Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Written by John Scalzo on April 23, 2002

First Impressions: Flawless Victory. Not very original, I know, but this is new Mortal Kombat people!

I'll admit it. I'm a slave to the Mortal Kombat series. There, are you happy now? I know it's very much in vogue to publicly denounce Mortal Kombat as behind the times and unworthy of next generation systems. But I can't, I won't, be involved in any such thing. I've played every version of Mortal Kombat I could get my hands on, and when Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is released in the fall, I'll be all over it like Raiden on the anti-static cling spray.

To keep those killjoy partygoers that say Mortal Kombat is stale on their toes Midway has made some changes to the beloved series. The biggest of which is the new, completely 3D, fighting engine. No longer will fighters be stuck on a 2D plane. Now Midway has promised that total free-form go anywhere movement will be Mortal Kombat's style of choice. It's nice that Mortal Kombat is moving into the future, but let us have a moment of silence for the old 2D ways. In addition to this new engine, Midway is hard at work on implementing a new battle system. Fear not, every character will still come equipped with a full set of special moves, but now each character will have several "move sets" that can be changed on the fly to add a whole new level to the carnage.

With all these changes to the play mechanics Midway has felt the need to add to the Mortal Kombat mythology as well. This is not an ordinary Mortal Kombat tournament. Yes mortal warriors are still competing for the chance at immortality and the opportunity to defeat the evil forces that wish to rule the tournament. But now the evil force behind the tournament is the deadly alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. Alone they are flawed and have been bested by Raiden's light warriors time and again. But together, the world will be theirs. God, it sounds like something Vince McMahon would cook up.

Speaking of Raiden and his band of fighters, there will be plenty of returning favorites in MK: Deadly Alliance. In addition to Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Raiden, seven other Mortal Kombat veterans are confirmed to be returning. Sub-Zero, Sonya, Jax, and Kitana round out the light side with Scorpion, Cyrax, and Reptile fighting for the forces of evil. Strangely, Liu Kang is no where to be found on this list. Midway has also confirmed four brand new characters that will be partaking in the Kombat for the first time. Malvado appears to be some sort of a vampire. Moloch is a big blue monster that bears more than a little resemblance to Blanka. Blind Kenshi is a warrior who is, surprise, blind. Which is actually a better gimmick than random ninja #1138. The final new character is named Drahmin, and who at this point is tightly under wraps. There is also word of a character named The Dragon King, but what role he'll play in the game is unknown at this time.

Like previous entries in the series, MK: Deadly Alliance will take place in various horror themed arenas. Expect lots of lava, acid, decaying corpses, and of course, Goro's Throne Room. Midway is also keeping tight lipped on whether this means Goro is or isn't in the game. I hold out hope he'll make at least a token appearance.

Finally, Midway has made a few very ambitious promises concerning the carnage candy they expect to dish out in this latest MK installment. Real time injuries are step one as Midway says to be on the look out for fighters to experience ripped clothing, bruises, dripping sweat, dripping blood, and "running down bodies." I think they meant to say visible fatigue, but you know how the video game hype machine is. The more words they use and the more complex they can make it sound, the better. Part two in their plan is something I'm halfway worried about. Midway has said that every fatality will be brand new. That in itself sounds like good news, which I am very excited about. New fatalities is half the fun. But new fatalities also means old fatalities may not make the cut. And if Scorpion cannot make Dan Forden scream "Toasty!" the fans (eg. ME!) will be disappointed. And I just horribly dated myself didn't I?