Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Written by John Scalzo on December 19, 2002

Full Review: Almost Flawless Victory!

According to the video game world the Mortal Kombat series has been in a slump these last several years. Most people wrote off part 3 as a disappointment and Trilogy was brushed aside as more of the same (even though it was one of the only four Nintendo 64 games available for a long time). Four's attempt at bringing the series into 3D was scoffed at with a resounding "that's not real 3D." Fans of course ate these games up. Mortal Kombat fanatics, such as myself, believe these games are as good as they get. And personally, I think Trilogy is one of the best 2D fighters ever. What does all of this mean? Well, that I had high hopes for Deadly Alliance and it did not disappoint.

Deadly Alliance begins by adding yet another layer to the Mortal Kombat mythos. After being defeaed time and again, the sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung have decided to join forces in a Deadly Alliance. This will allow them to raise the army of the dreaded Dragon King and rule all the realms of the universe. But before they can do that, they must take care of two beings that can stand in their way. First they kill the Emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. Second, Liu Kang, earth's greatest champion is murdered by the two sorcerers, not in Mortal Kombat, but in an ambush. OK, maybe "mythos" is a strong word to describe the storyline of the Mortal Kombat series, but the stage is set for yet another tournament, and I'm all for it.

Midway knew that to get every gamer talking about Mortal Kombat again they would have to make some serious changes. So the first thing you'll notice about Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is the completely rebuilt fighting engine. Midway went back to the drawing board and came up with Mortal Kombat's first fully 3D engine ever. No more of the quasi-3D tricks that MK4 employed. This jump to full 3D has also had an effect on the Kombat. Jumping and ducking have been greatly de-emphasized. You can still perform these basic Kombat moves, but they have been phased out almost entirely, and it actually slows the action down considerably from MK4. I guess that's to make it more "realistic." The other major change to the Kombat system is the use of different fighting stances. Each character has two fighting stances and a weapon style. Unlike previous Mortal Kombat's where memorization of the special moves would get you far, for success this time you'll have to learn all of a character's different fighting styles. And fear not, special moves are still included as separate moves capable of being by any moveset.

This change to the Kombat definitely gives Mortal Kombat a fresh feeling that it hasn't had in a while. The 3D, the new Kombat options. It all comes together in a very deep fighter that feels different enough from Mortal Kombat that I think people that abandoned the series will want to give it a look. And of course, fans like myself will think it's a nice addition to the series, but can't top the greatness of part II. Although it should be said that many of Mortal Kombat's cheap moves an unwelcome return. Cornering is a big a problem as ever. Even in a 3D arena it's still very possible to knock your opponent into a corner and beat on them until it's time to finish him. Great if you're the one doing the beating, not so great if you're getting beat on. But the good news is that the fighting engine has progressed enough so that no matter how cheap your opponent is, Deadly Alliance is a skill fighter, and if you have the moves you can win the fight. A great step forward for the series.

Fighting is fun and all, but when people think of Mortal Kombat, they only really think of one thing: blood. Let me put it this way: there is no game more blood soaked on the PS2 than Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. It's the little things that make the fake guts really come to life in Deadly Alliance. The first is the real time blood effects. The amount of blood and the location of where the blood comes from all depends on what kind of attack you land on your opponent. And once you start walking on the quickly blood covered floor, your feet will track bloody footprints all over the rest of the arena. It's very cool. Midway also touts the real time damage effects Deadly Alliance features but in reality all it is is when you hit your opponent in the a little black or blue splotch appears there. Sure it's occasionally funny, but really, who cares?

Fatalities. It took me almost five paragraphs, but now is the time. It is the time to be disappointed. Each character has one fatality. One! And Midway states they are all brand new, which is a dirty lie. New is a relative term. Oh, Raiden holds his opponent over his head now before electrocuting him and making him explode. Well that's entirely different than holding his opponent in front of his face. The fatalities all felt kinda lame. Some of them were good, like Raiden's and Hsu Hao's laser kill, but most of them were just dumb. And the lack of Scorpion's "Toasty" is a downright crime. Midway may have made Mortal Kombat a respectable fighting game with Deadly Alliance, but the fans are not happy with the fatalities. I was much more impressed with the Impale move. Each character with a sword as their weapon has to ability to impale their opponent in the gut with the R1 button. Then the sword stays rammed through their stomach while your opponent continues to lose energy. That's ingenious! Truly my favorite move in all of Deadly Alliance.

With this updated Kombat system, Midway also had to make the arenas just as impressive. Actually, I think the new arenas are the series' biggest step into the next generation. Each one is full of detail and each one has more than a few cool little touches that make them even better. Like for example the acid bath dripping acid that will hurt your fighter onto the arena floor. Or the destructible columns that line most of the arenas. I was also very impressed with the rain, snow, and screaming soul effects in the Portal, Lin Kuei Fortress, and Shang Tsung's Palace arenas respectively. It's almost a shame that a lot of the character models seem so corny. Graphically, they're excellent. But when placed in a Mortal Kombat game they look out of place, the characters have no character anymore. All of the male characters look like bulked up steroid users and all the female characters could "bounce" the DOA girls right out of a job. And some characters, like Shang Tsung (of course I could be bitter that the CD format has pretty much rendered Shang's morphs deader than Liu Kang) and Reptile, have been redesigned totally and just look ridiculous now. Even the new characters look a little off, Hsu Hao's skin is yellow, I thought he was a Mortal Kombatant, not a Simpsons character (maybe they borrowed him from Bonestorm). This is also quite possibly the lamest bunch of new characters ever. I mean a fat martial arts guru who farts? A female fighter that fights in a leotard that cuts off at the belly button? If it weren't for Kenshi the badass blind swordsman and Sub-Zero's new apprentice Frost, they'd all be a joke. But with a total of 23 fighters, there are plenty of returning favorites.

The sound is more than appropriate to Mortal Kombat and at this point you should know what to expect. The Mortal Kombat announcer returns in all his glory. There are death screams, blood splatter, and fireballs galore. Punches, kicks, grunts, I could go on forever. The only new sounds in the game are the clashing of weapons that will occur often as you fight your way through the tournament. And the sound great. You'll either love the sound or hate it, and if you've played a Mortal Kombat game before, you already know where you stand.

Finally, to make an already fun fighter even deeper Midway has included the requisite bunh of Mortal Kombat extras. Dan Forden may have retired "Toasty" but that doesn't mean there aren't any hidden fighters. Deadly Alliance features The Krypt, a graveyard of 676 Koffins that can be opened by earning enough Koins. In addition to unlocking more fighters (including Raiden, who is shamefully not one of the 12 available out of the box) The Krypt houses alternate costumes, production photos, character bios, special videos, and Cooking With Scorpion (I'll let you find that one out on your own). These Koffins can be purchased with Koins you win in the tournament and in Konquest mode. Konqest mode is basically training where you can learn each characters special moves and combos. Along the way you are given background information on each character and how they found their way into this tournament. It's a good way to learn the ins and outs of the game, and pretty fun too. But even greater fun is the return of Test Your Might. The board breaking mini-game now lets you earn Koins (the very rare Onyx type) for breaking ever bigger blocks. New in this game is Test Your Sight, basically the shell game with a hidden Mortal Kombat logo. I'm glad Test Your Might is back and have almost as much fun playing that and Test Your Sight as I do the real game.

And bonus points for the mention of Smash TV in Johnny Cage's Konquest training.