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| Fatalities, Graphics, and Gameplay…Oh My! |
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 y brain feels like mush, I can’t concentrate, the joints in my fingers hurt, my eyes are strained; and it’s all because I’ve been playing Deadly Alliance for two weeks straight. Yet, despite my physical ailments, I still want to bust up more virtual mortal kombatants. Why? Because MKDA is that damn good. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that Deadly Alliance is the best 3D fighter to date!
MKDA’s got it all: an open-ended combat system, tons of combos, cool character designs, gruesome Fatalities, a solid single-player mode, myriad secrets (over 600, which we’ve unlocked for you), interesting stages, killer graphics, compelling sounds and music, and kick-your-ass-over-and-over-again AI. Even so, MK’s crowning achievement is its strategic and well-balanced gameplay.
Instead of overwhelming players with an obscene number of moves (as in Tekken and Virtua Fighter), players only have access to a few special attacks, and about a dozen different standard moves. This constrained approach eliminates superfluous attacks, and allows players to focus on the strategic element of the combat (like many 2D fighters). So, you won’t discover 10 subtly different ways to hit low; rather, MKDA might offer four or five, which is enough to keep your enemies guessing.
This might seem indicative of slow, combo-less battles. However, frantic melee fighting almost always ensues, since most moves and small combos deal minor amounts of damage, and the de-emphasis of special attacks makes distant fighting impractical. The combo system is elaborate, yet easy to understand. Every character supports three fighting styles – two standard martial arts, and a weapon form. By linking smaller combos from each style together, players can create heavy-hitting offensives. This approach not only heightens the variety and strategic components, it prevents combat from relying too heavily on button-mashing. Therefore, your non-gaming buddies won’t be able to make triumphant claims of skill by pulling an Eddie Gordo.
The developers even managed to create a fully realized cast. Each character supports a unique design, and offers an exclusive arsenal, which means that every combatant is useful in his or her own way. Also, because Midway thoroughly balanced out the characters, nobody is too strong or too weak.
The only thing I can really fault MKDA for is its single-player mode. While the numerous secrets will certainly keep you hooked, the standard human versus computer scenario needs more depth. Something like Alpha 3’s World Tour mode or VF4’s Kumite should be standard. Ideally, I would love to see a fighter of this caliber support more adventuring, as in Way of the Samurai. If Midway can implement a better one-player experience for the sequel, we’ll have perfection. If it can manage to include online, that would be utter bliss.
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Mortal Kombat is back with a vengeance, breathing new life into the fighting genre, and eclipsing everything that has been attempted before it. Clinging tightly to the blood and gore that put this series on the map, Ed Boon and his team have adopted a sleek gameplay engine, drop-dead gorgeous character models, and an unprecedented amount of secrets. While I was a tad disappointed to see only one Fatality per character, the depth and polish of the fighting system more than makes up for it. Unlike most 3D fighters, you won’t be able to button-flail your way to victory. Deadly Alliance is all about progressive skill and the ability to manufacture devastating combo sequences. Even though Vice City will win all of the awards, I truly feel that Deadly Alliance is the most surprising, accomplished, and addictive game of the year.
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9.5 |
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| CONCEPT: |
| It’s MK in 3D again, but refined to the point of being one of the best (if not the best) in the genrE |
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| GRAPHICS: |
| The best in this category on PS2. Only DOA 3 on Xbox beats it out |
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| SOUND: |
| All of the sounds are sweet and the music is appropriate |
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| PLAYABILITY: |
| The control is fantastic. I have zero complaints in this department |
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| ENTERTAINMENT: |
| This is the most fun I’ve had with a fighter since Street Fighter Alpha 3. It’s highly addictive and offers an amazing combat system, |
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