Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Review

[Bolt_Gundam510]

by Matt Casamassina

Armageddon is packed full of fighters - more than any other version -- and it is this saturation of the warriors that becomes the backbone of the new storyline. In an attempt to keep the hordes of fighters locking themselves in battle forever and threatening the safety of both the Earthrealm and Outworld, the Elder Gods devised the ultimate tournament at a pyramid with an elemental guard, Blaze, where the final competition for power, glory, and all other things that fighters seek could be held.

The storyline is, of course, merely a setup for the non-stop brawling action that follows, but it does fit well within the Mortal Kombat universe, if you're a purist, and it's also told well, if you value production values. A crispy-clean and beautiful opening cinematic showcases the battle of the warriors and how each will risk limb and life to gain access to the top of the Elders' fated pyramid.

Simple flicks of the Wii remote are all that's needed to fight in the Wii game.

The Wii version of Armageddon features some 64 characters, including one exclusive warrior: Khameleon. If you've been a Nintendo as long as you have a Mortal Kombat one, you might recognize the female fighter from her debut appearance in N64's MK Trilogy.

She remains one of two reasons to buy Armageddon on Wii if you don't own it for another system already, the other, of course, being the new gesture controls. Just about every major brawler to appear in the franchise over the years is featured in playable form in Armageddon, from Scorpion, Liu Kang, and Smoke, to Meat, Bo' Rai Cho, Baraka and Raiden.

The roster is impressively huge and each character comes complete with a unique set of animations, not to mention the ability to switch between two hand-to-hand and one weapon-based fighting style on the fly. It's been toned down since Deception due to the ridiculously large amount of playable characters.

The roster of fighters is impressive.

The title plays like nearly every Mortal Kombat before it, meaning fast and frenzied. In contrast to a series like Tekken, Armageddon's fights enable for intense projectile-based combat even as they encourage melee battles. You will rarely have a chance to breathe, let alone pause, but button-mashing won't get you far since only the skilled player will learn the advanced combos and master the fatalities.

The mechanics are responsive and the gameplay fun when you're playing with the classic controller or alternatively with the GameCube controller. Both are fully compatible with the Wii iterations and you can plug them in at any time and compete against friends who are using the Wii remote and nunchuk. For that reason alone, we could recommend Armageddon to Wii owners even if the remote controls were absolute junk. As it turns out, they're not.

Half circle motions like these result in special moves.

In addition to the Kombat fighting modes, Armageddon features a robust Kreate a Fighter, an adventure-style Konquest option, in which you play as Taven and progress through a storyline complete with a huge bounty of collectibles and periodic fights. Then there's Motor Kombat, which is like Mario Kart except with MK characters and gore. All of the above extras arrive purely as bonus content and do not detract from the experience.

The controls in Konquest are rough and some of the story/dialogue is cheesy, but die-hard fans will still enjoy it, particularly for the unlockables. Motor Kombat, meanwhile, is mindless entertainment; incidentally, you can turn the Wii remote on its side and control it classically, which is a welcome touch. Sadly, Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat from Deception - too unexpectedly engaging inclusions - are not back for Armageddon.

It's too bad that - and this omission is sorely missed - Armageddon for Wii lacks an online mode altogether due almost certainly to Nintendo's slow start in readying an infrastructure and providing developers like Midway with the proper tools and documentation to utilize it. It's a good excuse, of course, but that makes little difference to consumers who want it and we have therefore been forced to ding the final score of the game because of its absence.

8.0 Presentation

Moody cinematics, 64 playable characters, a wealth of interactive arenas, and several extra play modes like Konquest and Motor Kombat. Lacks Chess and Puzzle. No online component.

7.0 Graphics

Pretty good for PlayStation 2, but Wii can do much more. Adequately detailed and animated models mingle with an impressie variety of environments. Runs in 480p and 16:9 at 60 frames.

7.0 Sound

Cheesy dialog and over-cooked delivery, but most of it works in this universe. Sound effects have punch. Music could be better.

8.0 Gameplay

Still as frantic and fun as ever. The new Wii remote gestures are surprisingly enjoyable when they work, but occasionally they don't. Thankfully, you can play with the classic or GCN controller, too.

9.0 Lasting Appeal

So much to do. A deep Kombat mode. A sizeable Konquest adventure game. Motor Kombat. A robust Kreate a Fighter. And then there's the multiplayer mode. Did we mention there are tons of unlockables?

7.8

Good OVERALL

(out of 10 / not an average)

Source: IGN

[tker]

this was an awesome game, but the fact that there were no preset fatalities was kind of a bummer. it gets boring doing the same combinations to finish your enemies