Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

"Armageddon is good but not the greatest."

I've been a fan of the Mortal Kombat series since the beginning and I used to consider it as one of my favorite fighting game(s) of all time. However, ever since Mortal Kombat Deception, I lost all hopes for the Mortal Kombat series and it never interest me again due to its flaws, glitches, infinites, repetition and so forth. And now, ever since I saw Mortal Kombat Armageddon, I didn't get my hopes up at all because I know I will be disappointed with it again.

Story 8/10: At first, the story is very confusing. Once you get the game, everybody needs to play Konquest mode in order to understand what is going on. If you're going to play Arcade right away and beat the game with a character like Frost, for example, they won't tell you how she got revived from the dead and thus, makes you confuse how she got there, alive, in the first place. However, the main main story is very well told. The main focus of the game is putting every warrior together and fight to see who is the best.

Graphics 7/10: Normally, graphics doesn't mean anything in the fighting world. It's all about the gameplay. However, if you need opinions about the MKA's graphics, it's pretty much the same as MKD. Characters that made appearances from MKDA to MKA, Midway pretty much polished them all around. But characters that made an appearances from MKD to MKA, they're pretty much the same all around.

Gameplay 3/10: Ah, the deep sorrow of the Mortal Kombat series. At first, it seems like new and everything but everything has been rehashed. The gameplay itself is the same as always from MKD. Sure, they added some new moves here and there (like Nitara's weapon style to name a few) but you can tell Midway didn't put much effort into the game. Fighting styles from MKDA made a return but those fighting styles were given to the characters that didn't appear in MKD. Also, Midway invented some “new” style/weapons but they're the same as the previous style but with different names/looks (like Sareena's weapon style for example. It's the same as Li Mei's weapon but with a makeover). The air combat is a nice touch to the game. It sure adds some depth into the gameplay but not a lot. I should also mention that the game is very well balanced (not a lot though but it is pretty well balanced out then the previous installment).

Fatality 4/10: I decided to make this into its own section because this makes Mortal Kombat... Mortal Kombat. The fatality made a drastic makeover. Instead of punching in buttons and watch your favorite character killing off your least favorite, you get to dial massive of buttons in a row to execute your fatality. While it's a good idea at first, it gets too repetitive afterwards. Every single character got the same fatality. We don't get to see Sub-Zero “freeze” his opponent anymore, we don't get to see Scorpion flame his enemy to death and we don't even get to see Kitana decapitate Sonya's head! I find this as an excuse for Midway to not make every character have one signature fatality (Hurray for laziness!)

Ending 4/10: Again, I decided to make this into a section on its own because it's what makes Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat. The ending is bad... very bad. If you're a fan of the Mortal Kombat series since the first installment, you will be very disappointed. The ending shows the character doing a Katas with a narrator telling you what happened to that character after beating the game. Not only that, the ending starts off the same (I don't want to spoil but you know what I mean when you get the game). Each and every ending leaves off a plot hole and plenty of unanswered questioned (not to mention bad dialog). Isn't MKA supposed to be the final chapter for some of the characters in the Mortal Kombat series? Well, so far, I believe the answer is no.

Sound 8/10: The sound is very good. Some are very gloomy and some are creepy (which is good to keep the “dark” elements towards the series) but the music sure keeps you in the mood while you're playing the game. The voice acting is a huge improvement as well. In MKD, the voice acting was horrible with the over-the-top exaggeration but in MKA, they did a good job making it steady and “real”.

Replay Value 10/10: Oh yes, I hate to say this but this game does give a lot of replay value. With over 60 characters to beat, over 50 “bonus” items to buy (The Krypt and Costume items for KAK) and Konquest mode, you will never get bored with this game until you unlock everything 100%... unless you cheat then that's a whole different story.

Final Thought: Mortal Kombat Armageddon is a good game but not the greatest. I find MKA as a ploy to get people's money (which they succeeded). I also find the game a good example to play when I (or everybody for that matter) got nothing to do. I bought this game just to have a sense of closure and it failed to deliver once again. Only buy this game when its ultra cheap, have a sense of closure towards the series (dont get your hopes up) or you're a die-hard fan.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/06