G@mers Reviews
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Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Back when I was at school there was always two camps when it came to beat ‘em ups, The Street Fighter II camp and the Mortal Kombat camp. You pretty much you had to be in one or the other, (no wussy-Switzerland “not taking sides” here matey!) and I was firmly in the latter. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved Street Fighter II, but I just hated the control method for strength and secret moves, especially being a SNES owner, what with the cross pad. It was thumb-blister central for my hardcore friends, so I just much preferred the “towards, back, down” type moves that Mortal Kombat had to offer. That and the ability to rip a mans spinal cord out through his anus always appealed to a growing lad, Well I’m exaggerating there, but Fatalities were just sooo cool at the time and one of the main hooks of the series. |
Now for 15 years, Mortal Kombat has grown up with me; it dropped the photo-real graphics in favour of 3D during the PS1 days and has appeared on practically every format ever made, so now today we have the latest title in the series, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Nintendo Wii. Originally released on the PS2 last October, MK:A is nigh-on identical to last years title except for the sad absence of an Online mode (which seems to be a regular occurrence for Nintendo conversions now) and the inclusion of an exclusive character from the Nintendo 64 MK game (Mortal Kombat 4), Khameleon. The other major difference to the PS2 release is the totally revamped control system, utilising the Wii’s Remote, the special moved have been condensed into a series of movement gestures (for instance, Scorpion’s Harpoon “Get over here” move is performed by simply waving the Wiimote left, then right whilst holding the B button) so simply waving the wiimote up and down, left and right, or in a half circle can pull off all manner of moves. |
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This simplified manner makes the game excellent to anyone new to either the Mortal Kombat series, or even Beat ‘em up altogether (or if you’re just getting old like me and don’t have the memory of those young-un’s ^_^), though the hardcore can still opt for the more traditional controls using either the classic controller or a GameCube pad. Wii differences aside, MK:A is very much different to predecessors in the series; For starters the game manages to cram a total of 63 characters into the game, more than any other title in the series. Also, if 63 characters aren’t enough for you then you’ll love the new “Kreate A Fighter” mode, where you can pick and choose your own character, looks, clothes, moves Etc. While the feature itself isn’t exactly original to other games, it’s just a riot creating character to look like people you know and then just beating the poop outta them! |
The other big new addition to the series is the new “Kreate A Fatality” feature, while not exactly as exciting as it initially sound, it basically boils down to being able to chain up to eight “killer” moves within a set time limit, like breaking their neck, ripping their arms off Etc. though the one involving Repeatedly kicking someone in the love spuds until they die as a Fatality is quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen in a video game for years! There’s also some fun little bonuses included such as the rather excellent little racing game, Motor Kombat, driving round as SD-versions of the MK cast, up to four player battle it out for first place in this Mario Kart like racer. It’s extremely simple to get the hang of and is addictive as hell! I’d even go as far as to say it’s worth buying the game for this alone! |
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The Wiimote controls themselves can be fidgety at times, where the game won’t always recognise your commands and you’ll just sit there waving the remote at the telly like some sort of mad idiot while you’re getting your butt kicked by the enemy (this is partially due to the klunkyness of needing to use the B button to perform said moves, it really shouldn’t have been necessary to hold it down for a precise time) but if you can be patient to learn “the knack” you will have a pretty decent success rate with it. Graphically MK:A is just as impressive as the other MK games for the PS2 gen, the animation is exceptionally smooth running at 60 frames per second and the overall feel to the game has a real “meatyness” to it, Knocking enemies through walls over ledges and into meat tenderisers Etc, just feels sooo good! It’s just a total MK Fanboy’s game, all your favourite maps, levels and characters from the entire series in one disc. |
While Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is criminally missing the online mode that was such a key component to it’s PS2 counterpart (Nintendo’s fault, not Midway’s) and the wiimote controls can be a little annoying at times, the game itself is by far the greatest fighting game on the Wii at the moment and is highly recommended to both hardcore MK fans and gamers alike and is deep enough to have you playing for quite some time!
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