"Not Real Mortal Kombat"

I was pretty excited when I popped this game into the Xbox. I had loved Deception, and I thought that it could only get better. However, when I started this game up and I entered single-player, I saw immediately it was not what I had hoped for. This isn't Mortal Kombat, I said to myself, this is something else using the title!

Graphics: 7
Nothing to shout about here. Average.

Controls: 8
Again, nothing spectacular. These controls are easy to get used to, a very simple affair of quick attack, launch attack, power attack and throw, with all the special moves being based upon their normal counterpart.

Gameplay: 8
Ah, the part that is most definitely not Mortal Kombat. It's not disappointing by any standards, but it's not what I was looking for when I popped this game in. Most players, upon hearing the words 'Mortal Kombat' will think two characters, one arena and lots of blood. Shaolin Monks delivers on the blood part. The gameplay is by no means bad for an Action/Adventure title, however.

Unlockables: 4
I have to admit, it is irritating to find all these secrets that require you to have a Ko-op buddy. Unfortunately, there are very few NPCs that will follow your character during the game, and the problem is made even worse by having Kung Lao appear at random during cut-scenes for the sake of completion. Also, I haven't played versus mode, but from what I know of the unlockable characters, there are very very few. I would expect to see a number in the twenties, but as far as I know, there are about ten characters playable, not including Single Player. Mortal Kombat 2 is also an unlockable feature.

Voice Acting/Sound: 6
Now, neither of this is bad on its own. Both are well co-ordinated, with mouth movements fairly accurate. What brings this down, however, is that in cut-scenes the voices are extraordinarily hard to hear over background noise, and, the main thing that brings it down now, is that there are no sub-titles. None of the cut-scenes have been critical, but it is still peeving to not be able to understand what the characters are saying.

Closing Words:
A good game overall, but it would be recommended to rent this first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 10/05/05

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