Hands-On Preview: Mortal Kombat vs. DC

Superman proceeded to beat Sonya like she stole something – and she liked it.

Andrew, JZ, and I made our way into the Midway press lounge for some hands-on MK vs DC action with the games associate producer, Hector Sanchez.

We began taking turns kicking each others’ ass as we tried to master the game’s controls. There were a ton of “cheese moves” being thrown around early (mostly by me), but it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of the characters’ signature attacks.

The MK characters are fairly familiar for those who have played previous iterations of the MK franchise. The DC lineup however, had a more comic book feel (naturally) and offered up a nice complement to the MK Universe.

Playing as Superman lets you do cool things, like hover in the air while you fire laser beams from your eyes, and take deep breaths that suck your opponent towards you. This is a great way to set up more powerful attacks. Batman drops smoke bombs that transport him to another location on the screen, and zips batarangs as a ranged attack.

If you are not familiar with the way Midway is handling the DC and MK crossover “fatality” aspect of the game, this paragraph is for you. MK characters will be able to perform “fatalities” (fatal moves that kill the opponent), while the DC characters will perform finishing moves called “brutalities” (brutal attacks that seem to render the opponent unconscious).

While only a handful of the fatality/brutalities were available in the build we played at E3, what we saw looked very nice. Superman’s brutality utilizes successive downward fist smashes to drive his opponent into the ground like a nail, and hardcore fans of the MK series will be happy to know that Scorpion’s “Toasty” fire breath fatality is in the game, and looks pretty bad ass.

Many of the other brutalities and fatalities were still being worked on. We asked about whether or not Sub-Zero “Deep Freeze Uppercut” would make the cut, being that we felt it was the least gory of his classic fatalities, and were told that they were still in the process of trying to figure out how that could work.

Aside from the fact we all agreed the game was flat out fun to play, we couldn’t believe how much blood Midway managed to cram into a Teen rating. Hector explained, that while the blood is not persistent (it doesn’t remain on screen very long after impact), it certainly doesn’t feel like you’re playing a kiddie game.

MK vs DC is a mix of classic MK head to head bruising combat, with a few welcome twists. For example, moving in close to an opponent allows you to initiate a close quarters combat sequence. During that time you will need to follow on screen button queues in order to successfully block the blows being thrown at you. We had a lot of fun playing around with this feature.

In addition to the zoomed in hand to hand combat, you will also be able to smash your opponent through walls, and grapple with them as the two of you plummet into a new zone. Wall smashing is more of a button mashing task, while mid air battles also utilize a timed on-screen button sequence.

The combination of well animated character specific attack moves, impact generated blood, and real-time character bruising made for such a satisfying gameplay experience that we all ultimately agreed we would be picking it up when the game finally hits stores.

We realize that a large part of the MK lure revolves around the game’s long line of memorable finishing moves, so as we wrapped up our visit to the Midway lounge, we began to discuss whether or not hardcore fans would be satisfied with the MK vs DC fatalities/brutalities.

It is true that the MK finishing moves are deeply rooted in gore and over-the-top dismemberment, but beyond that there is a certain level of embarrassment dished out each time to the individual being finished off. That said, you need to ask yourself which of the two aspects hold more weight with you as a gamer: Are you satisfied with embarrassing your opponent, or do you need the over-the-top gore?

The reality is that the game has plenty of on-screen blood and persistent character bruising that takes effect in real-time upon impact, but it’s not the M-rated meat grinder fatality bloodbath some gamers may have been hoping for.

The finishing moves, while brutally embarrassing for those on the receiving end, do not go beyond that in a blood-filled, in-your-face graphic nature. If you can live with that, then this game will make a great addition to your gaming library.