Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
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| Mortal Kombat: Armageddon | |
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| Developer(s) | Midway |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Series | Mortal Kombat |
| Platform(s) | PS2, Xbox, Wii |
| Release |  October 11, 2006 (PS2)October 17, 2006 (Xbox)[1] Q1 2007 (Wii)  October 27, 2006 (PS2)Q1 2007 (Wii) |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | 1-8 players. Online play |
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the latest title in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 9th, while the Xbox version was released on the 12th, with a Wii version announced for early 2007.[2] There are currently no known 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.
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 were either good, evil, or neutral fought each other in a single battle royal that would threaten to rip apart reality. Without warning, a pyramid rises from the ground, and the tip bursts into flames, attracting the warriors' curosity to see what it was. Everybody fought each other to get to the top, while Blaze revealed himself to the combatants. 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...
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 confirmed fighters (as well as two Kreate-a-Fighter slots), the most of any Mortal Kombat game to date:
In January 2006, Game Informer magazine broke the story by presenting an early character list and render of those confirmed to appear in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Of the existing roster, a notable absentee from the article was Motaro, the sub-boss in Mortal Kombat 3.
A small controversy arose from the trailer released in March 2006, which features all the characters on two sides (good characters running towards neutral and evil characters). Simply put, sworn enemies are seen running along side each other, while some settled disputes appear to be revived as former allies are on opposing sides. Because much of the story behind Armageddon had yet to be revealed, the reason for this was unclear. During an interview, Ed Boon said that the developers wanted a battle between two large forces in the video - preferable to having a third, smaller side of neutral characters. Also that in terms of story, character alliances would be more complex than simply two-sided.[4]
The demonstration of the game at E3 in May 2006 showed a different way of selecting characters than previous Mortal Kombat titles. The screen had a two-sided panel with half the roster on each side. Only 16 characters were selectable, one of which would be a character from the “Kreate a Fighter” feature. The Konquest Mode introduced the character of Taven.[5]
The September 2006 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine (which some subscribers received as early as July[6]), featured a preview of Armageddon. The preview had a new version of the select screen, different from the one seen at E3. This screen has 64 squares in total and is one-sided. Noob Saibot and Smoke had been separated. Motaro and Meat were present for the first time. Taven and Daegon, another character from Konquest Mode, were both included as playable characters. There were also two squares with question marks over them.[7]
On July 31, Midway released a slightly modified character select screen, showing four locked boxes in place of Taven, Daegon, Meat and Blaze. Two “Kreate a Fighter” icons replaced the question marks, and Chameleon was confirmed as a playable character.[7]
On August 1, a new, updated version of the Game Informer render was released with Motaro, Chameleon and Meat added. It also featured updated looks for Scorpion, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Sektor, and Sareena. Taven and Daegon were still absent from the roster. Interestingly, Stryker is still wearing his classic Mortal Kombat 3 costume, and wasn't updated, even though both of his costumes for Armageddon have been shown to be different. This could indicate that there may be more then one unlockable costume per character.[8]
On August 22, Midway released a number of screenshots of Armageddon, one of which showed that Motaro will appear in the game with only two legs instead of four, a decision that caused a split reaction from fans.[9]
A few days later on August 24, it was confirmed that Khameleon (a hidden character in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy) will not appear in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game.[10] Later, that statement was changed to imply that she would not be in the Wii version either. This would mean that Khameleon is the only character from the Mortal Kombat fighting games who isn't in Armageddon.[11]
Konquest mode
In the September 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine, it is stated that the retooled Konquest mode will feature new character Taven and his brother Daegon. The apparent storyline states the brothers were put in suspended animation because their mother, a sorceress and their father, 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.[12]
Taven is the main hero that the player controls in Konquest, whilst Daegon is the primary antagonist, plotting with villains such as Shinnok & The Red Dragon Clan to destroy his brother.
Weapons are available in Konquest mode, which appears very much like Shaolin Monks. Successfully completing Konquest will unlock Taven for arcade play.
New features
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 millions of different combinations available. There are at least fourteen different character classes, [13] which include humans, Tarkatans, Mercenaries, Black Dragon Members, Ninjas, Retro Ninjas, Geisha Assassins, etc.[14]
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 weapons 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 was designed for them.[15] They can also be used in multiplayer games and online, using the PlayStation 2's online capability and Xbox Live.
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 acheived with Kreate a Fatality (novice gamers by average 4 or 5 inputs, acheiving a "Bloody Fatality", while an expert may reach a maximum of 10 inputs and acheive an "Extreme Fatality").
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 big-head 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.
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. [1]
- Several classic fighting arenas such as "The Bell Tower", "Goro's Lair" and "The Subway" are returning in Armageddon in 3-D, with new arenas such as "Lumber Mill", "Meteor Storm" and "Blaze's Pyramid" as well. It has been stated that there will be a total of 17 fighting arenas in Armageddon [2].
- New special moves assigned to many characters in Armageddon, for example, Kitana now has a teleport move, Sonya has a new projectile move and a flying kick 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 edition will all 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
- In the opening movie warriors from evil and nuetral alignments charge towards those of good alignment. The following happens in the cinematic
- Hotaru impales Li Mei on his Naginata
- Kung Lao stabs Baraka, but is hit by Baraka's shard shot
- Jax breaks Quan Chi's leg
- Kahn hits Jax and Dariuss with his Wrath Hammer
- Pyramid appears
- Stryker is hit by Kano's eye beam
- Bo' Rai Cho is thrown from the pyramid by Sheeva
- Sheeva is cut up by Kenshi
- Kenshi is stabbed by Quan Chi, who is thrown of by "Ermac"
- Ermac reveals himself to be Shang Tsung, who Soul Stomps Kenshi
- Shao Kahn is carried off by Onaga
- Shang Tsung throws a reanimated Lui Kang from the pyramid
- Shang then throws Mileena and Shujinko from the pyramid
- Shang is held back from the very top by Lui Kang's chains and begins to age very rapidly
- Blaze reveals himself at the top
Response
So far the response has been mostly positive in the US with an average score in the mid 80 percentage at Game Rankings. [3]
- IGN - 8.5/10
- Gamespot - 7.0/10
- Game Informer - 8.25/10
- GamePro - 4.5/5
- Games Radar - 9/10
- Console Game World - 96/100
- GameDaily - 4.5/5
Fan response has been mostly favorable as well. Ratings from gamers on websites such as IGN and GameFaqs average in the 9 out of 10 region. However, there have been some complaints made on various forums, some of which have to do with the rather short length of the Konquest mode, the new Fatality system, and what some view to be a limited amount of resources in the Kreate a Fighter mode. Also, a total lack of biographies for any character has left many feeling that the story lacks depth. Many characters who have died in past games or not returned in 10 years come back with little to no mention of how or why they returned, or what their goals may be in the tournament.
Trivia
- On September 14, 2006 Gamespot held a live web show with Ed Boon demonstrating the game. The popularity of the show drew so many fans that Gamespot's high bandwidth network segment crashed. [4]
- In The Krypt there is a tile bearing a "?", where gamers can enter 6-button codes that unlocks various game content. At this time, only codes for Krypt items that can also be unlocked with game Kurrency have been made available. It is unknown at this time whether or not codes exist to unlock content that's not also available for purchase in the Krypt.
- 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.[5] 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 explination as to why or how they have returned. These rumors appear to have stemmed from an email posted on MKO's forum supposedly from Jon Vogel, which claimed that the bios were made, but were ordered not to be added to the game by Midway exectutives, though he was looking into releasing the bios online.
References
- ^ DArqueBishop (2006-09-28). "Midway Confirms Delayed Release of MK: Armageddon on Xbox". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Casamassina, Matt (2006-09-28). "Wii Renders Fatalities". IGN. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ DArqueBishop (2006-08-11). "No Xbox PAL Version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Mortal Kombat Online Fan Interview With Ed Boon, E3 2006". Mortal Kombat Online. Exact date unknown; May 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ ]{0MBAT (2006-05-11). "E3: First Impressions of Mortal Kombat Armageddon (and MK Unchained)". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ DArqueBishop (2006-07-20). "Official X-Box Magazine Previews Mortal Kombat: Armageddon!". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b DArqueBishop (2006-07-25). "Cinder Posts MK: Armageddon Character Select Screen!". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ DArqueBishop (2006-08-01). "Official MK Armageddon Site Updated w/ Final Cast Render!". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ DArqueBishop (2006-08-22). "EXCLUSIVE: Five New Screenshots From MK: Armageddon!". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ DArqueBishop (2006-08-24). "Khameleon Confirmed Not To Be In MK: Armageddon". Mortal Kombat Online. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cinder (2006-09-03). "Khameleon is not in MKA". Midway Boards. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Amrich, Dan (2006). "The Upcoming Stars of Xbox - Mortal Kombat: Armageddon". Official Xbox Magazine (61): 60–67.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Haynes, Jeff (2006-09-23). "GC 2006: Mortal Kombat Armageddon". IGN. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "TMK E3 MKA Video #11". YouTube. 2006-06-11. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Haynes, Jeff (2006-09-13). "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Progress Report, page 2". IGN. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Official links
- Official Mortal Kombat: Armageddon website
- Midway's MK Armageddon Forum
- Midway's E3 page on MK Armageddon
- Mortal Kombat Armageddon Opening on IGN
Reviews
- [6] - GT Video Review
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