Keeping up with the somewhat rapid release rate of Mortal Kombat games, Armageddon has finally worked its way into my collection. Ill admit the rumors had me quite excited. 60 playable characters spanning the entire ‘MK Universe’, improved Konquest mode and ‘Create-a-Fatality’ system, where could you possibly go wrong? Well, a few places surprisingly…

The game itself is another 3D fighter. Ill admit I still prefer the frantic pace of the 2D versions, but ive stood by Midway in this change, if only because the game still plays faster than most other 3D games, like your Tekkens, Virtua Fighters and Dead or Alives(the shitty game not the shitty movie). Otherwise there are a few decent changes. Whenever there is a create-your-own character I usually start one straight off and play the game through with him. Its not as customizable as say, Smackdown vs Raw, but for a first attempt, its…. Well… average.

Gameplay

Gameplay is pretty good. The fast pace is still there in the fights but now that the game is 3D and more based on combos a lot of the action is waiting for a wrong punch or sidestepping a move and countering. Along with these sneaky moves, there is an all new parry feature which basically breaks a combo, and gives you some time to counter with your own. This gets on my nerves a bit, because instead of just going on offense its actually a lot smarter to dodge, counter and be a ‘smart’ fighter, which in a video game, is pretty boring. Although 2 player modes are a lot better for a brawl, this does mean that its somewhat difficult to win the standard tournament, and since im a bit of a completist with games, it’s a tad frustrating. Although Deception had excessive combos that spanned 3 styles(2 empty hand and 1 weapon) that carved up your opponent, MKA only has 2 styles, but adds in air combos. These can get particularly devastating and its always demoralizing to see your character getting smashed into the air after a big combo, then pummeled more before they can even fall into a broken heap. The Midway crew seem to be quite accurate in the fighting styles moves(at times) which is nice to see, but the days of special moves and uppercuts are almost over.

As with all Mortal Kombat games, I try to see every fatality as quickly as possible. With the custom fatality system I didn’t know what to expect. As creative as the idea is, its one of the laziest things they could have done. Basically what happens is you have a certain amount of time to do a ‘move’. This could be something from punching to the head, to ripping off an arm. Then you do another, and another until your time runs out to do another move. If you do a finisher (along the lines of head rips, torso rips) you get the fatality. If you don’t, it doesn’t count. Seems okay, yeah? Could get some vicious combos going? You sure can. Cant be bothered stringing one together? That’s okay too, just go straight to the finishing move. So what’s my problem? Well, try using another character, and you’ll notice they do the same thing. Try someone else, yep the same. All 60 have basically the same system. There are slight variations, but it all works the same.

A big part of the MK games was each character having specific finishing moves using their specific skills/weapons. It was very character defining. Going back to the original, Raiden, God of Thunder and Lightning used his powers to explode the head of the victim. Scorpion used his demon fire to burn them alive, Sub-Zero ripped the SPINE out of them, each one short, brutal and memorable. They made the characters who they were without really any storyline or plot to speak of. I feel that in giving everyone a ‘standard’ system has robbed the game of a lot of its character. This is pretty much my real problem with the game. The defensive gameplay could have been overlooked if this worked properly. I think a better idea may have been to have at least 1 character specific fatality and the ‘do it yourself’ as a second option. The stage fatalities are also getting a bit ridiculous. In previous versions where it was basically an extra fatality at the end of the match, it is now a way for you to get a cheap win, or turn the tide quickly even if you are getting smashed. It can be a bit of fun trying to get one working, but again, it takes away from the idea that you should be beating them to death instead of trying to knock them over there.

Otherwise, the cheesy side games are there. Well, side game. The racing game is fun-ish, but just a small add on. The Konquest mode is quite good though. If anyone played Shaolin Monks, think along the lines of that. Although it isn’t as cool as that game, and is single player, considering its not the main feature, its very entertaining. The camera can be quite frustrating, like all first person POV games, where you might not be able to spin the camera in time and are facing the wrong direction, but its not tooooo bg a deal. Its also the main way you will unlock the Krypt. Much like the other games that feature a Krypt, its full of crap really. Photos, videos of testing the mini-games in concept mode and other tidbits. However, scattered in the uninteresting(to me, if you like it whatever, spare me your life story) parts, there is the occasional funny clip, nice ideas that never came to fruition and of course, alternate costumes. Ill still try to unlock it all, but I think it needs an extra bonus for unlocking it all, or it just seems pointless.

Graphics

Im not too knowledgable on the capabilities of the PS2, but I think theyre okay. There is always the chunks of carcass flying in the fatalities and blood everywhere which is nice to see. The characters have been modeled very well and costumes have been done well to give the characters their basic ‘feel’. The stages are really well done. In some its because there is a lot of interactivity with the background(stage fatalities) or just the occasional pillar to throw someone through. Again, the Konquest mode steals the show for attention to detail. This would be because it’s a lot easier to get more detail into backgrounds, less detail on the characters and its all preset logic for the computer goons…. I guess?

Sound

The sounds of the game are a bit all over the place. The background music has been really well done and the sound effects capture every explosion, sword swing and bone crunch perfectly. Not that I know, but I assume it sounds like that. Again, The characters are let down by their voices. I keep referring back to the old games, but even till recently the characters had unique voices, with a few repeated but it wasn’t obvious. Maybe it’s the sheer volume of characters but most groans and screams of pain do sound the same.

Survivability

Ive always been a huge fan of the MK games. I defended the move to 3D fighting. I even thought it could be okay when they added pointless stupid characters(Darrius anyone?). But I cant see this holding my attention for too long. I will most likely make an attempt to unlock everything as I always try to with these games. Because the Krypt is a lot smaller than before it will be easier. Also now that the Koin system is just one type other than the 5 or 6 types from Deception it will make it a lot quicker. One annoying thing is that there isn’t a free play mode from Konquest. Although I guess it makes you play it again, I have completed it once and it took quite a while, and I wont be bothered running through from the beginning again with none of the skills you grow to rely on later in the game. Unlike Deception where there was a Chess Mode and Puzzle Kombat, which were actually fun, the Racing game is a bit lame. There isn’t really a lot to it and your other Kart-esque games in the platinum range could be a lot more entertaining. One of the fun parts of older games was the fights were fast, frantic and usually ended quickly in a swift violent fatality. Whether 2 player mode where defensive countering and re-countering till you can start a fatality sequence will be as successful, I guess ill know in a few months.

Score:

Gameplay 7.0

Graphics 8.0

Sound 8.0

Survivability 7.0

Overall 7.0 – Swift kick in the groin (Pretty good, but not awesome)