an impressive visual package.

Enticing players to continue battling long after the initial luster has worn off is a feature called "The Krypt," a 26 by 26 array of "coffins" containing unlockable "kontent." This amounts to no fewer than 676 pieces of concept art, merchandising, development material, promos, videos, characters, and stages. All of these extras must be purchased using "koins" earned in the Arcade or Konquest modes, the latter being a dull series of tutorials and basic challenges for each and every character in the game. While Midway would have been better off taking a closer look at Soul Calibur's Mission Battle mode for inspiration, The Krypt does offer enough incentive to continue playing.

Niggling problems such as overly cheap AI still persist, but for the most part, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance manages to breathe new life into the gameplay while still retaining the Mortal Kombat feel. There's a lot to like about this package, and hopefully the franchise will build upon this title's strengths and not revert to the running joke it once was.

Review: Enjoyment

A great title for casual fans of the genre, with enough depth to entice even the hardcore crowd. One of the best in the series.

Review: Graphics

Considerably better than anything in the franchise has previously offered. Arenas are nicely detailed, as are the character models, all of which are complemented by a bevy of lesser details, such as facial damage and moving cloth.

Review: Sound

A cacophony of grunts and howls are the dominant sound effects. The music will be familiar to veteran Mortal Kombat fans, with up-tempo, sinister beats.

Review: Replay Value

The Krypt gives the game plenty of legs, but it's in the two-player mode that players will find the most longevity.

Review: Documentation

The manual offers descriptions of most facets of the title, however, instead of listing the character fatalities, players are told to experiment or look for them on the Internet. Tsk. Tsk.