Mortal Kombat 9 – PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Just when we were losing hope, Mortal Kombat made a highly anticipated return to the traditional and highly acclaimed two-dimensional platform. The game offers the same “bloody” fun that made our third generation consoles one of our most prized possession
in the ‘90s.
If you are expecting a rather simple but refined combat simple with tons of violence and blood-curdling screams, then Mortal Kombat 9 will not disappoint you. The powerful PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 engine adds a flavor to the game-play that you are bound
to love.
Presentation
Let’s just be very honest, nobody picks up a Mortal Kombat game for its captivating storyline. None of the games in the series have managed to come up with a story that has been anything close to appealing. If you are expecting a great storyline this time
around, then prepare yourself for disappointment.
Once again, the Earth Realm is threatened by the Nether Realm and it is up to your friendly god of thunder, Raiden, to help you win a tournament that decides the fate of earth.
While the game fails to impress in terms of its story, the character models are nicely done. The amount of blood that these models generate is even more admirable and quite exciting. Some of the most striking character models in the game include Scorpion
and Smoke.
One of the most notable features of the game is its environments. They are simply fantastic, making Mortal Kombat 9 stand out from the rest of the games in the genre. Be sure to check out the dragon raising the temperature with its fiery breath in one of
the fighting locations; though be careful not to get yourself beaten to a pulp while in awe.
The sound designers of the game deserve a standing ovation for a job well done. The sound effects couldn’t possibly have been any more perfect, especially the effect of projectiles. Be sure to turn the volume of your television up in order to fully appreciate
the sound design.
Gameplay
While its predecessors have focused more on violence, the latest Mortal Kombat seems have to picked a thing or two from Street Fighter and Tekken. The gameplay is much more balanced than before, with the game offering a competitive experience that will not
prove to be too complex for the casual gamers to get the hang of, while offering the more hardcore players ample room to flex their skills.
The basic combos and special attacks are not too difficult to pull off, so the newcomers will find themselves pretty much at home. However, to keep the game from becoming too easy and dull, there are crazy juggle combos and long chains to keep the gamers
from travelling to the expert status too quickly. The players will need to devote a great deal of time to master these more advanced skills.
A new cool addition to the Mortal Kombat experience is the super-metre on the bottom of the screen. The metre fills up as you fight and allows you to utilise it to make any of your special attack even flashier, and deadlier at the same time.
Using two segments of the metre allows you to break free of your opponent’s combo, while using three segments will allow you to pull off a new x-ray attack. The player will be treated to an x-ray vision of his unfortunate adversary’s skeleton break in uncomfortable
ways.
The game has several different modes for the players to choose from, such as story mode, massive challenge tower, etc.
The online play is pretty ordinary, with the exception of the King of the Hill mode, where people can spectate fights and vote for the winner.
While the game brought back all the good things from the previous Mortal Kombat games, along with the addition of new admirable features, there is one thing that the developers could have done away with. It’s fighting against some opponents with the odds
heavily against you, such as two-on-one matches and bosses that were not educated about rules. As usual, you can overcome these odds by spamming the same move over and over again, but where is the fun in that?
Ratings
The game deserves an 8 out of 10 and is strongly recommend for the fans of fighting games. The commendable combat system and awesome sound design enhance the gaming experience, while the cheap tricks required to beat some of the bosses really kill the pleasure.
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