Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe obviously comes off as a desperate attempt to get people interested in the Mortal Kombat series again, though it does actually evolve the series somewhat.
I played the PS3 version mainly cause I have one and the PS3 D-Pad is far superior for fighting games over the 360 D-Pad.
The Story:
Here's the gist of why these two universes are colliding (SPOILERS AHEAD). Shao Kahn opens a portal to escape to outworld because Raiden is kicking his ass. While at the same time in the DC Universe, Superman is kicking Darksed's ass and so Darkseid opens are portal to escape back to Apocalypse (if you don't know what that is then kill yourself) and simultaneously as Shao Kahn and Darkseid enter their portals their blasted by Raiden and Superman causing some kind of fluctuation in the portals and so science stuff happens and my brain just ate itself.
The DC story takes place around the time of Superman and Darkseid's encounter and from what I can tell the MK story line takes place between the original MK and MK II as Lou Kang is the MK Champ and Scorpion still hates Sub Zero and will fight whenever possible, though they do team up and one point. Anyway, the universes begin to merge and each side thinks the other is an invading army or something like that. So they fight and slowly but surely they start to be overcome with a unknown force that Captain Marvel later dubs "Battle Rage" that makes them fight their allies. After a while both sides learn that neither is the enemy and the real enemy is Dark Kahn. Dark Kahn is Darkseid and Shao Kahn morphed together. This happened when Darkseid and Shao Kahn were attacked while entering their portals and there you go, that's why the two universes are merging.
NOTE: The final boss fight is the same damn thing as it was with Unaga in Deception and Blaze in Armageddon.
Character Selection:
There are twenty two playable characters to choose from. Though, the character selection should have been better. I'll give a few examples: One, the Flash. I have no problem with the Flash other than that he's noob bait (Google it). Two, Baraka. Of all the MK characters to put in this game, why Baraka? He's not even that good of a character in the MK universe to being with so why? Three, WHERE THE FUCK IS KUNG LAO!?!? He's one of the greatest characters. From what I guess, in the MK time line in this game this takes place between the original MK and MK II so where is Kung Lao. Quan Chi is in the game, albeit not as a playable character but this.
With that small rant out of the way. All the other characters are great to play as. Both side have their iconic characters and a few you probably haven't seen or heard of. (I'm speaking mostly to newbies there)
Combat:
Well, it's a fighting game. That pretty much sums it all up. But a few new touches have been added. Fighting games had hit their platue in recent years but here comes MK vs DC with some new features that will expand the genre, if only slightly. Characters now show damage (cuts, bruises, muscle, skull). And two new combat features: Close Kombat and Free Fall Kombat. Close Kombat is pretty much what it sounds like. The camera comes in and one character assaults the other while the assaulty(spelling?) tries to button match the assaulter. Free Fall Kombat is pretty much the same idea as Close Kombat but instead of breaking the assault you try to flip it onto the opponent.
SCORPION: What did I tell you about running with scissors?!
And I'm free, free fallin' (I know, that was stupid)
SHAZAM!!!
And then there's Rage Mode. Rage Mode is pretty much like going Super Saiyan. You're given five seconds of extra power so your attacks do double the damage and damage done to you is either none existent or is reduces by half.
You sank my battleship!
While this is somewhat unrelated to the combat section I would like to say this. The CPU, like always, it a cheat. After two or three fights it's nothing but special moves and combos so unless you've attempted the Kombo Challenge be prepared to buy a new controller cause your old one will be imbedded in the drywall.
And yes there is blood
And I should note that the new engine is quite easy to get acquainted with.
Fatalities:
The biggest forum ***** fest was whether or not there was gonna be fatalities in the game. Well, if you don't know yet, then go back under that rock where you came from. YES, there are fatalities. Are the fatalities toned down and or censored, well... yes. Here's an example, Jax's Head Clap fatality no longer results in a gib explosion, now he just flattens the head like a pancake. Only two fatalities are censored, in the American version at least, Deathstroke's and the Joker's. And possibly the only reason as to why these two are censored is because they include guns in the execution. Both Deathstroke and the Joker have fatalities where the shoot the loser in the head. I'm guessing the fact that this can actually happen in real life is what got these two censored. Though if that's the case then why does Jax still have his Machine Gun move?
All Mortal Kombat characters and DC Villains have fatalities. While the DC Heroes have Brutalities. (I couldn't find any images, sorry)
Multiplayer:
This is where the fighting genre has it's biggest problem. There are only two types of fighters. Veterans and Noobs. Veterans actually fight you, meaning they fight and use very few special moves to win, and Noobs, well, do what noobs do best, button mash and just relentlessly use special moves. You will mostly fight Noobs in multiplayer so if you're going for all the achievements or trophies then either give up and play another game or revert to a noob.
Playable Modes
*Story mode - Play as MK or DC and figure out why the two universes are merging.
*Arcade - Basicly a shorter version of story but your selected character is the victor.
*Kombo Challenge - Pick a character and try to do all of their pro-moves.
*VS - Player 1 vs Player 2.
*Online - What do you think it is?
Conclusion:
In terms of fighting games MK vs DC is slightly above average. MK veterans will enjoy it unless they fanboys, and yes there's a difference, and new players will have an easy time getting acquainted with the controls.
Final Score: 7.5
Complaints: Lack of extras, unfair CPU, NO KUNG LAO, toned down fatalities and some of MK character's iconic special moves are missing.
Extra Info
*Developed by Midway Amusement Games.
*Published by Midway Games.
*Uses the Unreal 3 Engine.
*Released on November 16, 2008 in North America and November 21 in Europe.
*PS3 version is on Blu-Ray disc.
*Xbox 360 version is on DVD-DL
*This is the only Mortal Kombat game not rated Mature.
I played the PS3 version mainly cause I have one and the PS3 D-Pad is far superior for fighting games over the 360 D-Pad.
The Story:
Here's the gist of why these two universes are colliding (SPOILERS AHEAD). Shao Kahn opens a portal to escape to outworld because Raiden is kicking his ass. While at the same time in the DC Universe, Superman is kicking Darksed's ass and so Darkseid opens are portal to escape back to Apocalypse (if you don't know what that is then kill yourself) and simultaneously as Shao Kahn and Darkseid enter their portals their blasted by Raiden and Superman causing some kind of fluctuation in the portals and so science stuff happens and my brain just ate itself.
The DC story takes place around the time of Superman and Darkseid's encounter and from what I can tell the MK story line takes place between the original MK and MK II as Lou Kang is the MK Champ and Scorpion still hates Sub Zero and will fight whenever possible, though they do team up and one point. Anyway, the universes begin to merge and each side thinks the other is an invading army or something like that. So they fight and slowly but surely they start to be overcome with a unknown force that Captain Marvel later dubs "Battle Rage" that makes them fight their allies. After a while both sides learn that neither is the enemy and the real enemy is Dark Kahn. Dark Kahn is Darkseid and Shao Kahn morphed together. This happened when Darkseid and Shao Kahn were attacked while entering their portals and there you go, that's why the two universes are merging.
NOTE: The final boss fight is the same damn thing as it was with Unaga in Deception and Blaze in Armageddon.
Character Selection:
There are twenty two playable characters to choose from. Though, the character selection should have been better. I'll give a few examples: One, the Flash. I have no problem with the Flash other than that he's noob bait (Google it). Two, Baraka. Of all the MK characters to put in this game, why Baraka? He's not even that good of a character in the MK universe to being with so why? Three, WHERE THE FUCK IS KUNG LAO!?!? He's one of the greatest characters. From what I guess, in the MK time line in this game this takes place between the original MK and MK II so where is Kung Lao. Quan Chi is in the game, albeit not as a playable character but this.
With that small rant out of the way. All the other characters are great to play as. Both side have their iconic characters and a few you probably haven't seen or heard of. (I'm speaking mostly to newbies there)
Combat:
Well, it's a fighting game. That pretty much sums it all up. But a few new touches have been added. Fighting games had hit their platue in recent years but here comes MK vs DC with some new features that will expand the genre, if only slightly. Characters now show damage (cuts, bruises, muscle, skull). And two new combat features: Close Kombat and Free Fall Kombat. Close Kombat is pretty much what it sounds like. The camera comes in and one character assaults the other while the assaulty(spelling?) tries to button match the assaulter. Free Fall Kombat is pretty much the same idea as Close Kombat but instead of breaking the assault you try to flip it onto the opponent.
SCORPION: What did I tell you about running with scissors?!
And I'm free, free fallin' (I know, that was stupid)
SHAZAM!!!
And then there's Rage Mode. Rage Mode is pretty much like going Super Saiyan. You're given five seconds of extra power so your attacks do double the damage and damage done to you is either none existent or is reduces by half.
You sank my battleship!
While this is somewhat unrelated to the combat section I would like to say this. The CPU, like always, it a cheat. After two or three fights it's nothing but special moves and combos so unless you've attempted the Kombo Challenge be prepared to buy a new controller cause your old one will be imbedded in the drywall.
And yes there is blood
And I should note that the new engine is quite easy to get acquainted with.
Fatalities:
The biggest forum ***** fest was whether or not there was gonna be fatalities in the game. Well, if you don't know yet, then go back under that rock where you came from. YES, there are fatalities. Are the fatalities toned down and or censored, well... yes. Here's an example, Jax's Head Clap fatality no longer results in a gib explosion, now he just flattens the head like a pancake. Only two fatalities are censored, in the American version at least, Deathstroke's and the Joker's. And possibly the only reason as to why these two are censored is because they include guns in the execution. Both Deathstroke and the Joker have fatalities where the shoot the loser in the head. I'm guessing the fact that this can actually happen in real life is what got these two censored. Though if that's the case then why does Jax still have his Machine Gun move?
All Mortal Kombat characters and DC Villains have fatalities. While the DC Heroes have Brutalities. (I couldn't find any images, sorry)
Multiplayer:
This is where the fighting genre has it's biggest problem. There are only two types of fighters. Veterans and Noobs. Veterans actually fight you, meaning they fight and use very few special moves to win, and Noobs, well, do what noobs do best, button mash and just relentlessly use special moves. You will mostly fight Noobs in multiplayer so if you're going for all the achievements or trophies then either give up and play another game or revert to a noob.
Playable Modes
*Story mode - Play as MK or DC and figure out why the two universes are merging.
*Arcade - Basicly a shorter version of story but your selected character is the victor.
*Kombo Challenge - Pick a character and try to do all of their pro-moves.
*VS - Player 1 vs Player 2.
*Online - What do you think it is?
Conclusion:
In terms of fighting games MK vs DC is slightly above average. MK veterans will enjoy it unless they fanboys, and yes there's a difference, and new players will have an easy time getting acquainted with the controls.
Final Score: 7.5
Complaints: Lack of extras, unfair CPU, NO KUNG LAO, toned down fatalities and some of MK character's iconic special moves are missing.
Extra Info
*Developed by Midway Amusement Games.
*Published by Midway Games.
*Uses the Unreal 3 Engine.
*Released on November 16, 2008 in North America and November 21 in Europe.
*PS3 version is on Blu-Ray disc.
*Xbox 360 version is on DVD-DL
*This is the only Mortal Kombat game not rated Mature.
