Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
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| Mortal Kombat: Special Forces | |
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Series | Mortal Kombat |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release date | July 30, 2000 (NA) September 29, 2000 (EU) |
| Genre(s) | Fighting/Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: M |
| Media | CD |
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is an action game for the PlayStation. It allowed the player to take on the role of Jax (a.k.a. Major Jackson Briggs) as he tracks down the Black Dragon. It was widely panned by critics and fans alike, and is considered to be the worst game in the Mortal Kombat series.[1]
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[edit] Storyline
Special Forces is chronologically the first game in the Mortal Kombat storyline, as its events take place even before Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Originally, the game was to expand upon the bitter relationship between Sonya Blade and Kano. The original demo shown in the 1996 E3 convention portrayed the first mission briefing, explaining it to be joint operation with a Eurasian Task Force in Hong Kong territory, to reclaim a nuclear warhead stolen by the Black Dragon, and under the guise of a drug sting. The demo included a scene where Kano captured Sonya and the first known apparition of Kabal before his mutilation in MK3. Unfortunately, the original plot was simplified after Tobias left the development team.
The final story of Special Forces portrays Major Jackson Briggs on a mission to stop Kano and four other Black Dragon members freed from a high-security prison (Tasia, Tremor, No-Face and Jarek) from reaching an artifact of great power, the Eye of Shitian. The true powers of the artifact are not revealed at all, although it is shown in the end that one power the artifact has is to open portals to other realms when Jax uses the artifact to teleport himself and Kano back to Earthrealm, once Kano is defeated.
[edit] Reception
Of all the MK games, Special Forces is considered to be the worst, though some believe Mortal Kombat Advance holds that dubious honor. This has much to do with the fact that many of Midway's staff, including series co-creator John Tobias, had left the company in 2000 for various reasons while the game was still in production. MK:SF was rushed to completion following Tobias's departure, and sold so terribly that Midway placed the series on hold in preparation for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002).
This was the second Mortal Kombat game developed by Midway that was a platform rather than a fighting game, after having tested the waters with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero in 1997. Tobias intended to work on a series of platform games to expand the Mortal Kombat universe, including titles centering around Baraka and Liu Kang; only the latter was actually released by Midway (2005's Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks) despite having sat on the drawing board for many years.
There were plans for a Nintendo 64 version but after Tobias's departure and the release of the PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems, Midway management decided on a budget release of the game priced at $20.00 for the PS1 only.
[edit] Trivia
- Sonya was originally supposed to be playable co-op; in addition, allow players to choose between either character, but was omitted due to Midway making numerous changes to the game following Tobias' departure.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Mortal Kombat: Special Forces at MobyGames
- Mortal Kombat: Special Forces media and information archive at Total Mortal Kombat
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