"Please, just Finish Him!!!"

I loved the 2D Mortal Kombats- the silly graphics; the overly-violent, yet very entertaining moves; the fact that they weren't as bad as this pile! Mortal Kombat Armageddon could've been the series' saving grace, but it ended up being just as horrible as its two predecessors- if not worse.

Story:

Well... when has a Mortal Kombat's story EVER been that good?

There is little to no character development either. Until you actually beat the game, you're just kind of a faceless fighter working your way to the game's (rather lack-luster) Boss.

Once you actually beat the game, you get a thrown-together ending: the narrator talking about what happens and your character showing off his fighting style. That sort of thing may work on the old Genesis, but I expect to see some sort of ending on my PS2- when I hear a guy telling me what's happening, it kind of makes me wonder why I bought this game.

I feel that they should've cut some characters to give the rest a feel of individuality.

Story: 0/10

Sound:

Strangely enough, all of the characters sound the exact same. Throughout the entire game, if you're crazy enough to play through this mess with all 60+ characters, you'll notice that there is no difference between the actual voices in the game and those encountered in Kreate-a-Kharacter (except for those you face during Konquest). There was no individuality to the characters except for the way they looked- and even that is rather redundant: the entire top tier in the character select screen is the entire set of Ninjas from Mortal Kombat. Yawn- anyone?

Music has never really been a strong point in the Mortal Kombat series, but the music in this one felt generic and bland. Most fighting games don't really have a score that will capture your heart, but this game doesn't even have a score that can capture your attention.

Sound: 2/10

Gameplay:

Oh, my God... where do I even start?

Each character have two fighting styles, but when you start playing the game, you realize that your move set is probably strikingly similar to the guy you're fighting- despite the fact that you're using "different" disciplines of martial arts. More lack of individuality!

What's worse is that the characters are HORRIBLY unresponsive. It's very difficult to chain combos in this game. And I'm sure you'll notice the lag after each move immediately once you start playing this game. This really makes me wonder why anyone would want to play this game's online mode. Game's natural lag + internet's lag= watching two characters just standing there facing eachother as the clock winds out.

Kreate-a-Fatality was fun at first, but after getting my "evil-fatality" (their words), I realized that it was just another sacrifice of individuality. Putting in original Fatalities would mean less room for more characters. I never thought I'd yearn for the simpler, cartoony blood baths that were called fatalities in the older games.

Gameplay: 4/10

Extras:

Despite this game's many flaws, it's extras are sort of a redeeming factor.

The Krypt was... still boring and monotonous, but it gave me a reason to actually play this abysmal game. Unfortunately, the actual unlockables weren't that interesting...

Kreate-a-Kharacter was what really made this game for me. I found myself hoarding gold so I could unlock more things to decorate my character. Unfortunately, after unlocking all the vanity items, I actually started trying to make my own character. After you're done setting up your (somewhat boring) character, you get to set up everything else about them- including their fighting style. Unfortunately, you have to pay for simple moves- so if you wanted a particular high-punch, you'd have to fork out about 400 gold for it. In the end, this ruined Kreate-a-Kharacter for me.

Konquest was the best part about this game. I honestly found myself playing this more than the actual game. The rag doll physics kept me entertained for hours! After I started unlocking bonuses in the Krypt, however, I realized that things that should've been included (like a bow-and-arrows, and a sword to carry around with you) never made it into the final cut. You can see the videos of the main character (named Taven) running around and using these items, but you won't really get the chance yourself.

And finally, Motor Kombat...
I have NEVER seen such a shameless excuse for a mini-game before. At first it's fun, but soon you realize that this game goes nowhere. There's no unlockables, no extra tracks, no secrets- you're stuck with what you got out of the box. And it feels like such a shameless spoof of Mario-Kart that I can't even look at it without feeling a little angry.

Extras: 5/10

Final Thoughts:

I'm not really sure why I keep buying these games. They're horrible, and I know they'll be horrible. It would take a lot to correct this game's flaws, and I'm not really sure if we can expect that anytime soon.

Hopefully the WII version will be better.

Or better yet: maybe Midway can stop pumping out these god-awful titles that leech off the original success of Mortal Kombat.

Overall: 3

I seriously suggest you rent this game if you even consider playing it at all. If you're a hardcore fan of Mortal Kombat, then you probably won't be bothered by this game's problems... its many, many problems...

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/07