Review: Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
As a hardcore fighting game fan, I've never liked Mortal Kombat. The series was never deep enough for me to sink my fangs into and the dial-a-combo style of fighting turned me away in favor of fighters with cancel systems and custom combos. So, when Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was announced, my first reaction was of bewilderment, then a resounding meh. Yet, I decided to give it a try since I'm a rabid comic book fan, and I can't turn a chance down to fight as Batman.
Everything about MK vs DCU is over the top and insane, starting from the character models and environments to its fighting system. The plot follows this idea and seems straight out of a JSA book. Raiden and his warriors have defeated Shao Khan, repelling his invasion force of Earthrealm. Before making his escape through a portal, Raiden stops him with a lighting bolt which ruptures the portal. At the exact same time, Superman has defeated Darkseid and his invasion, and before he can escape through a boom tube, the Man of Steel blasts him with his heat vision, causing that portal to rupture as well. The resulting actions cause the portals to cross, and Shao Kahn and Darkseid merge to become Dark Kahn. The two universes begin to merge into one and it's up to the warriors of Mortal Kombat and DCU to fight together to stop this before both universes are destroyed for good. If you understood that, give yourself a point, because you are well on your way to enjoying this game.
The game runs on Unreal Engine 3 and looks amazing. The characters, environments, and special effects are all impressive and well detailed. Sub-Zero's icy forearms expel cold mist, Captain Marvel's lighting bolts and thunderclaps crackle off the screen and the environments are mashups of both franchises most storied areas. Shao Kahn's throne room is merging with Darkseid's and Wonder Woman's home of Themyscira merged with Shang Tseung's temple. It's a fan service at its best and does both franchises justice for fanatics of both.
The fighting system is an updated engine of MK Armageddon and continues the extreme nature of the game with the Klose Kombat and Freefall Kombat mechanics. Each event is performed by pushing one of the face buttons to strike your opponent, and it's their job to try and guess which button you'll attack with to counter. Klose Kombat brings the camera in close to watch as you pummel each other with knees to the face and arm breakers. Freefall Kombat has the fighters fighting as they plummet to another tier of the stage, rewarding the winner of the spar with a super devasting knock to the ground. Both are brutal, fun and will definitely inspire trash talk among your friends.
The combo breakers return from Armageddon and can be used to disrupt the combo that they are in. In Armageddon they were finite, but in MK vs DCU, you now have a meter which fills up as you pull off special moves and are pummled by the opponent. The meter has two sections, each representing a breaker you can use. If it fills up completely, you can active Rage Mode, where you can absorb hits and break your opponents block, causing more damage.
The inclusion of the this meter brings more strategy to the fights, but there still is no depth in the fighting system. Matches result in whoever can get their special moves off first and start their button specific combos, just as in previous MK titles. You can't cancel out of these combos, bring in fakes, or even delay moves. I know this may be a bit to ask in all fighting games, but this gamer wants some meat with his potatoes.
If you're not looking for this kind of depth though, MK vs DCU is still a fun game to have your friends over to punch each others face in, though this may the be the only way to really enjoy the game. The game's Story Mode and Arcade Mode can be conquered in a few hours and the Kombo Challenge, where you are tasked with pulling of specific combos for each character, is so infuriating that you won't want to finish it. The game does include online play, but there's no sort of ranking system in place and no ladder or tournament option.
MK vs DCU is the summer blockbuster of the fighting genre. It's big, dumb, and loud, but still fun to watch. The Klose Kombat and Freefall Kombat are nice additions, but the lack of any substance in the modes or fighting system wont guarantee you returned trips to this crazy fighter.
