Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on March 01, 2005

First Impressions: The first Mortal Kombat adventure game that won't suck?

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Okay, I know what you're thinking: УOh, great. Another Mortal Kombat adventure game. Someone break out the Lysol, we've got another stinker coming.Ф True, Midway's previous attempts at non-fighting MK games, Mythologies and Special Forces, sucked massively (to put it nicely). Midway recognizes that their former forays into the adventure genre have been less than successful, and so with Shaolin Monks, they are attempting to start fresh. In fact, they already tested the adventure market last year in the form of Konquest mode in MK Deception. Yes, Konquest was very limited and simplistic, but it was nonetheless an interesting and overall enjoyable alternative to the standard fighting modes Ц and as it turns out, it was also a harbinger of things to come.

Boon has always liked the idea of a non-fighting MK adventure game, and so was definitely interested when developer Paradox originally approached him with a Raiden action/adventure game concept. After bouncing ideas off one another, Shaolin Monks was given the green light.

The biggest change from the original concept is that you will play as either Liu Kang or Kung Lao, not Raiden (although the Thunder God will make an appearance as a friendly NPC to aid you on your quest). Boon wanted co-operative play, and so you and a friend will be able to take control of MK's two greatest heroes and fight Shao Kahn's forces of evil side by side (no word yet whether this will be Xbox Live enabled, but we can hope).

The story takes place during the time of MKII and will go into a lot more depth and detail. After winning the original MK tournament, Liu Kang foiled Shao Kahn's attempt to conquer Earthrealm. Not being a particularly good sport, Shao Kahn and his Outworld minions are stirring up trouble again, forcing Liu Kang and Kung Lao to venture into Outworld and beat the crap out of everyone. You will encounter many familiar characters who will help you along the way, including Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and Jax, as well as battling nasty enemies like Baraka, Mileena and Reptile. Since MKII is generally considered to be the best of the series, fans will no doubt be delighted at this choice of setting, along with the ability to visit and explore many familiar locations now expanded and rendered in 3D. The developers are even including MKII's hidden arenas and incorporating rumors, such as the old rumor that the trees in the Living Forest could eat people. Well, guess what Ц now they will. Yummy! And in keeping with the MK tradition, each location will have a hidden secret area for you to discover.

The environments will be fully interactive with death traps and hazards like spikes, lava and acid pits, spinning blades and so on. Basically, if it can cause a gory bloody death, it's there. The interactive environments not only help increase the violence and gore level, but they also help you defeat opponents and solve puzzles. Unlike the boring adventure game standard where you have to find keys or push switches to solve puzzles, in Shaolin Monks you have to throw enemies into death traps instead. For example, in one section you have to hurl enemies into the mouths of giant hungry snakes; in another, you have to impale an enemy on some ceiling spikes, and the weight of his body pulls down a platform so you can move on to the next area. You can also throw enemies through walls to open up pathways, or chuck them into a death trap just for the hell of it. Now doesn't that sound like more fun than trying to find a stupid blue key?

The big news about Shaolin Monks is the kombat mechanics. As a fully 3D game, you can attack in any direction, with your moves and animation varying depending on which direction you're facing. The classic moves like Liu Kang's bicycle kick and Kung Lao's spin move are available as they should be, but they look and sound a lot prettier. You also have many new moves, including some wicked aerial juggling combos and the ability to grab enemies and use them as shields. You will have the ability to create unlimited combos in any direction, and if you are playing Уko-opФ with a friend, you can work together to combine your efforts and create absolutely devastating super-combos.

Naturally, special attacks like Liu Kang's classic fireballs and Kung Lao's hat throw are available, but Shaolin Monks also includes some RPG elements that let you enhance your character's abilities. As you progress, you earn experience points (XP) that lets you unlock new moves and upgrade your special attacks; for example, Liu Kang gains the ability to shoot fireballs from the air, and Kung Lao gains a special hat throw that can be best described as an insane enemy-seeking boomerang. Best of all, the choice to use upgraded attacks or the standard ones is left up to you since upgrading does not nullify the previous move.

You will also be able to pick up and use weapons, each with their own unique style and attacks, including the ability to cut opponents in two (would you expect anything else?). You will also have standard adventure game moves, such as wall climbing and running, acrobatic swinging and so on. In fact, you will have about 50 moves at your disposal at the beginning of the game and can double that if you unlock everything.

You will probably need most of those moves to defeat the many deadly bosses, including Kintaro and even the fearsome threesome of Kitana, Mileena and Jade attacking you all at once. Fortunately, you will still be able to use the interactive environments and your weapons against the bosses Ц and if your ko-op buddy is still with you, you can gang up on them, attack from different angles, and maybe even pull off a super-combo. Nice!

And of course, no MK game would be complete without everyone's favorite, the Fatality. Rest assured that the bloody chunky Fatalities that gamers love and politicians hate will be included in all its gory glory. In fact, each character will have at least 10 finishing moves, starting with your УstandardФ Fatalities. As you earn XP, you can unlock increasingly more violent finishing moves, including УBrutalitiesФ and УMutalitiesФ Ц which unfortunately Midway has not released any information about, but you can't deny that they sound deliciously nasty. Every level will also have its own Fatality, so MK gamers should feel satisfied that their thirst for blood will be thoroughly quenched.

Graphically, Shaolin Monks won't cause Sam Fisher or Master Chief to lose any sleep, but it still looks impressive. Outworld is very dark and creepy as you might imagine, illuminated with fires and glowing lava. Your character looks relatively small on the screen, but this might be a good thing as the action is promising to be quite fierce with several enemies attacking you from all angles. The animation is a little stiff right now, so hopefully they will be able to smooth things out in the final build; however, stiff animation is a MK trademark, so they may keep it in for nostalgia's sake. Hopefully it won't distract from the action or the amazingly pretty special attacks; besides, you'll probably be too busy wiping the blood off your TV to notice.