Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

"A blow-away, instant hit game"

This is an explosive and energetic game that takes the Mortal Kombat series to the next level. With a new story mode that covers 10 missions for all 21 characters. It also includes 8 training missions that you must start with. After each fight or mission you get a certain number of koins. The types of koins are: Sapphire, Onyx, Jade, Ruby, Gold, and Platinum. The game is based around a deadly alliance between Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. They are trying to bring back the un-defeatable army of the Dragon King, and by doing that Shang Tsung gets all the souls he needs to live forever. There are 21 characters, each with his/her own unique fighting styles. Each character has 2 hand-to-hand fighting styles. Also included in all the characters is the characters choice of a weapon fighting style. The koins you get in the game you can spend in a place called the krypt. It’s a place that has rows and rows of tombstones. It starts with AA and goes to ZZ and goes through every letter. There are about 676 different tombstones. Each tombstone has a different tombstone with something different to unlock. Whether it is one of the new characters, new costumes, sketches, videos, new arenas, or just simple pictures. Every aspect of this game is just brilliant. The only disappointment that you’ll find out within 2 minutes of the game is that Liu Kang is not in this game. Quan Chi and Shang Tsung killed him.

Game play- the most important part in the game is the story mode or conquest. This is where you go through 8 basic training exercises, then 10 missions per character. It comes out to be about 218 total. It is like a long journey seeking enlightenment. It is very fun to play because not only do you travel on a long journey mastering all the characters but also it gives you facts about the history of everything. So when they sat “enlightenment,” they mean “enlightenment.” That is relatively east compared to the next thing. Another fun thing in the game, but relatively hard part of the game is the arcade mode. This is where you go through (this is the traditional mortal kombat) and defeat the Deadly Alliance (Quan Chi and Shang Tsung). In this there is a normal 8 fighters you must beat. Then there is a huge Oni, and then you must defeat Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. Another plus in the game is the control. They made excellent choices in the default controls and if you don’t like them you can change them at will.

Story- this is a new mode in Mortal Kombat games. In this mode you start off with 8 training missions, then immediately following, you go onto doing 10 missions per character for a total of 210 missions. The story of Mortal Kombat in this game features a Deadly Alliance between Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. Your goal is to defeat them, and stop them from bringing back the un-defeatable army of the Dragon King and conquer all the realms.

Graphics- The graphics in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is truly superb. It reflects upon the high reputation of PS2. Every part is wonderful, from the 3D battles to the opening video at the beginning. Each character is very unique, and everything is 3D. The arenas are done beautifully done, not only do they have great graphics but you could spend 30 minutes just looking at the scenery in each arena.
Sound- some say for every bad there is a good (and the other way around). There is no music in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but Midway makes up for this by adding, heart-pounding, bass-driven sounds of splitting skulls and some dudes sword getting stuck in another person. Each hit makes a loud whacking sound, which sounds tight.

Playtime/Reliability- Midway made good decisions in this category. In arcade mode it takes about 10-20 minutes to complete if your good but if your new at this it will take you about 20-35 minutes to complete. Konquest mode may take you about 2-3 days to complete. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance has very good reliability. You could come back over and over and it will still be just as fun to play.

Final Evaluation- Overall this is an Excellent game, and is a must buy. Do not return if given as a gift. For my evaluation, I give game play a 10. It has excellent game play and is very fun to play. For the Story I also give it a 10. It may be the first story a Mortal Kombat game has had, but it still is excellent. For the graphics and sound I give it a 9.75. Graphics are superb but for the lack of music I’m giving it a 9.75. For playtime/reliability I am giving it a 10. It’s a truly superb game so I am giving this category a 10. So buy this game and play away.

Overall- 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/03, Updated 01/22/03