Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

"Rated M for Master of all Fighting Games, oh and because of the gore and blood in it."

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance continues the tradition of great fighting games in the franchise. It's been quite a while since the last Mortal Kombat game, so a ton of people, including myself, were looking forward to this game. MK:DA created a lot of hype over the past few months and lived up to it all plus a lot more. This game offers a very deep story line, which is uncommon in many fighting games. Anyone who likes this genre of games will definitely love this game.

Story 10/10

As I said in the introduction, this game has a terrific plot not common in many games these days, let alone a fighting one. The opening cutscene explains most of the story. It starts out with a view of Liu Kang meditating, then quickly shows a shot of Quan Chi escaping from somewhere into a portal which takes him to the runestone of the Dragon King. He powers it up and finds the lost army of the King mummified and standing in perfect rows. To resurrect them he would have to feed them each a soul. He knew he couldn't do this alone so allies with Shang Tsung, (hence the name ''Deadly Alliance''), who also wants to take over Earthrealm. Why wouldn't they become best buds when they have so much in common? Anyway, their first priority is to gain full control of the Outerworld, so they kill its emperor Shao Kahn. Their next mission is to kill Liu Kang, the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat, so they have a better chance of winning the tournament. Liu Kang puts up a good fight, put gets killed anyway. With that the scene next goes to Raiden who has gathered all of the goodies to fight the badies for the next tournament, and states that we must stop this Deadly Alliance. The cutscene ends then you can play. As you beat Arcade mode with different fighters, you unlock their endings to see the story progress.

Gameplay 10/10
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance's gameplay is nothing short of spectacular. The controls were easy to pick up on and the only problem that I faced was not being able to use the Analog Sticks. No biggy their. This time around you can gain control of up to twenty-one characters, each with their very own cutscene ending. Each fighter has three fighting styles, two regular and one weapon. Each style has about twenty-five moves, so it will take a while for you to master each character. There are four game modes in all: Arcade Mode where you choose a fighter and battle every person (earning Kurrency on the way) and battle Moloch, the end boss, at the end of each campaign; then there is Versus Mode, which lets you battle against your friends (or enemies); after that there is Practice Mode which lets you pick a fighter to practice with against an enemy of your choice who stands motionless letting you master your character's moves; and last but not least, there is Konquest Mode which takes you and your fighter through countless challenges, each one earning you Kurrency which can later be used to purchase items such as character skins or bios at the Krypt. Every couple of matches there is a mini game, either Test Your Sight or Test Your Might, each very fun and addictive. The only somewhat major flaw is the camera, which sometimes is a little pesky. But that wasn't enough to keep this great game from getting a perfect score.

Audio/Visual 10/10
This is where Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance shines its brightest. Every time you swing a fist or your sword meets with your enemies, the sound is phenomenal. The cutscenes have great graphics and voiceovers, and when you are in battle your fighters look great and sound equally good too. It uses the Playstation 2 to its full potential. Perfect score yet again.

Replayable Factor 10/10
I can't imagine beating all of the Arcade Mode and Konquest Mode would be a fast process, but incase it is, there are still some 676 coffins (each with an item in it)for you to purchase in the Krypt. Plus you can view the music video from Adema made specially for this game; another video called The Making of MK:DA, which puts you in the shoes of a developer of this game for a day, which alone is a big bonus for buying the game; and lets you watch another video call The History of Mortal Kombat, which is an in-depth bio of the franchise all the way back to the days of Mortal Kombat I. I'd say that the replayable factor deserves a strong ten.

To buy or not to buy, that is the question...
I'm pretty confident that you'll enjoy this game, so gather up fifty bucks and go buy this game!!! You won't regret it!!!

With that, I bid you farewell! Have fun playing this game!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/01/02, Updated 12/01/02