Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe
As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it! Remember what it was like when your favorite Saturday morning cartoon started teamed up? Multiply that by 1000! It may seemed like a risky idea to combine his supernatural undead ninjas and hell beasts with family friendly superheroes and crime lords has culminated in one of the greatest games in the series, and arguably the first recognized gaming success for the DC franchise. The game revolutionizes the series with a completely revamped fighting engine, presentation that is in line with today’s console standards and features a ‘greatest hits’ cast of characters from both sides of the coin, making for a sublime ass-kicking package.
The plot centers on a disturbance between the realms, ultimately leading to the merging of the MK Earthrealm with the DC realm, which creates the main antagonist of the game Dark Khan (MK’s Shao Khan and DC’s Darkseid fused together) who threatens to rip the fabrics of both realms apart meaning it’s up to the other warriors to stop him. It’s not the most elaborate of backstories for sure, but it does the job of serving as a vehicle for explaining why we suddenly have MK rivals Liu Kang and Shang Tsung combining their efforts against Lex Luthor and Catwoman.
The story mode is split between the MK and DC sides; so to fully complete it you must play through both campaigns. These are told through a number of chapters which feature cu t scenes, interwoven between fights, where you play as a different Kombatant for each chapter. It’s simple enough, but fun all the same. In fact, some of the best moments of the game will resonate from the story mode, as it’s an interesting experience to witness how these different characters would behave if suddenly thrown together. Seeing the Joker in conversation with the ninja specter Scorpion was certainly an eye-opener, for example. The writing and voice acting is good for the most part, although at times can be a little cheesy and less inspired, but as it’s a computer game featuring colorful comic book characters wearing capes and bright tights, it’s easy to let the hammy acting slide. Besides, after a while it kind of adds to the classic arcade feel of the game, without the free full game downloads.
One of the main points that was raised on many gamer forums prior to the actual release was how the game would be able to explain why normal mortals like Kano can suddenly defeat Superman, or how The Joker can put up a good fight with Thunder God Raiden or even Batman, for that matter. This is explained through one of the new in-game fighting mechanics Rage, which is caused as a result of the merging of the realms. For each of the fighters, their powers are subsequently balanced out, meaning Superman isn’t as indestructible and the Joker is suddenly imbued with greater strength and endurance. This applies in-game to o, as each character has a Rage mode bar and once this is reached they can activate the Rage, which gives that character a temporary surge of invulnerability.