Appears in The Whit on April 24, 2008.
About another year has passed and it’s time once again for Midway Gamers’ Day in good ol’ Sin City. Every year Midway drops bombshells, announces new projects, and allows attendees to get their eager hands on the latest builds for upcoming games. This year is no different and yet again Midway wows press and gamer alike but this time with a fresh helping of “WTF” courtesy of Mortal Kombat vs. DC.
The only conclusion I can reach is that Ed Boon, who is the co-creator of the Mortal Kombat (MK) franchise along with this little gem, was high when he gave the colorful Powerpoint presentation to sell this “great” idea to all the Midway execs. MK vs. DCU reminds me of one of those “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” ideas that sixth graders come up with around the cafeteria table while eating overcooked burgers and drinking sour 2% milk. Originally thought to be good ideas at the time quickly degenerate into “What was I thinking?” upon reflection several days later.
So here we have staple MK characters such as Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Sub Zero going toe-to-toe with the likes of Superman, Batman, and Aquaman which totally makes sense. Granted, I’ve desperately wanted to see Aquaman get his ass handed to him in general but the pairing here just doesn’t fit. It’s like mixing Lucky Charms with Banana Nut Crunch, they may both be cereals but that is where the similarities end and I don’t think it would taste any good either.
Diehard MK fans will be pleased to know that there will not be any fatalities but fatality-like finishing moves. Basically we get some lame body slam or a punch to the gonads in true Johnny Cage Block + Low Punch style instead of an epic move of gory showmanship. In a recent interview with Boon, he explains we won’t be seeing hearts and spines ripped out by Superman or Batman and that sucks. To me this game feels like a DCU fighting game with MK characters thrown into the grinder for good measure because without fatalities, gore and massive pools of blood it’s not MK. MK vs. DCU will also ship with a T rating which is an MK first, for shame.
Despite my opinions, I’ll admit that the new directions the devs are taking are fairly intriguing. Dubbed the “clean slate” approach by Boon and his cohorts, everything we know about the MK fighting system will receive a total revamp. The weapon and multiple fighting style systems we’ve gotten used to throughout the past few MK games will get the boot and a more brutal, visceral approach gets the nod. Don’t ask me how they’ll do it; I thought impaling someone with a sword was brutal enough.
Also new on the table are three different battle modes called Klose Kombat, Freefall Kombat, and stage interaction. In Klose Kombat the camera zooms in on the action and the player who initiated the mode gets to throw the punches while the poor sap with slower reaction time is on the defensive dodging blows or taking them like a man. Freefall Kombat comes into play when you or your opponents are thrown off a very tall level. When this occurs, you won’t watch the character plummet to their death but you’ll jump with him and battle in mid-air. Stage interaction is just how it sounds. You can throw your enemy into walls, buildings or pick up random objects and have a good ol’ fashioned melee.
Will this game be a success? It may do well financially because it carries the MK and DCU logo all in one package but in regards to quality, we’ll just have to wait and see. Despite the odd backstory and removal of fatalities and extensive gore, I’m intrigued to see what Boon can cook up. My only hope is that other companies don’t try to fit mismatched pairs and make Dragon Ball Z vs. Naruto, Halo vs. Gordon Freeman, or Jesus vs. Satan, although that last one would be pretty cool.
