MKVDCU is a perfect example of why Midway is on the endangered publishers list. It takes a vaguely intriguing concept and executes it with such mediocrity that even the team behind the upcoming Chun-Li film would be ashamed. Then, to make matters worse, Midway attempts to take their notoriously M-rated series and water it down for a broader, more family-friendly audience. The gimmick of violence was all Mortal Kombat ever had going for it, and now the fatalities have been reduced to little more than Tom and Jerry drollery.
The graphics are a mixed bag, occasionally utilizing the Unreal III engine to produce impressive characters and effects. Some of the cast look great, while others (Wonder Woman comes to mind), look downright bland. I would say “embarrassing”, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunity to use that word again. Each character comes with a single outfit, meaning no unlockable costumes whatsoever. Environments are decent, but do little to stand out unfortunately, as you will often be forced to fight several consecutive matches on the same stage. The interactive elements are a nice touch, but a wider array of locations definitely would have helped subdue the monotony.
For those interested, the good news is that there is a lot of story, something fighting games never do. The bad news is, the story is god-awful, something fighting games always do. Earth and Earthrealm become accidentally intertwined thanks to the reckless actions of Superman and Raiden, which also creates Dark Khan, the game’s main antagonist (in case you couldn’t figure it out, that’s Shao Kahn and Darkseid combined—the creativity never stops flowing over at Midway). “Combat rage”, a thinly-veiled substitute for “possession”, is the ridiculously amateurish excuse used to bring these two franchises together. It completely demeans the entire story, as none of the characters’ actions are their own; everyone decides to fight random strangers at the drop of a hat, for no apparent reason other than your amusement.
Here’s an example:
Sonya Blade:
Why are you here?
Captain Marvel:
Confused… Don’t understand… the rage…. THE RAAAAGE!
Announcer:
Round 1, FIGHT!
The scribe, Jimmy Palmiotti (responsible for the equally terrible Painkiller Jain TV-series, as well as numerous undoubtedly subpar comic books), seems completely unfamiliar with the characters—DC and MK—instead writing as if he was given a simple fact sheet and then tried to fill in the blanks over the course of a weekend. For example, Batman, the world’s greatest detective, is depicted as one of the most naive and trusting characters in any game, EVER. Also, considering the game takes place in what is basically two entire worlds, why are the 20 playable characters and a handful of non-essential day players the only people around?
The pinnacle of the game’s story mode is of course the showdown between the two camps, and just as the tedious experience is about to get even remotely satisfying, the real-time cutscene literally turns into a slideshow. Not like “Oh my god there is so much action going on the 360 can’t handle it!!!1”, but an actual, narrated slideshow. The individual endings for each character in Arcade are also downright insulting, consisting of a single frame of poorly-drawn artwork.
With 20 different combatants, there is some variety to be had in the gameplay, but not much. Characters share many of the same moves and animations, and each is allotted very few unique specials, resulting in a lot of repetitive combos and cheap tactics. After receiving or giving enough punishment, players can enter RAGE mode, where they become harder to knock down, take less damage, yet do more damage themselves. This is basically “n00b mode” for all the button mashers which make up the game’s repertoire of trash-talking, online adversaries. Last but certainly not least, in the biggest WTF of perhaps the entire franchise, Superman can’t do Raiden’s Superman attack. In fact, many of the DC characters have been purposely nerfed in order to make for a more balanced affair, which is exactly what fans originally feared would happen.
Amidst the re-emergence of 3D fighting games Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe simply lacks the grandeur needed to be a serious contender amongst Soulcalibur IV, Street Fighter 4, and Tekken 6. I would not oppose a much-improved sequel, but history has shown that Mortal Kombat only self-destructs further with each game. Maybe it’s time Ed Boon joined John Tobias at that Starbucks job he always seemed destined for. They can talk about what went wrong while enjoying MK Mythologies together…
Recommendation:
Watch the above video and save yourself the trouble of actually playing the game. Unless you’re a mildly-retarded rock who is easily impressed by flashing lights and loud noises, MK vs. DCU is hardly worth a rental; whatever cautiously optimistic curiosity you may have had will only be met with disappointment.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
System: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Developer: Midway
Publisher: Midway
Find: Amazon - Gamefly - Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Great review. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I only played this once and it was enough. Such a disappointment for something that should have been amazing.
And I’d just like to say, it totally looks like Wonder Woman is taking a dump in that picture.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:12 am
I’m gonna disagree. I actually got a kick out of this game, even if it’s missing the namesake bloodshed that made the series so likable to begin with. Could’ve been a hell of a lot worse.
December 31st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
i don’t think its completely crap, but its nothing great. Again, it helps if your not a hard core fighting game player. It wold have been 100x better if it was rated M, and had the real fatalities. The real Joker Gunshot and stuff. But it is missing some of the great MK violence.
December 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Yeah, same here Jill, I played the game one time through and that was enough for me.
December 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
=(
I liked the Painkiller Jane TV series. Course, I’m a big Kristanna Loken admirer.
It wasn’t Lost, but nothing is. It was still fun to watch and better than Sci-Fi showing wrestling!
December 31st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
On the contrary Druid, Lost is Lost. It has little to do with budgets, and everything to do with talent, which Mortal Kombat and Painkiller Jane are severely lacking in comparison to better games and shows.
Someone said it could have been a lot worse, but I think most will agree that both properties could have been a lot better.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I think I’ll at least rent it. I just want to kick ass as Bats.
That’s dumb, though: As far as the storyline goes, I would expect nothing less. But the fact that they totally misrepresent Batman … ugh, that they have no excuse for. I mean, DC was working on this, man. Wtf?
Still, I want to try my hand at Bats and other cool DC characters like Catwoman and the Joker. That’s worth at least picking up the controller in my eyes.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:54 am
I agree that this game could be better. There are elements which could definetely have been improved. For what it is, a cash in/mashup its actually ok, but it definetely could’ve been MUCH MUCH more. It had a lot of potential that was simply not lived up to. (But that’s how a lot of fighting game series start out anyway)
The fighting is alright (it does feel stiff at times and some characters definetely feel stilted relative to other more fluid characters. Flash feels very stiff while Batman’s fighting style is much more fluid.) The visuals are well done for the most part. The features are underwhelming though, it could’ve used more maps, and more characters, and certainly more variety in terms of costumes/unlockables etc.
While some were concerned that the heros would wind up “nerfed” the reality is, heros are Always nerfed whenever they are pitted against “weaker” adversaries (which is the majority of adversaries), specifically to make the fight more dramatic. What’s the point of having a full power superman going up against some shmoe w/o any powers at all? There would be no dramatic tension, no drama, etc. Superman would simply walk up and auto win. I do feel it was something of a cop out to default weaken all the characters (more entertaing elements could’ve been introduced in the form of powerups to help the disadvantaged characters but that would’ve either seemed completely random and uncohesive or required some significant storyline explanation)
While the storyline was a bit hokey, it’s no worse than most similar comicbook storylines where superheros cross universes to meet in epic conflict with other characters. And in a few ways it’s actually sensitive to the inherent nature of the characters in how the characters are portrayed, and their vulnerabilities. For ex: Superman IS vulnerable to magic, and it’s known to weaken him. Again not claiming it’s the best writing out there, but it actually does have some sensitivty to the characters.
All in all it’s still an OK game, especially if you just want to beat things up as Superman/Batman etc. I would say it has a lot of weaknesses and could’ve been far superior. It’s not worth full price, it’s not even worth half price, and if you like marvel better, Marvel vs Capcom is still a better fighting game but if you really like DC characters, some of them are worth trying out and having some fun with.
As to comments about Batman being written as naive and trusting - I’m not sure where that perception originated?
Overall I agree it’s not fantastic, but it’s not OMGterrihorribad. There ARE much much worse titles out there. It’s definetely no SCIV though (and not even CV Judgement for that matter).
January 7th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I haven’t picked it up yet, but the opinion around the office is that it is dumb fun. Nothing new or innovative, and lacking in most the departments, but still fun to pick up and brawl based on concept alone. Not that Midway should be proud of that. I have been tempted to pick it up a few times because the special edition with Alex Ross art is flipping awesome…lol
January 30th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Yes! I watched the sped up version of Alex Ross doing the painting, and it was absolutely amazing! Too bad the game itself lacked the same skill used in making that artwork.
January 31st, 2009 at 8:01 pm
This was kind of like Mortal Kombat’s hail Mary play, and they fumbled it. I hope Ed Boon and the rest sink along with the rest of the Midway ship. I’ll be over here playing Tekken and BlazBlue!
January 31st, 2009 at 8:51 pm
“Sonya Blade:
Why are you here?
Captain Marvel:
Confused… Don’t understand… the rage…. THE RAAAAGE!
Announcer:
Round 1, FIGHT!”
I thought you were exaggerating, but that was an exact quote! I laughed so hard when I heard it, then I quit when I got to the finale slideshow. That is just flatout unacceptable.