Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
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| Mortal Kombat: Armageddon | |
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Series | Mortal Kombat |
| Release date(s) |  October 11, 2006 (PS2)October 17, 2006 (Xbox)[1] March 1, 2007 (Wii) [1]  October 27, 2006 (PS2)March 1, 2007 (Wii) [2] |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | 1-8 players. Online play |
| Rating(s) | BBFC: 18 ESRB: Mature(M) OFLC (AU): MA 15+ |
| Platform(s) | PS2, Xbox, Wii |
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the latest title in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the 16th, with a Wii version announced for early 2007.[2] There are no plans to release an Xbox version in PAL territories.[3] It is also the final Mortal Kombat game on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and the first on the Wii.
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
Throughout the Mortal Kombat universe, the warriors were growing too strong and numerous for the realms to handle. The warriors' powers threaten to utterly destroy the fabric of the MK universe. Utterly, every warrior that was either good, evil, or neutral fought each other in a single battle royale that would threaten to rip apart reality. Without warning, a pyramid rises from the ground, and the tip bursts into flames, attracting the warriors' curiosity to see what it was. Everybody fought each other to get to the top, while Blaze revealed himself to the kombatants. The firespawn was created by the Elder Gods to destroy as many fighters as possible in order to save the realms from armageddon. This would be the warriors' last battle, their last chance to prove that they are worthy of surviving, while many others will perish. This will be the final battle for Mortal Kombat, the battle that will determine the fate of the realms...
[edit] Character roster and information
Originally, Armageddon was billed as featuring every single fighter from the six main installments of the franchise thus far. Later, developers went on to add characters that were exclusive to the renditions of such titles (for example, Chameleon from Mortal Kombat Trilogy) to the final roster.
The Armageddon roster contains 62 fighters (other than those that can be created by the player in Kreate a Fighter mode), the most of any Mortal Kombat game to date:
Armageddon does not include every single fighter that has appeared in the franchise. Some characters that have appeared in the adventure titles - Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - are not in Armageddon. Also absent is Khameleon, a secret character who appeared in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy. As a result, Khameleon is the only character from the actual fighting games of the series that does not make an appearance in Armageddon. Only two characters, Daegon and Taven, are new to the series.
It should also be noted that not all the characters have alternate costumes. Some of the "boss" characters, such as Onaga, Moloch, and Blaze do not have alternate costumes, while some of the special characters, such as Chameleon, Meat, Mokap, and Daegon, are limited to one costume as well.
[edit] Konquest mode
The Konquest mode in Armageddon is a combination of the same mode seen in Deception with elements borrowed from the spin-off adventure title Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The storyline centers on Taven and Daegon, two brothers who were put in suspended animation because their mother known as Delia, (a sorceress) and their father, Argus, (the Edenian protector god) foresaw a cataclysmic event brought about by the Mortal Kombat fighters. Their awakening leads into the Konquest mode, which in turn leads into the game's standard play.
Taven is the main hero that the player controls in Konquest, whilst Daegon is the primary antagonist, plotting with villains such as Shinnok and The Red Dragon Clan to destroy his brother. Certain weapons are available at times in Konquest mode, which appear to handle very much like those found in Shaolin Monks. Collecting various artifacts throughout this mode unlocks characters and rewards in the rest of the game, while successfully completing the Konquest entirely will unlock Taven for arcade play.
[edit] New features
[edit] Kreate a Fighter
In addition to the choice of over sixty characters, Armageddon gives players the ability to design and use new fighters in the game.
From the number of options, there are potentially thousands of different combinations available. During production, the game offered at least fourteen different character classes, [4] which include humans, Tarkatans, Mercenaries, Black Dragon Members, Ninjas, Retro Ninjas, Geisha Assassins, etc.[5] However, after the game's release, only one preset was available to the two genders, Sorcerer to Male, and Tarkatan to Female. Although the clothing of each class is still available, it must be individually unlocked, and cannot be preset. (All these presets can indeed be unlocked by unlocking each piece of clothing that makes up that class. The preset will then appear under the preset menu.)
Players can give their character a unique fighting style, by changing their stance and assigning different attacks to the buttons on their controller. There is a range of swords and axes and special moves to choose from. Most moves and costume items need to be purchased with koins earned in the game's other modes, though some moves and items are available for free from the beginning.
The fighters can also be given their own storyline. If a player uses their creation to finish a single player game, they will see the ending that the player designed for them, although the ending will cut off after roughly twelve lines.[6] They can also be used in multiplayer games and online, using the PlayStation 2's online capability or Xbox Live.
[edit] Kreate a Fatality
Also new to the series is the ability to create a Fatality. These custom fatalities are a constant series of commands that players input until the Fatality ends. This method of performing Fatalities replaces the character-specific Fatalities of previous Mortal Kombat games, where gamers would simply enter one input and view the Fatality cinematically. As the player adds each input, less time is allowed for further inputs and some moves cannot be repeated. There are ten levels that can be achieved with Kreate a Fatality (novice gamers average 4 or 5 inputs, achieving a "Bloody Fatality" or "Mortal Fatality", while an expert may reach 11 inputs and achieve an "Ultimate Fatality"). It should be noted that custom-created fighters lack the ability to transition the opponent into another position during these Fatalities.
[edit] Motor Kombat
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's mini-game is named "Motor Kombat". True to the name, Ed Boon compares it to Mario Kart in the September 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. Each of the characters has a customized go-kart, as well as their own special moves. The Motor Kombat characters keeps their cartoonish "chibi" style that was introduced in Deception's "Puzzle Kombat" mode. It also includes style-based fatalities for characters, also deathtraps.
Motor Kombat has Xbox Live support, as well as off-line support for up to four players (two players in PS2 version) with a split-screen display. In the game, players can knock their opponents into various deathtraps on the courses.
The character roster for Motor Kombat is Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Bo' Rai Cho, Jax, Baraka, Raiden, Kitana, Mileena, Cyrax, and Johnny Cage.
The 5 tracks available for Motor Kombat are Bo' Rai Cho's Brewery, Botan Jungle, Lin Kuei Raceway, Lost Pyramid and Outworld Refinery.
[edit] Other info
- The "Versus Screen" feature from previous titles in the Mortal Kombat series (MK through MKG) makes a fresh return in Armageddon with animated backgrounds.
- Each character possesses two fighting styles (instead of three), one hand to hand and one weapon. It has been said that some kombatants will focus more on weaponry styles, while some will focus more on hand to hand combat and others will mix and match weapons and martial styles. Some of the larger bosses, like Onaga, will only have one fighting style available (which does not show up) to them to reflect their massive size. [3] Other Characters forfeit their weapon style for a second unarmed style.
- Several classic fighting arenas such as "The Bell Tower", "Goro's Lair" and "The Subway" return in Armageddon in 3-D, with new arenas such as "Lumber Mill", "Meteor Storm" and "Pyramid of Argus" as well. There is a total of 34 fighting arenas in Armageddon [4].
- New special moves assigned to many characters in Armageddon, for example, Kitana now has a teleport move, Sonya has a new projectile move, Hsu Hao can use the laser turret on his chest and so on.
- Techniques such as Breakers and Parries can be done in the air.
- There are alternate ways to unlock all the features.
- There are 4 different limited editions featuring the following content:
- A 60-minute bonus DVD with a History of Fatalities movie and new videos for more than 50 characters, an animation cell of the cover art autographed by creator Ed Boon and an arcade-perfect version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The limited editions are only available on the PS2.
- These limited editions have different metallic covers exclusive to certain stores:
- Wal-Mart: Kano/Sonya
- Best Buy: Shao Kahn/Sindel
- EB Games/GameStop: Johnny Cage/Goro
- Game Crazy: Dragon Emblem
[edit] Response
So far the response has been mostly average in the US with an average score in the lower 70 percentage at Game Rankings. [5]
- EGM - 5.67 out of 10
- IGN - 8.5/10
- GameSpot - 7.0/10
- Game Informer - 8.25/10
- GamePro - 4.5/5
- Gamestyle - 7/10
- Official Xbox Magazine - 9 out of 10
- Official PlayStation Magazine - 3 out of 10
- X-Play - 2/5
Fan response has been mostly favorable, citing a complete character roster (though without Khameleon), improved Konquest, and increased playability due to the inclusion of aerial combat and the "wake-up" game.
There have also been complaints by fans, however, some of which have to do with the rather short length of the Konquest mode, the new Fatality system that removes part of what made each character unique, the recycling of Deadly Alliance, Deception and Shaolin Monks character models, and what some view to be limited resources in the Kreate a Fighter mode. The storyline of Armageddon has met with the most amount of criticism. Many characters who have died in past games or not returned in ten years suddenly reappear with no mention of how or why they returned, or what their goals may be in the tournament (other than for the sake of simply including them in the roster). Though the "Premium Edition" of the game included brief character video bios, further details were still unclear, usually rehashing what was already known of the character's storyline before they vanished. Character endings have also been ridiculed by many fans, claiming they do not follow the characters' established continuity, are generally nonsensical, poorly written and/or renders their storyline for the game moot. Midway also confirmed that there would not be any character biography screens in Armageddon, adding to the complaints that the storytelling in Mortal Kombat was becoming increasingly confused and of a lower standard. However, in a recent interview on Mortal Kombat Online, Ed Boon later stated that bio's would be made available on the Armageddon website.[7]
[edit] Awards
- 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards: Best Fighting Game. [8]
[edit] Trivia
- In October 2006, the attorney Jack Thompson sent a letter to Midway Games, demanding they cease and desist selling Armageddon, claiming that the game was illegally profiting on his likeness, because gamers could use the Kreate a Fighter option to make a character who looked like him.[6]
- Previous MK titles Deadly Alliance and Deception required players to keep track of six different kinds of "koins", or money used in the game, to unlock hidden features. In Armageddon, developers decided to simplify things and make only one kind of "koin" available, which can be earned in various amounts by completing impressive combos or moves in arcade mode, as well as collecting them under the other modes of play. Koins allow gamers to purchase hidden artwork, arenas, or extra features for their Kreate a Fighter(s).
- This is the first and only Mortal Kombat game to date that does not have official bios for the characters. There were rumors circulating recently that there were bios made, but were not put into the game, but fansite Mortal Kombat Online has confirmed with Midway that no such bios exist, in or out of the game.[7]. However the Krypt features a concept for Ermac's bio before it was scrapped. It is unknown why Midway chose to eschew the bios this time around, especially as without them, many returning characters in the game (including the ones thought dead, such as Sheeva and Motaro) do not have any explanation as to why or how they have returned. As a result, many forum-goers have started petitions to encourage Midway to release the bios online. The response to the lack of bios has been so strong, in fact, that Midway has agreed to release bios for all characters on their website, though they have yet to say when.
- At E3 2006, a series of machines running Armageddon were frozen by having Sektor fight Sub-Zero and doing a specific move. All the machines were frozen this way, and they had to be reset.[citation needed]
- In a Konquest Mode promo movie, unlocked in the Krypt, it shows that Taven has the option of using bow and arrows in battle. Also it depicts him using his Drakesword anytime during gameplay, and the sword is attached to his back. However, neither of these features appear in actual gameplay.
[edit] References
- ^ DArqueBishop (2006-09-20). Midway Confirms Delayed Release of MK: Armageddon on Xbox.. Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ Casamassina, Matt (2006-09-28). Wii Renders Fatalities. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ DArqueBishop (2006-08-11). No Xbox PAL Version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ Haynes, Jeff (2006-09-23). GC 2006: Mortal Kombat Armageddon. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ TMK E3 MKA Video #11. YouTube (2006-06-11). Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ Haynes, Jeff (2006-09-13). Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Progress Report, page 2. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
- ^ Mortal Kombat Online Fight Night 2006 (2006-11-06). Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
- ^ Oblivion naps Spike TV honors (2006-12-09). Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
[edit] Official links
- Official Mortal Kombat: Armageddon website
- Official Mortal Kombat: Armageddon website for the UK
- Midway's MK Armageddon Forum
- Midway's E3 page on MK Armageddon
- Mortal Kombat Armageddon Opening on IGN
