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Story: Scorpion had found out of Quan Chi's involvement in the death of his family and began to pursue him throughout the Netherealm. During his escape, Quan Chi entered a portal that sent him to ancient writings where he discovered the history of his amulet and about the Dragon King's invincible army. He managed to escape from the Netherealm using a secret portal and approached Shang Tsung with an offer to join forces and rule the realms together. Quan Chi established a "Soulnado" in Shang Tsung's fortress with the agreement that Shang Tsung would use some of the souls to animate the army. Together, they approached Shao Kahn and attacked him, seemingly killing him in his weakened state. It was later revealed that they killed a clone, and that the real Shao Kahn had escaped. The Deadly Alliance then double-teamed and killed the only one who could possibly stop them, the Mortal Kombat Champion, Liu Kang. Raiden once again rallied
the Earthrealm soldiers to stop this impending threat. Also included in
the battle were newcomers Li Mei and Nitara. Nitara's realm had been merged
into Outworld against her will, whereas Li Mei was trying to free her land
from The Deadly Alliance. Others joined the fight as well, including the
newly reprogrammed Cyrax (now working for the U.S. Special Forces Unit
with Jax and Sonya), as well as Kenshi, a warrior who had been blinded
by Shang Tsung's treachery and who sought revenge, and Sub-Zero the younger
brother of the original Sub-Zero and the new leader of the Lin Kuei. Unfortunately,
these heroes were unable to stop the Deadly Alliance, as the two sorcerers
overcame all foes, destroying the majority of the opposition.
Review: Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance presents a brand new 3D gameplay engine, entirely different from the last installment to the franchise, Mortal Kombat 4 (and Gold). A new graphics engine also shows off the most detailed character models seen in an MK game to date, as well as some cool looking, moody 3D environments that suit the series well. The game's presentation includes a cool extended intro, a handful of modes & options, and a ton of extras to unlock. MK: Deadly Alliance also marks the return of several classic MK characters that haven't been in a game in quite some time; and introduces a handful of new faces to the series.
The gameplay feels at least "similar" to previous installments, but Deadly Alliance introduces
sidestepping for the first time... taking MK out of the realm of 2D fighters.
The new combo system seems a bit
more polished than what the series became known for in the recent past, and is pretty
fun overall. Each character has three
different martial arts styles, (two open hand, one weapon) and can switch
styles on the spot. This creates not only some interesting looking gameplay,
but is a new twist for fighting games we haven't really seen done very often. (The only other game that offers the ability to "draw" a weapon on the spot,
is Ninja Masters). The graphics in Deadly Alliance are
sharp on all 3 systems! Character models are nicely detailed (Scorpion
never looked so badass) and the backgrounds, lighting effects, and reflections
don't fail to impress. The animation is good sometimes, but once again, a handful
of character movements are kinda jagged. However there are a plenty of cool
moves that do have oomph, and bring the pain. The camera also plays a part
in the "awe" factor of the game, and does a great job in cinematically
capturing all the action going on as well as showing off the cool arenas;
which stretch pretty far back into the horizon. Character's faces also become bruised and
bloodied after a match, nice touch... but why only the on faces?
Deadly
Alliance also introduces an all new mode called Konquest where you take a
little journey learning all of the characters moves, all the while earning "koins"
which you can use to purchase "extras" in The Krypt. The Krypt system is nice
little addition to the game, and really makes for some excellent replay
value if you get into it. Within the Krypt you open coffins that contain concept art, early screenshots, logos, print adds, "behind the
scenes" pics, and of course more useful things like new characters, stages,
character outfits, extra koins, etc. There are 676 coffins to open I
believe... can you say replay value?! Deadly
Alliance is no doubt a decent console-exclusive fighter, but there are some flaws... to nitpick a little bit, I will say that some of the fatalities are kinda lacking on the shock
value that the series thrives on, and some are
just plain stupid and will leave many players with a "blank stare"... you might even
hear some crickets afterwards. |
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Looks kinda weird.
Also, there's only 1 fatality per character,
which is a pretty huge disappointment considering the series' history.
