Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

"Mediocre, disappointing"

I waited to do my review until after the Fight Night, an IRC chat held with the guests of honor none other than the developers of this game. I'm glad I did, because now I know there's nothing left to this game.

Graphics: 7/10
I don't really see why everyone keeps saying this game looks so incredible. It's about on par with any other game. Things look nice, but nothing is particularly appealing or noteworthy. Clipping errors abound and the only thing remotely innovative is that every charcter has a couple different skins for their face, with varying levels of damage, applied as the match progresses.

Gameplay: 3/10
The gameplay is horrible. Nothing but dial-a-combos. It had a lot of potential, but it was wasted. There are 3 fighting stances, two unarmed and one armed. Each stance has a different list of normal moves and combos. In addition, there are style-branch combos, which start in one style and end up finishing in another. There's also the obligatory special moves, which are always available no matter what stance you're in.

Sounds: 5/10
Eh. Not much going for it here. If there's music, I haven't noticed it, and the sounds are what you'd expect.

Style: 9/10
Let's face it, this is what Mortal Kombat's always been about. The gory style, the feeling that you're really in a tournament that might have an effect on the planet... the fatalities. Even the makers of the game admitted Mortal Kombat would have gone nowhere fast without the fatalities. This game feels returns the feeling of Mortal Kombat, and that is one of the few high points.

Extras: 6/10
Almost no secrets. Two hidden characters, and one ''secret that noone's figured out yet,'' but it's been confirmed that there's only one fatality per person and no stage fatalities, and it's highly unlikely there's another hidden character. There's a lot of stuff in the Krypt, though, and some of it's quite fun. Things like funny MK-inspired videos, extra stages, alternate costumes, etc etc. The other 98% is made up of lame concept art and pictures of the development team. There's some interesting ones, like pictures of new characters who never made it beyond the planning stage, but overall it's a lot of disappointment.

Replay: 2/10
Like I said, the fighting system sucks, so all of its replay is based on unlocking stuff in the Krypt. Definitely not terribly entertaining.

Buy or rent? Rent it. You'll be able to beat konquest mode and arcade mode with every character in a couple days, and after that there's no reason to play the game.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/02, Updated 12/15/02